Minister will aim to consolidate French-Irish opposition to CAP cuts

To commemorate General Humbert's landing in Mayo 200 years ago, Paris has dispatched a minesweeper and 75 troops - including 10 men from Humbert's unit, the 92nd infantry regiment - for a re-enactment tomorrow.

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin is also sending his close adviser and friend of the past 12 years, the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Pierre Moscovici.

Although a junior minister, Mr Moscovici is considered a government insider with great influence. He ran the education ministry budget during Mr Jospin's stint there, and in 1995 served as treasurer for the socialist leader's presidential campaign.

"These things create bonds," he said in an interview with The Irish Times. At 40, Mosco, as the French press call the balding, moon-faced minister, is the second youngest cabinet member (after Ms Dominique Voynet at the Environment). He is often described as the government's most sought-after bachelor.

Before their speeches at Ballina tomorrow, Mr Moscovici will meet privately with the Taoiseach at Belleek Castle. Six months before the March 1999 deadline, horse-trading in the EU's Agenda 2000 budget negotiations has started.

He will be taking up where Mr Ahern and the French Prime Minister left off last month in Paris, consolidating Franco-Irish opposition to the drastic cuts in CAP and structural funding foreseen by the EU Commission.

"We have a shared position that I would describe as `Yes to reform, No to dismantling the CAP and structural funding'," Mr Moscovici said, adding that France, like Ireland, is particularly concerned by projected cuts in dairy and beef prices.

As agricultural countries, France and Ireland find themselves on the same side regarding Agenda 2000. But the EU institutional reforms, so dear to Mr Moscovici, pit small countries against big countries in the contest for commissioners and vote-weighting.

"Europe is threatened with paralysis," he said, explaining why France wants the Commission and the decision-making process to be streamlined before enlargement. "European institutions were made for six countries. They no longer function for 15, and they will not be able to function with 25 members. The reforms must take place - and quickly."

In deference to small EU countries like Ireland, Mr Moscovici said, Paris has dropped its insistence that the number of commissioners be reduced. Today, he proposes a hierarchical commission, with "super commissioners" and "junior commissioners".

"The idea is that the EU Commission would function like a government - much better than the present Commission which is formed of isolated individuals who feel free to act, each in his field, without enough collegiality . . . We cannot continue with a Commission where every country has at least one commissioner, where all are completely equal and there is no mechanism for collegial decisions."

If member-states are not willing to sacrifice national interests for the benefit of the Union, he said, "then we won't go forward".

Mr Moscovici was once lukewarm about EMU, but now says it is synonymous with European stability, strength and power. "As a politician, the thing I am most proud of is the extraordinary European summit on employment in Luxembourg." The French initiative, he said, forced the EU to focus on such questions as youth unemployment, long-term unemployment, training and education.

"Thanks to this, we now have national action plans for employment . . . Changing the orientation of European integration is something a left-wing government can be deeply satisfied about."

Concessions to the business community and the privatisation of state-owned companies have earned the Jospin government an unexpected reputation for pragmatism. Like the socialist Economy, Finance and Industry Minister, Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Laurent Fabius, Mr Moscovici is Jewish. "You can't say that Jews are kept out of politics in France," Mr Moscovici said. "Fortunately, it would be completely false to say that . . . That said, we are sometimes confronted with anti-Semitism, in election campaigns, through public perceptions."