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Australia blind to new world order, EU warns
The European Union yesterday lashed out at Australia's foreign policy priorities, accusing the Federal Government of being blind to the new political reality emerging in Europe. The EU seems to be awful cranky lately. The Government last week unveiled a new foreign affairs white paper which dramatically boosted the role of security in foreign policy while restoring the importance of Asia. But the paper also acknowledged the United States as Australia's most important foreign policy relationship and trading partner. The Greek ambassador, Fotios-Jean Xydas, said in a statement through his Sydney consulate that the white paper, while positive in many respects, completely missed the vital point that the EU was politically integrated as well as a single trading bloc. Mr. Xydas seems to have missed the current discussions over Iraq. "The Australian Government still seems to have difficulty with the concept of the EU as one trading bloc and prefers to think of it as a compilation of 15 separate countries," Mr Xydas said. "In fact, the EU is one trading area, without any internal borders, exactly as Australia has been since Federation." A spokesman for the EU delegation in Canberra confirmed Mr Xydas was speaking on behalf of EU member nations. Well, the EU delegation thinks he is, anyway. Mr Xydas said Australia's government should be able to recognise that trade integration also meant a steady political merging - and that the EU surpassed the US as Australia's most important trading and investment partner. Australia is negotiating a free- trade agreement with the US but is a frequent critic of EU trade policy. While acknowledging Europe's economic clout, the white paper said that strength did not translate into global power in other strategic areas. Mr Xydas also lashed out at the white paper's criticism of the EU's regulatory controls as costly and cumbersome. "One might well get the impression that the EU is a command economy with bureaucrats engaged in making life hard for business," he said. One might, indeed! Posted by: Steve 2003-02-19 |
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