FRANCO-GERMAN RELATIONS: Franco-German co-operation is exemplified by their ambassadors here, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
France and Germany were at one in their efforts to avoid war in Iraq, the ambassadors of the two countries said in Dublin yesterday. In a joint interview with The Irish Times, the German envoy, Dr Gottfried Haas and his French counterpart, Mr Gabriel de Bellescize, emphasised their common approach to the search for a peaceful solution.
"Germany, as I think all other European states, still hopes that this war can be avoided and it is Germany's position that it should be avoided." His country's Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, had gone to the United Nations Security Council in New York to put the case "against this war which we don't think will help the situation".
Mr de Bellescize said France had previously "co-operated extremely well" with Ireland on the issue of Iraq, during our two-year term on the Security Council, which has just come to an end. "Between Ireland and the French and the German position there is an awful lot in common really."
Germany was now a Security Council member and would be taking over its presidency for the potentially crucial month of February. "I dare say we are starting to work together - also extremely closely with the Germans." He added: "The Security Council has to remain in the lead in these matters."
The two ambassadors were speaking in advance of tomorrow's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the signing of the treaty of Franco-German co-operation on January 22nd, 1963. In addition to a joint session of French and German parliamentarians at Versailles, there will be a ceremony in Dublin where the French envoy will speak in German and the German envoy in French, and the guest-list will be headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
Franco-German co-operation is often described as the "engine" of the European Union and it is sometimes forgotten that these two countries, seemingly locked into an incurable hereditary enmity, fought three terrible wars against each other in less than a century.
Now there is peace and observers have been struck by the cordial relations between mainstream politicians from the two countries in recent decades. "On both sides of the Rhine there is a great consensus in all political forces that this reconciliation is essential," Dr Haas said.
Mr de Bellescize was a small child in rural France during the second World War. "I remember very well when a train was derailed by the French Resistance," he said. He was brought to the scene by his mother and recalls "all these German soldiers" and a feeling of being scared.
"It is normal to take for granted the situation as it is now but it was far from being obvious if you looked at the history," he said.
Dr Haas agreed: "I am married to a Frenchwoman. My wife Beatrice's grandfather was a colonel attending the signature of the Armistice in 1918; her father was captured in Germany and spent the whole of the second World War in a German camp. Two French generations which had their experience with Germany are very happy to embrace a German in their family. This is the new context."
As a kind of driving force in the EU, the two countries recently combined to put forward a set of joint proposals to the Convention on the Future of Europe. I pointed out there had been mixed reaction to their proposal for a president of the European Council, chosen by the member-states, in addition to the president of the Commission.
Dr Haas was unfazed: "It is on the conference table now, it will be put forward into the debate in the Convention and we will see what the outcome will be."
I suggested that, having come through the rough-and-tumble of Nice, some of our domestic politicians were not enthusiastic about a further referendum on a more ambitious set of proposals.
Mr de Bellescize agreed that European countries were suffering from "some kind of treaty fatigue". But he argued there was a "real change of nature" in the EU, which was expanding to 25 and later 27 members.
"There is a need for clarification and strengthening of the rules of the game within the EU and for thinking about the nature of the Union, redefining the whole system. So despite the treaty fatigue, we do need one more text, and we hope very much that this text will be a lasting one which will make it unnecessary to renegotiate again and again, treaty after treaty."
In a recent speech, Mr Cowen set out Ireland's stall in the negotiations. "There is a lot of common ground between what Mr Cowen is proposing and what we are proposing," the French envoy said.
Both ambassadors watched the Nice debate closely. Dr Haas said all the EU partners had learnt a lesson from the two referendums: "There needs to be more connection between governments and parliaments and people. The Convention is trying to respond to that."
I put it to them that Ireland was flexible on many issues, but our low corporate tax rates were sacred and any attempt to introduce qualified majority voting in this area would be firmly resisted.
Mr de Bellescize gave a cautious response: "It is certain that in your case taxation has to remain one of the few areas where unanimity is paramount and we respect that. This is part of the negotiation. You make your point and, at the end of the day, you have to accept what has been put forward, as you did in Nice. Well, we are putting forward our views and at the end the result has to be acceptable by all the members. It is exactly what the discussion is all about. So far you have done extremely well."
The two men were well aware of concerns about possible threats to Irish neutrality. "Each country has to decide for itself in what way it wants to contribute to security and Ireland has the concept of neutrality, which we fully respect," Dr Haas said.
His French colleague chimed in: "If there are limits for Ireland, well, it is for Ireland to decide exactly what are the limits. The Irish have indicated very clearly that if the other partners were going beyond the Irish limits they would not take part, but they would not prevent others from moving forward."
Summing up, Dr Haas said we should all be celebrating the Franco-German anniversary and its contribution to the building of the EU: "Europe is the best answer to the follies of the past on our continent."