Schröder on way back as France and Germany reign in Spain

By Craig Winneker

Date: 16/09/04

OLD Europe rears its weary but still well-coiffed head this week, as the leaders of Spain, France and Germany proclaim that all is not lost among the once-great powers - and demonstrate yet again that when EU member states really want to get something done they form into breakout sessions.

But Spanish papers are sceptical about Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero's decision to reach out to Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder in this latest European power play.

On the one hand, argues El Pais, "the summit marks Spain's return to the central axis, which it should never have left".

But on the other, it warns that Spain should not expect a fully fledged role in the "very special relationship" between France and Germany, adding that Britain is also unlikely to be left out in the cold: "France knows it will need London's help when the moment of truth arrives for a European security policy."

El Mundo frets over Madrid's increasingly chilly relations with the United States, the UK and Italy. "The alliance that emerged yesterday in Madrid will face some hard tests in the future," the paper says. "Then we shall find out how strong the three leaders' handshake was."

La Razon thinks Spain is merely making itself the weakest member of a stronger "continental axis" and risking "greater confrontation with the United States".

And ABC believes the Spanish government's move is based on an outdated view of France and Germany as the heart of Europe. "This was valid in the 1950s," the paper argues, "but has become obsolete in the present 25-strong Union".

Germany, meanwhile, has problems of its own.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung believes Chancellor Schröder's controversial welfare reforms are now finally working in his favour, even in the wake of a series of crushing electoral setbacks. It argues that respect for him in his Social Democratic Party has recently grown and that he has left behind the difficult patch he has faced since introducing his reform package.

France's Le Monde says Schröder still has "his back to the wall" when it comes to the demands of the German electorate, but praises him for pushing forward with his plans for change.

"The chancellor has stuck to his guns," the paper says. "He had no choice, because his future depended on his political courage."

Showing another kind of courage is Germany's President, Horst Köhler, who very candidly proclaimed that the country's federal government should stop trying to level out living conditions between the west and the formerly (and perhaps future-ly?) communist east.

Der Tagesspiegel believes that in making the remarks Köhler overstepped his authority. "The president must not needlessly alienate parts of the population, as has happened now, as if there were not enough unrest [already] in eastern Germany."

But Süddeutsche Zeitung thinks too much has been read into the president's comments and accuses people in both east and west of twisting his words to suit their own world view. "In Germany," the paper predicts, "it will take a generation, probably even longer, for people's approach to life and living conditions to grow together".

Writing from her new position as Berlin correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the indefatigable Judy Dempsey (formerly a Brussels hack for the Financial Times) says Köhler should be saluted at least for being bold.

"By publicly questioning whether the big differences in living standards and unemployment in his country could ever be bridged, Köhler broke a taboo few prominent personalities in the political establishment would dare do."

• Craig Winneker is the editor of TCS-International (www.TechCentralStation.be), a Brussels-based website.

Comment reviewing the international press on the Spanish-French-German summit, welfare reforms in Germany and the critical remarks on levelling out of living conditions across Germany made by Federal President Köhler.