Today's Date:

THE MINISTER – (...) I am very touched by the friendship and excellent welcome I am receiving here, which doesn't surprise me. Let me begin by thanking the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister. This morning, I had a very cordial meeting with the Prime Minister in his office, when we had a lengthy discussion not only on all the bilateral issues, but also on Europe.

UEFA EURO 2004/OLYMPIC GAMES

Of course, I congratulated Greece on her superb football victory. You should know that the French Foreign Minister is very interested in sport and has been for a long time: (...) I was lucky enough to spend ten years organizing the Olympic Games. I was Co-Chairman, with Jean-Claude Killy, of the Organizing Committee for the 1992 Winter Olympics, and I'm very, very happy to see Greece's enthusiastic approach to what is a tremendous event, the summer Olympic Games, after this superb victory.

This is in fact one of the reasons, but not the only one, why, for the past five years, I have very closely followed, with the Greek authorities, the preparation of the Games and, in particular, the substantial European contribution to all the public infrastructure works which will contribute to making a success of the Athens Olympic Games.

EU

Since we are talking about the European Union – to which we, Petros Molyviatis, all the other ministers and I are committed – I have to say that this is a very important moment for Europe, with the EU facing many external and internal challenges: those of growth, employment, and the cultural and social dimension we must now give it so that our citizens feel closer to this institution. So that the EU can function with twenty-five countries today – soon twenty-seven, with Bulgaria and Romania – we are also obliged to have a workable European Constitution. A few weeks ago, on 18 June, the heads of State and Government approved this Constitution. Our citizens must now be able to take ownership of it and it has to be ratified, either by the parliamentary route or by referendum. So the try has to be converted. To convert the try of 18 June and make this Constitution operational, we need something like Charisteas' "header". I hope that we'll do politically what Charisteas did on the pitch!

FRANCE/GREECE

Finally, a word on the bilateral relations between our two countries which are genuinely excellent and friendly and we're keen to strengthen even further in the future. Greece is an important partner for France. At the cultural level, we're looking to make progress, I'm thinking of Greece's candidature for [associate] membership, which I hope comes soon, of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie [International Francophone organization]. As regards cultural exchanges, there are a lot of projects in the pipeline; there are a lot too in the economic sphere between our firms, and at the political level since Greece is at a nerve centre of this part of Europe – next to the Balkans, at the heart of the Mediterranean and so close to the Middle East – and has a major political role to play. That's why in this region too we're anxious to strengthen our partnership.

EURO-COMMITTEE/EU CONSTITUTION PROMOTION

THE MINISTER – Yes, I'm aware of that idea, put forward by Greece's former Prime Minister, Mr Simitis, whom I know well. I think it's interesting. We need, of course, to check whether all member States feel the same way about it. This initiative puts the finger on a real problem: are we going to tackle this new political stage of ratification each in our own country, with an every-man-for-himself attitude? Personally, I think that would be a mistake, on such an important issue, on a text which is in reality a new Treaty of Rome. By the way, it will be signed in Rome in October. I think there's a need for a European debate, not twenty-five juxtaposed debates spread over two years, with the risk of them being hijacked for domestic policy ends in each country, but, on the contrary, for the first time, a real European debate, taking place if possible – I said this to the Prime Minister – over the same fairly short period. And all this has to be prepared in some way or other. Should it be by a committee like the one Mr Simitis is proposing? By a campaign financed by the Commission and the European Parliament? All the ideas are constructive and we must think about them and prepare for what is a necessary, but difficult ratification period. We must do this together, not each in our own country or with an every-man-for-himself attitude.

IRAQ/FRANCE

THE MINISTER – I announced, the day after the effective transfer of sovereignty in Baghdad, that we were ready to restore our diplomatic relations. I announced this last Tuesday; yesterday, Mr Allawi had a meeting with our chargι d'affaires, and things are now going to be done fairly quickly.

EU CONSTITUTION RATIFICATION

THE MINISTER – We have to be clear about what this new constitutional treaty is. It isn't a supplement to the preceding treaties. It's a "reconstruction" of all the treaties, including the 1957 Treaty of Rome. It restructures, "reconstructs" all the treaties and improves all the institutions. So it's difficult to imagine some countries deciding to have the Constitution and others not. So much for the practicalities. At the legal level, the texts are clear, EU law is clear: to come into force, the Constitution must be ratified by all the countries, each in the way it decides – through parliament or a referendum – just as it was approved by all the heads of State and government. That's the law. So if one or two countries weren't to ratify this test, there would no longer be a Constitution. Yet we need the Constitution to make this twenty-five or twenty-seven member European Union function, with what it has already pooled – the common market, single currency, common policies – and the tools of the political Europe which are in this Constitution and for us are very important: the common foreign and defence policies. We need this Constitution.

FRANCE/GERMANY/EU/BOSNIA/IRAQ