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| Europe | ||
| Sarkozy offers UK regular talks on Europe | ||
| 2007-07-20 | ||
Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, has proposed that France and Britain hold regular meetings to “harmonise” their positions ahead of important European Council summits, raising the suggestion on the eve of Gordon Brown’s first visit to Paris as UK prime minister.
Mr Sarkozy’s spokesman said France and Germany had recently shown the fruits of their strong partnership by delivering a draft institutional treaty for the EU and resolving governance problems at EADS, the aerospace group German and French leaders hold summits every six to eight weeks and joint cabinet meetings every six months. But the spokesman said neither country considered this bilateral arrangement to be “exclusive”. He said the EU could benefit from Britain’s economic dynamism, adding that the country should be at the “heart of the European construction”. Mr Sarkozy has long argued that the bigger EU countries should take the lead in steering the enlarged organisation. As French interior minister, Mr Sarkozy helped set up regular meetings with his counterparts in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland to co-ordinate immigration and anti-terrorism policies. However, smaller EU members – and the European Commission – have resented any suggestion of being dictated to by the big powers.
German diplomats said on Thursday that Berlin would be relaxed about any moves to formalise French-British relations, as Germany already has close ties with both capitals. | ||
| Posted by:lotp |
| #1 Y'mean somebody actually gives a shit what Lichtenstein thinks? |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-07-20 10:48 |