Chirac looks beyond Bonn for friends

Date: 23/05/1996

By Thomas Klau

FACED with the increasing dominance of its partnership with Germany, France is currently attempting to rebalance its European policy by intensifying cooperation with other member states.

As early as during the presidential election campaign of 1995, French President Jacques Chirac was keen to paint himself as a potential mediator between France's European partners, searching for the middle ground between Germany's ardent Euro-federalism and the UK's equally fervent Euro-scepticism.

But Chirac's state visit to the UK last week, while clearly a success on a personal level, highlighted the difficulties he faces in pursuing such an approach.

In the face of persisting British hostility towards monetary union and other core EU policies, Chirac openly acknowledged at the end of the visit that his success in drawing the UK closer to Europe was probably limited.

“My ambition was simply to tell our British friends where my thinking had led me concerning the construction and the future of Europe. I don't know whether I managed to persuade them. I'm not sure I have, judging by some of the British press, but at least I did my best,” said the president.

Even in the one area where France and the UK have established a good working relationship - defence and military cooperation - the two governments differ strongly in their long-term goals.

Whereas the UK leads the camp of those opposing any subordination of the Western European Union (WEU) to the EU, France, along with Germany, is pushing for the eventual full integration of the defence alliance into the Union.

Meanwhile, the conservative Popular Party's recent electoral victory in Spain has fuelled French hopes that Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar will turn to Chirac as his natural ally in Europe, re-establishing France's standing as the leader of the EU's Mediterranean block.

Intensified relations with Madrid would be all the more welcome as France's relationship with the third big Mediterranean power, Italy, has repeatedly come under strain. During France's presidency of the Union last year, Chirac blasted former Prime Minister Lamberto Dini - now Italy's foreign minister - for allowing the lira to devalue, while the government in Rome angered Chirac with its criticism of the French nuclear tests.

More recently, Italy's outgoing Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli publicly scolded her French colleague Hervé de Charette for the lack of consultations about his trip to the Middle East, undiplomatically delivering her attack with de Charette sitting right next to her.

Against this background, France is particularly keen to forge strong ties with the new Spanish government.

Stressing that the relationship between Paris and Madrid was excellent even in the days of former Prime Minister Felipe González, French diplomats nevertheless express the hope that the “greater ideological proximity” between Chirac and Aznar might strengthen the bond even further.

They also deny that such overtures to other member states might pose a threat to the Paris-Bonn alliance. “The Franco-German engine cannot be replaced, but does not exclude other relationships. In fact, it would be counter-productive if it were exclusive,” explains a French diplomat.

Following meetings between de Charette and his new Spanish counterpart Abel Matutes, both governments have agreed that Aznar will visit France as early as June, with a Franco-Spanish ministerial seminar covering a wide range of subjects scheduled for July.

For Aznar, who is also seeking friends in Europe, the French interest in a strong relationship between the two countries will come as a welcome development. The new Spanish leader has been reportedly disappointed by a lack of electoral support from Germany's Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who enjoyed an extremely close personal relationship with González.

“Aznar is particularly interested in a strong relationship with the French president, whom he sees as a natural ally,” said one Spanish diplomat.