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Germany in limelight as EU turns 50
Submitted by newscaster on Mon, 03/26/2007 - 05:22.
BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel took center stage of European politics Sunday, putting Germany back in the lead of European integration on a day that two of the bloc's most controversial leaders probably attended their last EU summit meeting. Britain's Tony Blair, an Atlanticist, is expected to leave office in May, and President Jacques Chirac of France, a Gaullist, announced last week that he would not be running for re-election when French voters elect a new president in two rounds of voting in April and May. Their exit from EU politics leaves Merkel as one of the few European leaders who might be able to bridge the differences between London and Paris that have divided the entire bloc. Over the past five years, Blair and Chirac have clashed bitterly over the U.S war in Iraq, the structure of the EU budget, particularly its large subsidies for agriculture, and the future shape of Europe. But together, they also advanced Europe's defense policy. In her speech Sunday marking the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty that established what is today's European Union, Merkel tried to win support from the EU's leaders for a renewal of the bloc. She wants to have a new constitution in place by the end of next year. It was the only way, she said, to make Europe stronger and more united. In an unusually personal speech extolling the virtues of the EU, Merkel recalled how she was only 3 years old and living in Communist East Germany when the Rome Treaty was signed. She was 7 years old when Berlin was divided by a wall that for decades sealed the division of Europe. "The venue of our celebrations today could hardly be more symbolic," Merkel said at a gathering of European leaders and diplomats in the renovated German Historical Museum, which was bombed during World War II. "We are celebrating in Berlin. A city that, until 18 years ago, was divided by a wall, by barbed wire, by soldiers with orders to shoot - in which people paid with their lives for seeking to escape to freedom." Merkel's personal reminiscences, combined with a steely determination to make the EU more democratic, more efficient and united, confirm Germany's rediscovery of its original role inside the EU. Fifty years ago, Merkel's ideological mentor, Konrad Adenauer, was in Rome to sign the treaty. As Germany's first chancellor after World War II, Adenauer embraced France to end the centuries of distrust that had so often proved destructive. It was no coincidence that throughout the public celebrations over the weekend - on Saturday night during a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic and Sunday during the signing of the Berlin Declaration - Chirac was seated beside Merkel. The German chancellery is making no bets about who will succeed Chirac, or whether Gordon Brown, Blair's probable successor, will start embracing Europe as Blair had promised to do when he was first elected in 1997. Then, he promised to make Britain "the heart of Europe." Still, as two of Europe's most influential leaders, they leave behind controversy and ambiguity. Chirac raised hackles in most of the new East European members of the EU. There, he was seen as both anti-American and anti-NATO, causing a split in the bloc with his opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He was also often regarded as an opponent of the bloc's enlargement towards the East. Indeed, at a 2002 summit meeting he scolded East European candidate countries for signing a letter supporting the U.S. position on Iraq, saying "they would have done better to say nothing." Blair caused some resentment in several of the older member states because of his desire to slow down political integration and remain out of the Euro zone for as long as possible. At the same time, Blair wanted to support a wider bloc more focused on competitiveness, economic flexibility and unswerving loyalty to the trans-Atlantic relationship. Not only did both leaders clash publicly over the Iraq war. Blair also repeatedly opposed Chirac's defense of the common European agricultural policy, which eats up nearly half of the EU budget. Yet, for all that, both leaders were instrumental in helping to establish Europe's security and defense policy. In late 1998, during a bilateral summit conference in the French port city of Saint-Malo, Blair and Chirac agreed that the EU should have its own defense policy. Both leaders had the same motive: the failure of Europe to stop the Balkan Wars during the first half of the 1990s. But the Saint-Malo meeting could not resolve the most important ambiguity. Blair wanted a European defense policy to complement NATO, while Chirac wanted the EU to have a defense doctrine independent of the United States. Despite these fundamental differences, Britain and France continued to push forward defense matters. Since 2003, they have established the EU's special battle groups, which consist of highly trained combat troops that will be able to move quickly to trouble spots anywhere in the world. Their first mission abroad was to provide security for the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year. They successfully accomplished the task. European integrationists say that the common defense policy still has a long way to go. Merkel has now mapped out her goal for the EU, saying that the EU should have its own army. Her advisers have called this a logical consequence of the defense initiative that Blair and Chirac began. History of the EU (European Union) A listing of political alliances within the United Nations NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) *QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION What do you think might be the difficulties for the EU when they try to negotiate? What are the similarities and differences between the European Union and the United States? What about other regional Unions? (see background info link above) Do you think that the clash between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac is a good thing or a bad thing for the EU? *REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL Source: |
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