Germany, France To Forge Tighter Ties
January 13, 2003
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will meet with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on Tuesday to discuss details of a pact that would establish terms for cooperation unprecedented in Europe. Statesmen from both countries hope the deal will revitalize a once tight relationship that has been lacklustre in recent years.
Among the most revolutionary proposals is that of encouraging French and German ministers to take part in each other's cabinet meetings. As foreseen under draft versions of the plan, ministers would then attempt to enact identical legislation in areas such as civil and family law and education standards.
The Guardian newspaper of London reported that draft versions of the declaration also called for the appointment of a top official responsible for promoting cooperation between the two countries.
Elysee Contract signed by de Gaulle and Adenauer
The declaration being discussed is the result of nearly a dozen Franco-German summits over the past year and is timed for release on Jan. 22, the 40th anniversary of the so-called Elysee Contract signed by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (left) and French President Charles de Gaulle (right) in 1963.
The 1963 agreement ended long-standing tensions between the countries and established the groundwork for cooperation on issues of foreign policy.
That issue, however, is a thorny one for Schröder and Chirac these days. Germany has repeatedly said it will not participate in a possible war against Iraq, while France has hinted that it might be willing to contribute troops to a U.S.-led invation.
"Iraq will be the acid test for the claim that we want to cultivate special relations between the two countries," Rudolf von Thadden, coordinator of Franco-German relations in the German foreign ministry, told the Handelsblatt newspaper.
Quick test of friendship pact foreseen
If adopted on Jan. 22, the declaration of cooperation would be put to the test quickly after U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq report on the situation on Jan. 27.
"The declaration would be rendered meaningless if a week later Paris stood shoulder to shoulder with the victorious allies of 1945 and not with their most important partner in respect to seeking a common European position," von Thadden said.
Earlier this month, Germany began a two-year stint on the U.N. Security Council, while France is a permanent member.
While the Franco-German cooperation pact is still in the works, British leaders are already on the alert. The Guardian called the initiative "the latest, and most striking, evidence of a campaign by the two countries to give renewed momentum to their special relationship, for years the driving force behind European integration."
German-French cooperation on European policy
Last year, the French and Germans ended a long-standing dispute about European agricultural policy, which comprises nearly half of the European Union's overall budget and subsidizes French farmers to the tune of billions. And just prior to last year's Copenhagen summit, the two countries aligned their policies on Turkey's request to join the European Union.
If all goes as planned, the German and French parliaments will hold their first-ever joint meeting on Jan. 22. As a gesture of friendship, the French hosts at Versailles plan a festive dinner at which German white wine and French red wine will be served for toasting the successes of the past 10 years.