Franco-German meet stresses on greater European defence

Ulhas Joglekar ulhasj at bom4.vsnl.net.in
Wed Dec 1 03:36:38 PST 1999


1 December 1999 Franco-German meet stresses on greater European defence PARIS: French and German leaders, holding a one-day summit on Tuesday, were expected to endorse calls for a European Union rapid reaction force to strengthen the continent's military muscle and counterbalance US power. French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met for an hour on Tuesday morning. The discussed EU budget reform, preparations for the December EU Helsinki summit, and the Chechnya conflict. But defence was dominating the 74th summit between the two countries, and a statement was to be released later on Tuesday, echoing one by France and Britain last week for a 50,000-60,000-strong force capable of full deployment within 60 days for at least a year. France and Germany also want to boost Europe's air force capabilities. Later on Tuesday, Schroeder will address France's National Assembly, becoming the first German chancellor, and only the fifth foreign dignitary, to do so. It will be an opportunity for Schroeder to iron over disputes which have strained ties between the two powers since he took office last year. France and Germany are Europe's biggest nations, each other's biggest trading partners, and the engine behind the European Union. But Schroeder has been making strong overtures towards London since taking office and has said he does not see the Paris-Berlin link as exclusive anymore. The two countries clashed last year when Schroeder said Germany would gradually wean itself off nuclear power -- a move which would deal a blow to France's nuclear power industry which does lucrative business reprocessing nuclear fuel from German power plants. Germany also wants national governments to take over some farm subsidies to ease the burden on EU coffers -- an idea strongly rejected by Paris. Also attending Tuesday's summit were French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and Germany's Joschka Fischer, as well as the heads of defence, education and transport ministries, among others. (Associated Press) For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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