Britain's presidency of the EU was launched yesterday - and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, unveiled its logo. The Prime Minister said the logo - which was partly designed by children of the 15-member states - summed up his message that Europe needs to work together to tackle its problems.
Britain, he stressed, had now the opportunity to help building a "people's" Europe because the indecision, vacillation and anti-Europeanism of the past had gone.
Outlining Britain's agenda for the presidency, Mr Blair said Europe must build support for what he called the "third way". The focus for economic reform should be a social model based on improving the employability of the European workforce.
The presidency would work constructively with its European partners to ensure that EMU was launched successfully, said Mr Blair. He went on to stress that Britain also wanted to secure peace, democracy and security in a wider Europe by starting enlargement negotiations.
"Our presidency is an opportunity to demonstrate that Britain now has a strong voice in Europe - and that we can at last play our part in building a Europe that works for the people and the people's priorities," he said at the launch at the Eurostar Terminal at London's Waterloo station.
But Mr Blair emphasised that the presidency was also a test for Europe to show that it can embrace the need for change and reform.
Denis Staunton reports from Berlin:
The leaders of France and Germany attempted yesterday to agree a joint strategy in advance of the EU summit in Luxembourg next Friday. President Chirac and Dr Helmut Kohl met in Bonn for what officials described as an informal discussion of a wide range of EU matters.
The atmosphere between Bonn and Paris has improved in recent months, following the abandonment of French attempts to weaken the EMU stability pact favoured by Germany. Both countries now appear likely to qualify for membership of EMU without the need to resort to creative book-keeping.
A dispute over the identity of the future president of the European Central Bank is also likely to be resolved amicably, with both countries abandoning their favoured candidates. Germany backs the Dutch central banker, Mr Wim Duisemberg, but France has proposed the governor of the Bank of France, Mr Jean-Claude Trichet.
The two sides are further apart over the issue of enlarging the EU, with Paris insisting that institutional reforms should be in place before new members are admitted.
Germany, which stands to profit most from the new markets to the east, wants reform and enlargement to take place side by side. Bonn is also more sympathetic to Turkey's application for membership, urging the EU to send a positive signal to Ankara during the Luxembourg summit.
Officials in Bonn and Paris are relieved at the new mood of harmony between their leaders and most expect the Luxembourg summit to pass off peacefully. Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Mr JeanClaude Juncker, who speaks both French and German, arrives in Bonn on Tuesday to fine-tune preparations for the summit.
The French and German foreign ministers called on Bosnia yesterday to introduce new laws in the next few days to ensure a common citizenship, government, currency and car licence plates for all their people.