BRUSSELS, 19 September 2003 — Europe’s big three will try to recreate a more united European Union leadership at a summit on Saturday after months of bitter rifts over Iraq and EU policies. But mistrust runs so deep between French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, on one side, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on the other, that they are unlikely to overcome all their differences on Iraq.
Experts expect them to focus mainly on seeking common ground on a planned EU constitution ahead of tough negotiations due to start next month, on European defense cooperation and on improving their strained personal relations. “It’s not really about Iraq. The differences are too great. But Blair realizes he’s got a problem of being separated from France and Germany, so he’s keen to revive the trilateral relationship,” said Charles Grant, director of the London-based Center for European Reform.
Diplomats played down expectations of any deal over a UN resolution on the future role of the United Nations in Iraq or a transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis at the two-hour Berlin summit, although they hope for some rapprochement of European positions. Their public split on Iraq earlier this year dealt a major setback to efforts to build a common European foreign policy. Chirac and Schroeder, the most outspoken opponents of the war, will each have private meetings with US President George W. Bush at the United Nations in New York next week. It will be Bush’s first icebreaker with Schroeder after more than a year of estrangement. France and Germany were lambasted in the United States for their failure to support the war that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
“The conflict in Iraq is an example of how cracks are forming in the European Union, particularly regarding trans-Atlantic relations. The main aim now is to heal those cracks,” said Sabine von Oppeln, an expert on European politics at Berlin’s Free University. France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg have angered Britain and the United States by agreeing to set up a European military planning headquarters separate from the US-led NATO alliance. Diplomats said Blair would aim to persuade Schroeder and Chirac to drop or tone down the plan, removing a major cause of US mistrust of European defense efforts. Britain proposes an EU planning cell at NATO instead.
While arguing that Blair got almost nothing for following Bush so closely on Iraq, French officials acknowledge European defense integration is meaningless without Britain. “Blair is the only one who can talk to the Americans, although even then it’s not sure they listen,” one senior French official said. Grant said the three had a common interest in defending proposed EU constitutional reforms against smaller members seeking to retain voting power disproportionate to their population size or economic clout. Spanish and Italian leaders, who supported the US-led war, faced sharp media criticism on Wednesday over their exclusion from the Berlin meeting. Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio denied Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had been snubbed by Germany and France. As a consolation prize, Blair has invited Aznar to talks at his country residence on Sunday.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the Berlin meeting was a good idea to overcome past differences. “It’s an informal lunch to blow away the clouds that built up between France and Germany on one side and Britain on the other,” he told reporters. A previous attempt to hold leadership meetings of the big three caused acrimony and ended in farce in October 2001, when smaller EU states sought to gatecrash a dinner hosted by Blair. Since then, France and Germany have revived their close relationship while ties with Britain deteriorated over EU issues, trans-Atlantic relations and Iraq.
“Britain’s worry is that France and Germany have put renewed passion into their very intimate relationship. The British only get invited into the marital suite occasionally on specific issues where their help is needed,” Grant said. “The British know very well that this (meeting) is not to set up a triple alliance to lead Europe, because the French and the Germans don’t want them there most of the time.”
