| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Australia blind to new world order, EU warns |
| 2003-02-19 |
| 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 |
| #9 ... Does this mean that France should surrender its seat to the EU, and Germany should remove itself entirely? |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-02-19 19:06:49 |
| #8 Pull the subsidies from Aibus and Aerospacial and lets see just how long they stay competitive |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-19 16:42:03 |
| #7 "blind to the new political reality emerging in Europe." ..... No, absolutistic regimes are nothing new to Europe. What is new are liberal democracies, which, not surprisingly appear to be the enemies of the EU. They're practically calling the citizens of Europe wogs. I often wonder if the reluctance to admit Turkey is due to the fear that harmonization would be exposed as colonization when it can't hide behind European homogeny. The only thing that keeps me from cheering the removal of US troops from Germany is the fear of an EU military......go ahead laugh, but the rhetoric is already becoming delusional, think jEUche. That's just a little too much power for fascist in sheep's clothing, in my opinion. |
| Posted by: dsaucer 2003-02-19 16:22:33 |
| #6 Wow! This is like one of those movies where the aging, alcoholic film star goes into a series of public meltdowns, alienating old colleagues, new backers, and would-be proteges. So, which ending will it be? Will the old gal's friends be able to bundle her off to the sanitarium in time? Or will she take the booze and pills express to oblivion? Maybe it'll be the fiery drunken crash off the edge of a cliff. Get out your hankies. Who has the Milk Duds? |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-02-19 12:57:08 |
| #5 When the EU members consolidate their embassies around the world and empty out some of those extra UN Ambassador seats then perhaps the Aussies will consider them a single country. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-02-19 12:14:41 |
| #4 The EU is being consistant in its |
| Posted by: Arthur Fleischman 2003-02-19 10:52:06 |
| #3 "One might well get the impression that the EU is a command economy with bureaucrats engaged in making life hard for business," Well isn't that the European way? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-02-19 09:13:41 |
| #2 Australia is an agricultural exporter. Like the U.S. EU restrictions and tarriffs on imports in an effort to support their own (read French primarily) inefficient farmers are a big bone of contention. So the Aussie's want to sell direct to EU member states, bypassing the restrictions. Why should the people of Sofia pay more for food so that French farmers benefit? And, living so far from the EU must be why the view that the EU is politically integrated as well as a single trading bloc doesn't cause them to fall on the floor laughing. The only thing representing EU unity is... well, I can't think of anything. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-02-19 09:11:28 |
| #1 One might think the Vilnius Group would be having second thoughts right about now. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-02-19 08:21:05 |