Paris-Bonn axis rekindled ahead of IGC

Date: 15/02/1996

By Thomas Klauand Rory Watson

FRANCE and Germany are increasingly forging a shared vision of Europe's future by drawing up a coordinated approach to the imminent reform of the Union.

The rejuvenation of the Paris-Bonn axis, which appeared to falter in the face of conflicting signals on Europe from French President Jacques Chirac in the wake of his election, is emerging just weeks before the launch of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC).

Bonn diplomats are increasingly confident that the spirit of Franco-German cooperation displayed in the Reflection Group which prepared the ground for the IGC will continue to prevail during the actual negotiations.

German sources confirm that initial doubts about Chirac's commitment to monetary union and readiness to accept deeper European integration are being gradually assuaged.

A diplomat involved in the preliminary negotiations said Paris was deeply committed to strengthening the Union's foreign policy and defence identity, and was gradually coming round to accepting an element of majority voting in order to make it easier to shape a European stance.

France's new readiness to draw closer to NATO's military structure is also being hailed in Bonn as a major political breakthrough. It has significantly eased a long-standing source of friction between German Atlanticists and a French government which for decades had preserved the Gaullist tradition of an independent deterrent.

The radical shift in France's stance will bring it closer to almost all its EU partners on one of the central exercises of the Maastricht review: the search for a coherent foreign and security policy that can be effectively implemented outside the Union's borders.

It will also place renewed pressure on the UK, which is opposed to such decisions being taken by a majority vote.

France and Germany will be at pains not to present their EU partners with a fait accompli. But the new vitality in the duet is likely to increase the chances of the IGC taking fundamental decisions on the future shape of the Union.

Although observers do not yet detect a strong identity of views emerging on internal and justice affairs, they are confident that Chirac's determination to make the fight against international crime and drugs an IGC priority will ensure concrete headway is made.

The new convergence of views between Paris and Bonn is in sharp contrast to the coolness which characterised the relationship after Chirac's election last May. The departure of Chirac's predecessor François Mitterrand had deprived German Chancellor Helmut Kohl of his main ally on the European stage, while Chirac's ambivalent statements on the Union and controversial resumption of nuclear tests injected an unexpected degree of friction into the relationship.

But an intensive agenda of bilateral talks has cleared the air. The most visible was this week's meeting between Kohl and French Prime Minister Alain Juppé. French and German ministers are also working behind the scenes in a bid to thrash out common IGC positions.

Parallel contacts are being arranged between French and German parliamentarians. The Bundestag and National Assembly foreign affairs committees ended a two-day meeting in Paris yesterday (14 February) during which they examined the broad IGC agenda.