IGC strike force

Date: 10/10/1996

THEY are the ultimate odd couple. He is bulky, gregarious and talkative, she is petite, retiring and softly spoken.

But behind these superficial differences, Elisabeth Guigou and Elmar Brok have more in common than meets the eye. They are an efficient double act and their skilful teamwork in ensuring the European Parliament's voice is heard in the Intergovernmental Conference has won them rave reviews.

“They are part of the IGC group's conscience. The Parliament is realistic, but it is not going for the lowest common denominator and it is listened to seriously. They make useful fresh interventions, stimulate discussion and are a good catalyst,” said one IGC negotiator.

Brok and Guigou's success in the talks on the Union's future, which are now approaching their half-way stage, can be explained partly by the attraction of opposites, and partly by their complementary talents.

“It is almost the classic partnership: man/woman, German/French, christian democrat/socialist and MEP/technocrat. And it works,” observed one parliamentary official.

Another explained: “One reason they get along well is because he is a left-wing christian democrat and she is a right-wing socialist, so they meet in the middle.”

The identity of the Parliament's IGC strike force was far from clear when MEPs were called on last year to appoint two of their number to represent them in former Spanish European Affairs Minister Carlos Westendorp's Reflection Group.

Brok, with his good lines of communication with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's private office and 15 years' experience as an MEP, was an obvious choice from the christian democrats' ranks.

But the decision was less clear-cut in the Socialist group. German and British members suspected that Guigou, who had participated in the Maastricht negotiations as France's minister for European affairs, would, by instinct, be more sympathetic to a governmental than a parliamentary point of view.

Her main rival was Scottish Labour MEP, David Martin, who had long been involved in EU reform and was a parliamentary vice-president. But Guigou's pedigree won out in the end.

“She got the job because she knew almost all the people on the Westendorp group and it was felt that these personal contacts could be a big advantage for the Parliament. The socialists wanted someone well-known, with a European stature, and she very quickly appeared to be the only one,” explained an official.

Or, as another observer noted: “She reaches parts of Europe the European Parliament does not normally reach.”

From the earliest days, the chemistry worked. The two instinctively trust each other, talk easily in English (their preferred means of communication) and last year invested a great deal of time in visiting every EU capital to speak to national parliaments in the run-up to the IGC negotiations.

Guigou's attention to detail and ability to devour briefing notes has surprised even officials steeped in the most arcane areas of EU activity. Brok, on the other hand, prefers to take a more sweeping approach. And yet the differences in their characters are complementary.

Guigou has little time for small talk and will invariably hurry off to her next engagement as soon as meetings have finished. During the French Socialist Party's recent study days in Figeac, she chose to spend time in her room polishing up a speech rather than attend a gala dinner.

Her reserve may hide a degree of shyness. Guigou is undoubtedly more comfortable with formal, rather than informal, contacts. She addresses her parliamentary staff in the polite vous form rather than using the more familiar tu favoured by her colleagues, and she can be a demanding taskmaster.

Brok is the complete opposite. His style reflects bonhomie and a sense of humour and he enjoys staying behind to chat to IGC representatives after meetings. Those characteristics have helped him develop an extensive network of contacts across Europe, many of whom, especially in Scandinavia, date back to his days in youth politics.

“He is a much more sophisticated operator now than he was five years ago. He is a classic smoke-filled rooms man. He will go on talking all night with people and then have a beer afterwards. He is not a document devourer, but he is good at using small talk for political purposes,” said one official.

This ebullient side of Brok's character and his well-filled contacts book were most graphically displayed at the MEP's 50th birthday party in May. In the impressive surroundings of the Solvay Library in Brussels' Leopold Park, he celebrated the occasion with a glittering array of guests from across Europe.

The Brok/Guigou tandem has emerged from very contrasting backgrounds. The German MEP studied in Edinburgh, worked as a journalist and climbed his way up through Christian Democratic Union ranks from youth politics to his present post as chairman of the party's Ostwestfalen-Lippe district. This position gives him a pivotal role in the party's internal machinery.

Brok's life could have taken a different turn. If his parents had not vetoed it, he would probably have taken up an offer to play professional football in the German league - no mean achievement for a man who has a glass eye as the result of a childhood illness.

Guigou's path has been very different. Born in Marrakesh, she spent the first 21 years of her life in Morocco and still returns to the country regularly. She entered the upper echelons of French public service via the Ecole Nationale d'Administration before working in a series of prestigious posts, including a two-year stint in France's London embassy.

Her career took a more political course in 1982 when she became an aide to Jacques Delors, with whom she remains in close contact. From there, it was a short step to becoming adviser to the then French President François Mitterrand before being appointed as European affairs minister.

Despite the respect which the IGC duo enjoy, they are not above criticism from their colleagues. The most common charge levelled against them is absenteeism. Their wide range of interests - neither is just an IGC 'junkie' - means that they have conflicting commitments and little time for other parliamentary business. It is not an unusual sight for both to pull out their mobile phones and talk to their respective domestic political contacts while being driven to and from IGC meetings.

A member of the Socialist Party's national executive and heavily involved in formulation of its social affairs policies, Guigou has to be in Paris every Wednesday afternoon. Apart from writing books, she is also heavily involved in the Paris-based think-tank and non-profit-making organisation, Europartenaire, which has established an extensive network of economists, business people, trade unionists and researchers.

Brok is highly active in EU-US relations via the Transatlantic Policy Network and, more controversially, is a European affairs adviser to the German media giant Bertelsmann. He makes no secret of the relationship and, given that the company's headquarters are in his constituency, there is a certain logic to it.

But the connection is understood to have been frowned on by Kohl and almost certainly meant the end of any hopes Brok might have had of leading the christian democratic group in the European Parliament.

For some, this very diversity and interest in other areas of European daily life are among the two MEPs' strengths and help to bridge the gap between the Union and the wider public.

“One day Brok could be addressing EU foreign ministers and the next he could be talking in the back room of a Turkish grocery store in Bielefeld about the Union's consumer policy. He is very good at addressing different people and at tailoring his message - but not changing it - to his audience,” explained one colleague.

However successful, this is one political partnership that is destined to end. Completion of the IGC could be one reason. Another could be conflicting political ambitions. Brok's game-plan is unclear, but he is likely to remain in the European Parliament, while Guigou wants to return to domestic politics and is cultivating a possible national assembly seat in Avignon, where she is already a regional councillor.

But although their paths may diverge in the next year or so, the two are more than likely to meet up again, given their shared determination to play an active part in shaping the future of the European Union.