France and Germany are in broad agreement about how the European Union should be reformed before it accepts new members, their leaders declared yesterday after a meeting in the German city of Mainz.
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, welcomed the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, and his Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, in glorious sunshine that both sides said reflected the mood of their talks.
"France and Germany are very strongly together on pushing ahead reforms of the institutions," Mr Schroder said.
Despite their upbeat tone, the leaders admitted that some differences between them would have to be resolved before December's EU summit in Nice, at which institutional reform is due to be agreed. And they were at pains to dispel any impression that Europe's biggest two nations were preparing to present the other 13 EU member-states with a fait accompli in advance of the summit.
They did not issue a written statement on EU reform but did agree a number of important accords, especially in the area of defence and security.
Above all, they were eager to show that the Franco-German relationship, traditionally regarded as the motor of European integration, was back on course after some difficult months. "The summit was an occasion to note that, when it has to, the alliance of France and Germany works immaculately," Mr Chirac said.
The leaders said they were determined to push towards a common European security and defence policy and permanent EU structures to decide and act in crisis situations. They confirmed that they would commission Airbus Industrie to build a new European military transport aircraft and that they would pool resources to create a joint spy satellite system.
This is an important step towards the creation of a common European defence and security identity because, apart from France and Germany, Spain and Britain have also settled on the Airbus. Until recently, Germany favoured buying a cheaper alternative offered by Antonov, a Russian-Ukrainian consortium.
The decision to create a Franco-German satellite system has its origins in last year's war over Kosovo when Germany realised that if Europe wanted to take military action independently of the United States it must have its own reconnaissance facilities.
Previous German governments, including those led by Dr Helmut Kohl, refused to co-operate with Paris on such a project, but Berlin agreed yesterday to spend u £400 million on it.
The revival of Franco-German relations comes as both countries feel increasingly chilly towards the US, and the transatlantic strain showed yesterday when Mr Chirac denounced Washington's plans for a national missile defence system.
"Germany and France have the same analysis of the terrible consequences a National Missile Defence system could have on the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty," he said. Berlin and Paris fear that the US initiative could contravene the 1972 arms treaty with Russia and provoke a new arms race.
Yesterday's joint initiatives on defence followed remarks by the French Defence Minister, Mr Alain Richard, to the effect that Britain, rather than Germany, was France's preferred partner on defence matters. The decisive initiative in this area came from the Anglo-German summit in St Malo, but Berlin is now eager to restore the Franco-German relationship to its position at the heart of the EU.
The German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, told the Bundestag this week that the Nice summit should not be overburdened, and it is clear that Berlin will be content if a relatively modest programme of reforms is agreed. These could include a limit on the number of EU commissioners and more voting power for Germany to reflect the size of its population.
Berlin is almost certain to press for greater flexibility, so that a group of EU member-states can forge ahead without the approval of all the others.
