Germany Takes the Lead in Europe

...In statesmanlike fashion, too, Schröder and Fischer tried to mediate among contending delegations when Chirac failed to act...

...Foreign Minister Fischer has already taken a leadership step by proposing another summit to do the restructuring the Nice meeting was meant to do...

...For President Chirac, the summit was a deep embarrassment...

...Norman Gelb reports regularly for The New Leader on British affairs...

...troops have been involved in frustrating peacemaking and peacekeeping operations in the Baikans, and many Americans feel the Europeans have not contributed enough to the effort...

...They can also appeal to the European Court in Strasbourg against what they believe to be violations of human rights, gender prejudice or other injustices for which they have not received satisfaction from national courts...

...The British do not appear troubled for the moment, but could turn apprehensive...

...But if relations between the new Administration in Washington and the Europeans become increasingly complicated, that might well spark faster European Union integration and expansion than the Continent's leaders have so far proved able to achieve...

...Although neither Thatcher nor Hague carry much weight with the electorate these days, their message was trumpeted with considerable effect by the largely Tory-inclined British press—especially in the scare headlines of Rupert Murdoch's best-selling London tabloid, the Sun...

...But departing Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen told the EU that continued U.S...

...He hoped to use his chairmanship to distract attention from a political corruption scandal in which he is allegedly involved...

...Chaotic as the summit proved to be, for Prime Minister Blair it was a huge domestic success...

...Citizens of European Union nations can operate transnational companies, or simply buy goods in another EU country and bring them home without being required to pay a customs duty...

...By law, moreover, an Italian can run for office in, say, Austria, and serve if elected—or a Dane in Ireland, or a Greek in Portugal...

...Prominent Europhobes like former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Conservative Party leader William Hague issued grim warnings that if Blair were permitted to have his way, the country could be absorbed into a European superstate...

...Where Conservative leader Hague is heading is anyone's guess...

...These grew so intense that Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair undiplomatically declared, "We cannot do business like this in the future," and several other heads of government expressed their disgust as well...

...The prospect of them developing the capacity to police their own patch without the U.S...

...Britain was determined to retain what it considers crucial vetoes on taxation and social security issues...

...It might have important consequences, too, for relations within what has been a remarkably enduring Western alliance...

...Germany, with by far the biggest population in the union, sought to increase its policy making influence commensurately...

...Disputes over free trade, and the unfair advantages state subsidies offer some industries, have threatened to turn into trade warfare in the past and could grow quite bitter in the future...

...But the wrangling on the French Riviera needs to be seen against the background of the organization's remarkable accomplishments thus far...

...In the event, the melee the summit turned into made a mockery of doomladen prophecies about the likely emergence of a consuming European superstate...

...It has generated vitality in previously backward corners of the member countries...

...and the EU may similarly show a strain...

...Besides failing to properly lay the groundwork for the summit, Chirac issued rulings during the proceedings that were seen as arrogant, arbitrary and, at one point, contradictory...

...They endlessly reported tales of the EU's swollen bureaucracy, blatant inefficiency, cronyism, and corruption...

...All that has come about since the launching of the EU at a press conference in France on May 9,1950—an extraordinarily brief span of time considering how ingrained xenophobic nationalism was in Europe over the centuries...

...In addition, he was openly rude to former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who heads the European Commission...

...The 15-nationEuropeanUnion(EU), embracing all of Western Europe with the exception of Norway and Switzerland, is seeking to make fundamental changes in the Continent's political structure...

...But other EU members take serious exception to the U.S.' positions on environmental, trade and military matters...

...Some run their British businesses from there via cyberspace...

...It remains to be seen, of course, whether Germany will provide the EU with the direction France no longer appears capable of supplying—and Britain refuses to take on, as shown by its continuing unwillingness to join in accepting the euro as a common currency or to surrender its veto powers...

...For another, they believe it could increase international tensions—especially in the light of growing militarism in Vladimir V Putin's Russia and a more assertive China—without offering their countries any additional protection...

...Worst of all, from his perspective, he was unable to block Germany's re-emergence as Europe's most influential power...

...Every day people who live in Moenchengladbach in Germany, for example, travel by train or car to work in the neighboring Netherlands as unceremoniously as New Jersey residents commute to jobs in New York each morning...

...An estimated half million Britons own second homes in France, where country real estate is much cheaper...

...And with a combined population already exceeding that of the United States, it has plans to include up to 12 more nations, mostly from the former Soviet bloc, over the next five years...

...French President Jacques Chirac, who as the present holder of the EU's rotating presidency organized and chaired the conclave, was accused of being overbearing, obstructionist and muddled...

...Thanks in part to inadequate preliminary preparation, though, it quickly bogged down as members seized the occasion to press their own interests...

...If achieved, they are likely to have profound significance for the United States and the rest of the world...

...Europhobes caution that it will be the embryo of a European Army over which Britain will have only peripheral control...

...The summit had been called to streamline the workings of the EU's policy-initiating European Commission in Brussels, to reduce the areas where any member can exercise a veto, and to smooth the way for absorbing applicant nations...

...The one issue on which it seemed he would be most vulnerable in the British elections expected next May —giving up a greater amount of national sovereignty in a more integrated European Union—has been defused...

...being drawn in too deeply, or at all, is very appealing...

...Blair personally gets on well with Schröder, a "Third Way" politician like himself...

...Without bluster or giving offense when they didn't get everything they wanted, they made certain their country's interests were protected...

...What is more, as the Prime Minister promised—and contrary to Conservative warnings—he energetically helped ward off all but relatively minor moves toward increased centralization in EU governing bodies...

...The Tories had mounted a vigorous campaign against what they claimed was Blair's willingness to dilute Britain's distinctive identity by deferring to the decisions of faceless EU bureaucrats in Brussels...

...France on occasion seems hostile out of petulant anti-Americanism—for instance last June, when Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine refused to sign a worthy declaration "encouraging emerging democracies" because it supposedly reflected an American rather than a French worldview...

...As the stormy December EU summit meeting in the sun-drenched Mediterranean city of Nice demonstrated, the new structure will be difficult to negotiate...

...the United States) has chosen not to act, or to sharply limit its involvement...

...Even the French recognize that a strong, prosperous United States remains essential for ongoing prosperity in Europe and for world peace...

...They said the union squandered a huge part of its massive budget on a disastrous Common Agricultural Policy that everyone except heavily subsidized French farmers knows is absurd...

...Nevertheless, Washington gave its blessings to the RRF...

...They railed about the way the European Court was repeatedly overruling British court decisions...

...Most important, against pressure from the European Commission and a majority of the member nations, he successfully defended Britain's right to retain vetoes on the policies of greatest importance to it...

...And spokespersons for the incoming Republican Administration made it clear the EU countries—despite their reluctance and budgetary constraints— must spend more on improving their arsenals so that the U.S...

...Instead, he singlehandedly demolished the French reputation for shrewd diplomacy that had made it the dominant postwar force in Europe's integration...

...France was bent on preserving its disproportionate leverage in the EU, established over the years through skillful maneuvering at previous summits and at the Commission's headquarters...

...Sensitive to Britain's concerns, including not diluting its longstanding "special relationship" with the U.S., Fischer subsequently said that while the EU will be heading toward closer political integra tion, it is made up of different cultures and Ian guages and will therefore "never become a federation of states like America...

...Internal conflicts notwithstanding, the EU is the most highly integrated international partnership on the face of the globe...

...Italy wanted to make certain it did not lose ground in decision making to any of the three larger member nations, or to any assortment of smaller ones...

...approval would depend on having all planning for RRF operations done under joint NATO and EU supervision...

...policies and would prefer the EU to distance itself from them...

...While still far from superseding national identity, European identity in the union is now more pronounced than ever before, particularly among young people...

...The last, in fact, explains the summit's approval of plans to put together a 60,000 strong European Rapid Reaction Force (RRF...

...Those newspapers missed no opportunity to warn of the menacing ogre on the far side of the English Channel, lusting to swallow Britain whole...

...It has turned the EU into an economic power that is capable of competing with, and aspires to surpass, the United States in the Internet Age...

...Indeed, the December summit, originally scheduled for two days, turned into five day's of fractious, demoralizing arguments...

...For one thing, they see it as symbolizing a less internationalist approach to world affairs than existed during the Clinton years...

...Now European leaders are striving to carry the process forward, but their differences concerning what should be done, and how, are deep and divisive...

...It is too early to tell exactly how the new Administration will look upon the EU and vice versa...

...They further see it as conflicting with Europe's commitments to NATO...

...Blair's triumph at the summit was a serious setback for the British Conservatives, who continue to make little impression on the voters...

...On the other hand, European leaders have displayed a marked nervousness about President George W. Bush supporting the deployment of an antimissile defense system...

...Not surprisingly, the French are dismayed by the German ascendancy...

...Largely unrestricted cross-border trade, travel and residence is so commonplace that the French government funds the emigration of many of its young unemployeds to Britain, where there are better job prospects and where, unlike immigrants from Third World nations, they enjoy the same rights and benefits as natives...

...They gained the right for Germans to have more seats than any other nation in the European Parliament, and to have more influence in the organization's other bodies...

...Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle, who declared the force is a product of French "conceit" meant to marginalize the Americans in Europe...

...In fairness, that was bound to happen sooner or later once Germany was reunited and considered to have shed its residual guilt over the Third Reich's infamy...

...The Blair government believes this important and has agreed to contribute a contingent...

...London did not take kindly, though, to Fischer's openly expressed wish for a federal European system, with an elected president...

...In effect, they said Blair was going to Nice to sell what was left of Britain's proud distinctiveness...

...With the Continent's biggest population and strongest economy, and its current efforts to rebuild Russia's troubled economy, it could not long be denied recognition as first among equals in Europe Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer were calm, assertive, confident presences at the summit...

...Economic relations between the U.S...

...will not have to shoulder the bulk of the military hardware burden, even where its troops are not on the ground...

...The big powers made some concessions in the treaty bumblfngly hammered out December 9, but they still have the ability to block any substantive proposals that do not meet with their favor, no matter how many other members disagree...

...Its stated purpose is to tackle European humanitarian and peacekeeping problems when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (i.e...

...So does former U.S...

...They also went out of their way to secure a stronger position in the union than anticipated for Poland after it secures membership, a reassuring gesture to every applicant...

...Despite popular outrage in the country about the tragic shortcomings of the National Health Service and the breakdown in transportation services across the land, Blair appears headed for another overwhelming victory come election day...

...Be that as it may, some in Europe are sharply critical of U.S...

...Belgium, Greece and the other smaller EU nations came to Nice resolved to protect their role in policy making and prevent their being upstaged by the countries waiting anxiously on the admission line...

...But former Labor Defense Secretary Denis Healey believes creating the RRF runs the risk of pushing America back to isolationism...