German, French, British leaders _ united after Iraq _ urge economic push

[Judi Lynn]

German, French, British leaders _ united after Iraq _ urge economic push

JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, February 18, 2004


(02-18) 12:19 PST BERLIN (AP) --

German, French and British leaders agreed Wednesday on broad proposals aimed at making Europe the world's premier economic power this decade.

The plan calls for appointment of a new European Union official to push that goal.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled the recommendations at a summit meant to signal unity after last year's rifts over the Iraq -- even as alarmed European partners insisted the big three nations could not hope to steer Europe alone.

The leaders called for measures to stimulate job creation and boost the competitiveness of European industry, as well as a stepped-up role for the EU's executive or Commission in guiding economic reforms for the bloc that is expanding to 25 countries from 15 in May.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/02/18/international1519EST0682.DTL

[GRClarkesq]

1. Anyone know what their economic plans are?

other than appointing another EU bureaucrat.

I didnt see any plan in the article.

[Turley]

2. United my arse

This mutual hate between Chirac/Schroeder and Blair hasn't waned. You could really feel the love between Schroeder and Tony today. They looked like a snake and a mongoose forced to pose together for pictures.

Furthermore, this is not much of a show of "unity" when the three largest economic powers in the EU meet and are met by howls of dirision from the rest of the community.

As far as I can tell, the only plan they have is for Brussels to look the other way as Germany breaks the 3% Maastricht limit for a 4th straight year. How they plan to be the World's premier economic power is also a riddle. Taxes are sky-high, pension systems across Europe are creaky, and we'll probably spend the next ten years filling and re-filling every pothole from Zagreb to Warsaw.