Chirac’s snubs put EU policy back in doubt

Date: 23/11/1995

By Elizabeth Wise

JACQUES Chirac is confusing his EU partners.

Only two weeks after promising Helmut Kohl and John Major he would work for European solidarity, the French president lashed out at Union governments for criticising France's nuclear testing policy.

“I partially understand Monsieur Chirac,” responded Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene diplomatically after Chirac cancelled a scheduled meeting with him and a planned Franco-Italian summit with President Lamberto Dini. French Prime Minister Alain Juppé followed suit by postponing a meeting with Finnish Premier Paavo Lipponen which had been scheduled for last weekend.

Belgium, Italy and Finland were among ten EU states that voted last week in favour of a UN motion denouncing nuclear tests. French Foreign Minister Hervé de Charette, in Brussels this week for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, complained bitterly during a press conference about the “lack of solidarity between European Union members” and of their “hypocrisy”.

But sources close to the meeting said de Charette never raised the subject with fellow foreign ministers and expressed bafflement at his public outburst.

Far from raising a storm during the meeting itself, de Charette apparently tried to soothe the waters stirred up by his head of state. When Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli told him he would miss “a very nice day in Naples” because of the cancelled summit, de Charette offered to reschedule it.

Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo was one of many who said they were surprised at the way de Charette went to the press instead of discussing it with partner governments.

“Solidarity is a two-way process,” said a diplomat, adding: “The French went on with the tests in perfect knowledge that we disliked it.” Another added: “The French were not in the position to teach anybody about solidarity. They consulted no one, not their neighbours, not anybody about this series of tests.”

Most governments are now trying to assess what Chirac's apparent about-face means, and how to deal with him in future.

German diplomats were careful to stress their government had avoided making any official comment on the subject. But one commented optimistically: “It's not about European policy. We think rather it is Chirac's personal style. All that is not about Europe and whether France is pro- or anti-Europe.”

German officials did, however, admit they would have preferred to avoid the “visible split between founding members of the EU”. Preparing for the Franco-German summit in December, they added: “Our negative view of nuclear tests must not affect our relationship.”

Belgian officials say France sees no contradiction between developing its nuclear capacity and cultivating its ties with the Union, and diplomatically suggest that the two are not necessarily incompatible.

But one diplomat commented: “I don't know to whose tune he's playing. I could not say why Mr Chirac acts as he does. It is his own character and we have to see how it goes.”

During Chirac's campaign for the presidency earlier this year, French commentators repeatedly referred to Chirac's meandering political past and disparate allegiances and often asked: “Who is Chirac really?”

So why all the fuss? “It's all for home consumption,” said one political analyst. Another commented: “Chirac has a reputation for being a steamroller and for being unreliable. It is precisely what he is showing.”

But it is difficult to see how Chirac's boisterous defence of his testing policy will help his standing in French opinion, when polls show most citizens oppose the blasts.

Perhaps he feels he is defending his compatriots from the perceived threat of Germany's strong currency and overriding economic strength as the member states march towards monetary union.

As Georges Pompidou once said of the Germans: “Eux, ils ont leur deutschemark, mais nous, nous avons nôtre bombinette.”