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Germany, France united on EU constitution crisis
The foreign ministers of France and Germany emerged from talks in Berlin on Thursday saying they were adopting a joint stance on efforts to keep the EU constitution ratification process alive. The constitutional crisis dominated talks between German foreign minister Joschka Fischer and his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy. Fischer and Douste-Blazy spoke of ways to keep the constitution ratification process alive in the wake of rejections by referendum voters in France and the Netherlands. "Europe cannot afford a time-out from world politics," Fischer warned. To that end, he said Germany and France will take a common stance at the upcoming Brussels summit. However, no details of that stance were divulged. But we are united! UNITED, I say! Douste-Blazy waved aside speculation about unilateral Franco- German action aimed at cementing power for their countries at the expense of other EU members. "Paris and Berlin want to continue to be the engine of European integration," Douste-Blazy said, "but only in cooperation with the other partners." Douste-Blazy added, "We do not want to be exclusive." Of course not - it's no fun if there aren't other members to follow your policies. DPA Posted by: too true 2005-06-10 |
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