Today's Date:

Iraq - Eighty-first Franco-German consultations - Statements made by M. Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic, during his joint press conference with Mr Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of the Federal German Republic (excerpts)

Berlin, 18 September 2003

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Q. - On the subject of post-war Iraq, do you think it will be possible to arrive at a common European position at your trilateral meeting the day after tomorrow with Prime Minister Blair? Similarly, do you support the initiative of the Federal Chancellor who has proposed helping with the training of the Iraqi army?

THE PRESIDENT - First of all, we are concerned, of course, about the situation in Iraq. Our analysis of it is the same. We think that a strictly security-orientated policy won't restore security, development and stability in Iraq and that we must move as swiftly as possible towards a far more political solution, i.e. the rapid transfer, under UN control, of the responsibilities of government to Iraq's current governmental authorities. And when I say as fast as possible, for me it's a matter of months, not years.

That's our common view on the Iraq problem. The Chancellor was indeed talking about the possibility of making a positive contribution to resolving Iraq's security problem by training a number of officers or representatives of either the police or military forces. It goes without saying that if the Chancellor confirms this position, France will take the same [position] for the same reasons. (...).

Q. - Mr. President, you just said that Europe had to be made more effective. Can you explain your government's attitude first toward the stability pact, which was recently criticized, and then, with regard to the Alstom case, toward the decision to present the Commission with a fait accompli?

(…)

THE PRESIDENT - As the question was addressed to the Chancellor and myself, I would like to say first that Germany and France have exactly the same analysis of the Stability Pact, the same view of things, from which we draw the same conclusions. I therefore have nothing to add to what the Chancellor said.

As for Alstom, I could give you the same answer. It is in fact a very large European business, comprising some 120,000 people: 28,000 in France, 11,000 in Germany, 35,000 in other European countries. That is indeed considerable. We have never tried to give a "diktat" to the Commission, which is, as we all know, the custodian of treaties and has a duty to issue a judgment that we are not contesting. We are simply saying that on an affair of this scale, which affects the lives of so many families, and also calls into question a very large European business, it is important to examine things with a commensurate sense of responsibility. That is what is currently being done.
And the discussions that are taking place at the moment, notably between the French Government and the Commission, are both positive and, in my view, promising for the days to come. They leave me feeling, I would say, relatively optimistic, or in any event, hopeful about their outcome, given their primary concern with maintaining jobs for these 120,000 workers and preserving a major European business.

Q. - Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, can you give us the figures for the financing of these 10 growth projects? The French press reported 3 billion euros, the federal government would be in favor of a lower amount. What would that be?

[…]

THE PRESIDENT - Obviously, throwing out such figures doesn't make sense. There's private capital, public capital, the intervention of the European Bank... it doesn't make sense.

Q. - Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, did you discuss the establishment of an EADS maritime unit at the HDW naval shipyards?

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER - No, and in fact it isn't our role to talk about the cooperation between businesses, or their merger, at such a concrete or detailed level. But I won't deny that I wholeheartedly hope to see, based on the EADS model, close industrial cooperation between France and Germany, not only in aeronautics but also in other industrial sectors. That is now the role of the leaders of the concerned companies, as we are talking about private companies on both the German and French side. I am hoping for it, generally speaking, and if a result can be achieved, and talks between the two boards of directors are successful and lead to cooperation and a Franco-German alliance, regardless of the final form, well, I can only welcome it. I can only encourage those who have these responsibilities to actively strive toward Franco-German cooperation in this area.

THE PRESIDENT - My sentiments exactly.

There's a point I forget before that I'd like to get back to because it's important. Neither of us had a chance to mention it earlier.

The French Prime Minister, Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, proposed-and we adopted his idea which is, I believe, particularly timely and useful today-to organize a special social summit that would bring together labor unions and employers' organizations with representatives of national governments and the Commission. We agreed to this, as it would currently be useful.

[…]

Thank you./.