In a sign that Europe's grand experiment with a constitution could unravel, France and Germany threatened on Tuesday to reject it if smaller countries continue to insist on negotiating changes designed to enhance their power.
Following a one-hour meeting with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany at the Elysee Palace, President Jacques Chirac of France told reporters: "The chancellor and I will not accept an agreement at any price and under any conditions. We want a deal that fits with the line of thinking that we have about the Europe of tomorrow."
Schroeder chimed in, "We are totally on the same line."
Their joint stand guarantees that the EU summit meeting that opens tomorrow to resolve the remaining differences over the constitution will be fractious.
Just as important for the future of Europe, it underscores the close relationship that has been forged between their countries in the past year, often to the detriment of their other European partners.
With the EU expanding from 15 to 25 members in May and later adopting its first constitution, France and Germany are determined to preserve their position, held over the past half century, as the driving force of European integration.
To that end, they said on Tuesday they want as few changes as possible to the draft constitution that was celebrated by all EU members with champagne and Beethoven's Ode to Joy in Brussels in June.
The most contentious unresolved constitutional issues involve the distribution of power among large and small states. At the time the draft constitution was approved, for example, Spain and Poland vowed to amend it to preserve complex voting rights that give them power disproportionate to their populations.
Chirac on Tuesday called on Spain and Poland to "make a gesture" in the negotiations. Asked whether there would be an agreement if their demands were not dropped, Chirac replied, "I'm not certain about it."
Once again, Schroeder was the echo, saying, "I have nothing to add."
Since 2001, the two leaders have made it a practice to get together with their foreign ministers over a meal every four to six weeks; Tuesday's meeting and lunch was one such gathering. But until last year, their personal relationship was described as awkward, even tense. Now they greet each other with bear hugs and beer. On Tuesday, Schroeder even brought Chirac a Christmas present: an eighth-century Chinese terra cotta figure to add to his collection of Asian art.
Their joint declaration on the constitution is just the latest of a string of examples of their collaboration to maximize the power and leverage of their countries.
The first concrete example came in October last year, when Chirac and Schroeder, on the eve of a summit meeting, unexpectedly reached agreement on blocking reform of the EU's costly agricultural subsidy program until 2006.
In January, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty that pledged friendship between the two countries, the German government and Bundestag moved to Paris for the day for a joint Cabinet meeting and joint session of the two countries' parliaments.
The US-led war against Iraq, which the two leaders opposed, strengthened their unity by pitting them against Britain, Spain, Italy, Poland and other central European countries, which supported it.
In October, in an act fraught with political symbolism, Schroeder asked Chirac to stand in for him on the second day of the EU summit meeting in Brussels.
Schroeder, who needed to be in Berlin for a crucial parliamentary vote on his government's economic package, called the move "a symbol of the exquisite French-German relations."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of