BERLIN: The German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and France’s president Jacques Chirac will on Tuesday consider a revolutionary proposal under which French and German ministers would be encouraged to take part in each other’s cabinet meetings, a senior German government source said on Sunday.
The initiative is the latest, and most striking, evidence of a campaign by the two countries to give renewed momentum to their special relationship, for years the driving force behind European integration. The improving links between Berlin and Paris are being viewed with growing concern in London.
The plan to swap ministers is one of several initiatives set out in a French language draft of the declaration the two countries are to issue this month on the 40th anniversary of the Franco-German alliance. The final version is expected to be approved on Tuesday at a meeting in Paris between Mr Schroeder, Mr Chirac and their respective foreign ministers.
If the plan is given the go-ahead, ministers would aim to agree on identical Franco-German legislation. Areas earmarked for early co-ordination include civil and family law and educational qualifications.
The draft declaration also includes a proposal for the appointment of a top official responsible for overseeing and promoting co-operation between France and Germany.
Sources in Berlin said last night they could not predict which proposals would survive into the final draft but one said: “Considerable thought has been given to how the two countries can work together more closely in future.” Parallel legislation could give France and Germany immense influence over the rest of the continent. Once it was clear which way they had decided to tackle an issue, there would a considerable temptation, particularly for smaller and poorer nations, to copy their model and pass identical laws.
A report on Sunday in the news magazine Der Spiegel said Paris and Berlin were considering a pledge to work jointly for a range of other initiatives. They included the creation of a new force of European border guards, the appointment of an EU “super-prosecutor” and the setting up of pan-European criminal records.
It said France and Germany were also planning the foundation of a new European centre for international economics that could put forward proposals for joint policies in the areas of trade and finance.
After several years of quiescence, the Berlin-Paris “motor” sprang unexpectedly to life at last year’s Brussels summit when Mr Blair was spectacularly caught off guard by a Franco-German deal on agricultural policy. Then, shortly before last month’s Copenhagen summit, Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac met to align their policies on Turkish entry in a move reminiscent of the alliance’s heyday when Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand routinely settled the substance of EU decisions in advance.
Important differences nevertheless remain. Berlin and Paris could scarcely be further apart in their approach to Iraq. While Mr Chirac has hinted broadly that he is ready to contribute French troops to a US-led invasion, Mr Schroeder has ruled out any German military involvement — regardless of whether the operation has the backing of the UN.
In the same way, while France is pressing for a second resolution in the security council, Germany’s UN ambassador last week declared that a fresh mandate, though desirable, was not necessary.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.