In this issue:

France and Germany Succeed in Blocking Maastrict Sanctions

Schroeder Affirms Vision of Franco-German Alliance

Does Bush Reject Rumsfeld's View of 'Old Europe'?

German Chancellor Sees 'Privatized' Networks in Turkey Terror Attacks

Turkish Editor: al-Qaeda 'Scapegoated' in Turkish Attacks

Schroeder Offers Civilian Assistance to Iraqi Government

Europe Demands Israel Label Exports From Occupied Territories

Blair Kicks Up New Storm in Parliament After 'Queen's Speech'

Blair Promotes Wind Power

From Volume 2, Issue Number 48 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Dec. 2, 2003

Western European News Digest

France and Germany Succeed in Blocking Maastrict Sanctions

France and Germany prevailed in blocking Maastricht sanctions at the European Union Finance Ministers meeting in Brussels Nov. 24, when only four of 15 EU ministers voted for the sanctions against the two countries. France and Germany have exceeded the budget deficit limits imposed by the Stability Pact. The session confirmed the pro-Maastricht view of the four Eurozone Finance Ministers of Spain, Austria, Finland, and the Netherlands.

The Finance Ministers of Sweden, Denmark, and Britain cannot vote on internal Eurozone matters, even if they oppose the French and Germans, because they are outside of the zone.

Behind the scenes, the EU Commission, which otherwise is against the Franco-German line, was pulled into a "neutral" position, in a deal arranged through Italy's Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti, in which sanctions are off for an entire year, in "return" for a promise from France and Germany to reduce deficits in 2004 and 2005, by about 0.5% GDP, instead of the 0.8 to 1.0% originally demanded.

Nominally, the Maastricht Pact is still in effect, but, in the words of Deputy Finance Minister of Sweden Gunnar Lund, "It is seriously amputated, it is almost dead, but not dead yet."

As far as France and Germany are concerned, they certainly can be satisfied for the moment, but they are in urgent need of a real economic policy if they are to prevent worse things ahead.

Schroeder Affirms Vision of Franco-German Alliance

Interviewed in Der Spiegel Nov. 24, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, asked whether talk of a Franco-German union was a realistic design or pure nonsense, answered, "One should not call it nonsense. It is, indeed, an attractive vision that will not become real in the near future, but why not think about such steps? Isn't it wonderful that people think about bringing Germany and France closer to each other—rather than the opposite?... We have always wanted the process of European integration, and if Germany and France march forward again, it can only do good. This process must be kept open for everyone, naturally."

Does Bush Reject Rumsfeld's View of 'Old Europe'?

U.S. Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas, speaking in Brussels, said that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in referring to "old Europe," was "missing the point of the dynamics that are unfolding in Europe right now," and that, "that is not the way I look at the world, and it is certainly not the way the President looks at the world." He added that "there is no 'new' Europe or 'old' Europe; there is just Europe."

UPI says that Aldonas is the first leading official to reject the Rumsfeld statement. Aldonas's remarks were report by Gareth Harding in the Nov. 25 Washington Times.

German Chancellor Sees 'Privatized' Networks in Turkey Terror Attacks

In an interview with the Der Spiegel weekly, which was taped during his return flight to Germany on Nov. 20, and published in the Nov. 24 edition of the magazine, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder characterized the latest Turkish terror attacks as a "new threat of privatized violence" which "must be decisively countered by the community of nations.... I fear it will be a long battle. It has to be answered with the use of force, but not exclusively with force."

Schroeder came back to the new terrorism issue later in the interview, saying: "it is not war in the classical sense, which is a conflict between states, but it is attacks by privatized violence—organized crime, that is."

Regarding the use of non-military means in the fight against terrorism, Schroeder said, "what is important for us is the commitment not to let the dialogue with non-fundamentalist Islam break off, and that we learn to differentiate between those who support terrorism and those who want to fight it together with us."

Turkish Editor: Al-Qaeda 'Scapegoated' in Turkish Attacks

The German left-wing daily Junge Welt published an interview Nov. 24 with Mehmet Ceviker, foreign affairs editor of the leftist Turkish weekly Aydinlink, in which Ceviker said al-Qaeda only served as a scapegoat for others, who carried out the recent terrorist attacks in Turkey.

The situation in Turkey is rather complicated, Ceviker said, because an Islamist government tried to push through a parliamentary decision in favor of Turkey supporting the U.S. in Iraq, but it was the military which overturned that decision.

"This left Washington quite embarrassed. Because of that, one might interpret the recent terrorist attacks as a warning also to Turkey—and other states skeptical about the war in Iraq, for example, France and Germany."

Al-Qaeda is nothing, Ceviker says, it did not even exist before 9-11, adding that earlier Turkish groups, such as IDBA-C is a co-product of earlier Turkish and the CIA anti-insurgency operations in Turkey of the 1990s.

As far as the Turkish military is concerned, Ceviker accuses the German left of "prejudice," in not recognizing that, "after the collapse of the Soviet Union, new constellations came into being. Already, in 1991, the Turkish army watched the Gulf War very critically. Even then, it was clear that the U.S.A. wanted to use control of Iraq to redraw the borders in the Middle East, including the establishment of a Kurdish state. That, however, would also threaten the existence of Turkey, and that is why the Turkish military opposes it," Ceviker explained. But, he adds, this is "not just in theory. In 1996, Turkish and Iraqi security forces jointly moved against U.S. agents in northern Iraq, who then had to be flown out by the U.S.A."

Schroeder Offers Civilian Assistance to Iraqi Government

In an interview published in the Nov. 24 Der Spiegel weekly, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that he does not rejoice over the U.S. problems in Iraq, or take an "I-told-you-so" attitude. "It would be completely wrong to have an attitude like that. I have no interest in throwing anything in anyone's face.... It is in Germany's and Europe's interest that the process of democratization and reconstruction in Iraq succeeds. We are ready to help in that."

Germany would, however, not take part in any military mission in Iraq, he reaffirmed: "We haven't been asked to send soldiers, and we do not have any intention of making an offer.... We can talk about doing even more for the civilian efforts to rebuild Iraq, but there won't be any military deployment."

Concerning Iraqi debts, Schroeder said that the Club of Paris had to discuss a long-term, generous rescheduling, resembling the solution found for Germany's debts 50 year ago. "Germany will certainly be helpful on the issue. We have not forgotten what helped Germany after World War II. Without the generous rescheduling of Germany's foreign debts, thanks to efforts led by the Americans, there would not have been any reconstruction or the economic miracle."

Iraq should be master of its own resources and on the basis of that, the money generated could be used for reconstruction, Schroeder said, not ruling out that partial debt forgiveness could be considered, in addition.

Europe Demands Israel Label Exports From Occupied Territories

Following the European Union threat to slap import duties on Israeli imports, Israel has agreed to label all products made in the occupied territories, Ha'aretz reported Nov. 26.

The EU has conducted no less the 4,000 investigations of Israeli companies exporting goods under preferential tariff agreements, which goods were in fact made in the occupied territories.

Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Ehud Olmert announced that all goods will have a label of origin. The labels will not say "Made in Occupied Territories," but will give the city of origin. Thus, products made in Ariel, which is in the Occupied Territories will have a label saying "Made in Ariel" and be subject to import duties. This labelling also applies to goods made inside Israel itself. Thus, products made in Tel Aviv, which is inside Israel, will have a label saying "Made in Tel Aviv."

This absurdity is a compromise, since the Sharon government did not want "Made in Occupied Territories" or even worse, "Made in Palestinian National Authority Territory," which means acknowledging reality. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the compromise, which has led to a uproar by right wingers in the government. Sharon had no choice since the EU is Israel's largest export market.

Blair Kicks Up New Storm in Parliament After 'Queen's Speech'

Some 120 Labour Parliamentarians have signed a motion criticizing Prime Minister Tony Blair for his proposals to sharply increase university fees next year, and other proposals for imposing stricter measures with regard to asylum seekers, both of which issues were presented in the annual "Queen's Speech" to Parliament, as reported in major British press Nov. 27.

The stricter measures regarding asylum seekers, include taking away the children of "failed" asylum seekers, who refuse to return to their home countries. The measure is strongly criticized by opposition Liberal Democrats and Tories.

The 120 Labour "rebels" include five former Cabinet Ministers: Robin Cook, a strong critic of the Iraq war; Clare Short, who left Blair's Cabinet after the war was launched; and three others. One commentary report that Labour MPs have rebelled more against the Blair government, than the MPs of any ruling government since 1945.

A high-level British policy-maker told EIR that the Members of Parliament are not making any distinction between Blair's domestic and foreign policy: MPs who oppose Blair's Iraq policy and his all-out support for U.S. President George W. Bush, are also voting against Blair's domestic agenda.

Other contentious measures proposed in the Queen's Speech include a proposal to introduce "high-tech" ID cards within a decade, and a "Patriot Act"-style law increasing police powers in response to terror attacks.

Blair Promotes Wind Power

Britain's Prime Minister participated in the opening ceremony of an offshore wind farm in North Wales on Nov. 21, taking the opportunity to praise an alliance between environmentalist Greenpeace and a British energy supplier,

According to a press release issued Nov. 24 by ICwales.co.uk, Blair gave the opening address at the switch-on of the wind farm Nov. 21. The wind farm will produce 60 megawatts of power—when all the turbines are working, and the wind is blowing. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds noted that the area's bird populations would have to be carefully monitored to ensure that they don't decline after the switch-on.

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