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Villepin may be on his way out as French foreign minister
in favor of a Eurocrat to push the proposed EU ConsitutionFrench EU commissioner Michel Barnier may become foreign minister of France following a cabinet reshuffle by Jacques Chirac. According to Commission President Romano Prodi who appears to have jumped the gun and made an announcement before the French government, Mr Barnier will be heading to Paris soon. If the appointment is confirmed, Mr Barnier would replace current foreign minister Dominique de Villepin. Answering questions from MEPs in the European Parliament about his rapidly dwindling Commission, Mr Prodi said, "Quite probably, Pedro Solbes will be responsible for managing the Spanish economy very soon, and very probably Michel Barnier will be responsible for French foreign policy". He added at a press conference afterwards that the news has "not yet been confirmed". He praised Mr Barnier who has been responsible for regional affairs since his appointment to the Commission in 1999 and was the Commissionâs representative in the body that drew up the European Constitution. "I will be sad to lose a magnificent colleague". But referring to the specific issue of the European Constitution where crunch talks will take place in June between member states, Mr Prodi said that he was sure the Frenchman would be "an excellent apostle" for the treaty blueprint. If the move is confirmed, it will be part of a series of moves in the current Commission whose mandate finishes in November. Spanish Commissioner Pedro Solbes will return in mid-April to his country to be finance minister, while the Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou has already been replaced and the Luxembourg Commissioner Viviane Reding will stand in the June European elections. On top of all this, Mario Monti, the Italian Commissioner, has been mooted as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For his part, Mr Prodi, who has also been making increasingly political statements, reassured MEPs that he would be working right up until 31 October - the last day of his job. It will be interesting to see where Sarkozy ends up in the Cabinet. Chirac reportedly cannot stand him .... Posted by: rkb 2004-03-31 |
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