Slovenia and France share similar views on the EU vision
Paris, France, 03/12/2004 | press release
Within the scope of his official visit to France, the President of the Republic, Dr Janez Drnovšek, today met the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac. Their discussion focused on the adoption of the European Constitutional Treaty and the future enlargement of the European Union. The two presidents also discussed cooperation between Slovenia and France. In their talks, they came to the conclusion that the two countries have similar views on the future EU vision. “We strive for efficiency in decision making and for an internal consolidation of the union,” said President Chirac. With reference to the process of adoption of the European Constitutional Treaty, the Slovenian president noted after the talks that it was more realistic to expect this would happen in the latter half of the year. He added that the Irish presidency was striving hard and producing quality work and trying to find certain solutions, but the fact remained that it was a tough process.
“We would be very happy and positively surprised if a solution regarding the Treaty could be found earlier”, said President Drnovšek, who was accompanied on his official visit by Dr Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr Potočnik, Minister of European Affairs. President Drnovšek spoke in considerable detail with his French counterpart on the expansion of cooperation within the enlarged European Union. The Slovenian president explained with regard to the two-speed Europe issue that the French side believed that this was not an issue of a hard core but rather a flexibility issue. President Drnovšek said, “This concerns the alliances of countries in individual areas and the resulting accelerated progress, so that it would not be necessary to always wait for the slowest one. France has very clear views on this and they tend towards a direction that Slovenia finds acceptable.”
During the talks, President Chirac informed President Drnovšek of the discussions between the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom that had taken place some time ago in Berlin. On the issue of the Western Balkans he supported the Slovenian position that the countries of the region must be offered a firm prospect of a future within the European Union. Integration with the Union was, said President Chirac, a sound motivation for adopting the necessary reforms, while of course it would not be in the interest of the Union for the region to remain unstable. He also recalled the historical relations between Germany and France which had often in the past been based on enmity, and emphasised the importance of cooperation and dialogue between the countries of the Western Balkan region and the entire continent of Europe.
