Friday

29th Mar 2024

UK, Germany and France seek closer ties

  • British Prime Minister Tony Blair would like to meet French President Jacques Chirac more often (Photo: European Commission)

The UK, France and Germany are planning to hold high level regular meetings much more often, as they believe that in an enlarged EU, important issues could be best discussed among a smaller group of nations.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are hoping to meet their French and German counterparts roughly every six weeks, writes the Telegraph.

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Trilateral policy meetings with Paris and Berlin indicate that Britain is rethinking the way its diplomacy works in Europe.

"You cannot really discuss policy among 25. You can vote on it but not really have real, free discussion", a senior official told the Telegraph.

According to the newspaper, Paris has also approved this plan. "It's motivated by a realisation of the simple fact that Europe can't go forward unless the three get their act together", said a French diplomat.

The foreign ministers from all three countries held private talks near London at the beginning of this week.

UK set to join Franco-German 'motor'

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw wants Britain to link up with France and Germany in order to strengthen the 'motor' driving an enlarged EU. The declaration follows several examples of increased co-operation between the 'big three'.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

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