February 18, 2004

Blair set for 'big three' talks

Tony Blair is to hold a mini summit with his French and German counterparts on Wednesday, amid criticism from other European Union nations.

Boosting job prospects and economic growth will dominate the meeting between the UK prime minister, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin.
[And, of course, what the BBC doesn't mention is that Joint EU "Defense Force" which would be in potential opposition to NATO.--Jen]

They want to get the EU on course for its target of being the world's most competitive knowledge economy by 2010.
[Good luck with that. Britain might make strides, but with California leading France now and Germany being drug downby the former East German "republic," combined with their gloomy demographics, I wouldn't bet on it.]

But some EU countries fear the three will decide policies among themselves.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has claimed any efforts by the trio to dictate to the rest would cause a mess.

Portugal is among those saying the group should only make suggestions, not decisions.
[...]
On Tuesday evening, Mr Berlusconi said: "Europe doesn't need any directorate. It's just a big mess.
[Viva Silvio! He rulz!]

"This is my opinion which is completely shared by other European countries, with the exception of the three countries involved."
[...]
The summit is also likely to underline the trio's desire to cap EU spending at 1% of nations' GDP.

That is at odds with the European Commission's proposal to raise the budget when 10 new countries join the union later this year.

Poor Tony. He does fine when he acts on the global stage (particularly as the US's ally in the WOT) and he seems to love democracy, but his faith and dedication to the dream of transnational progressivism, which is just tarted up Socialism/Marxism, just won't cease and he's deluded in his perception that these "Big 3" can make that a reality for the EU.
Pity.
There's nothing in this triumvirate for Britain but "blood, sweat, tears and toil," to quote his most distinguished fellow PM Winston Churchill.
Oh, yeah and money. Lots of money. Jacques and Gerry Schroeder's favorite thing.