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Blair's Nuclear Option
British prime minister Tony Blair has admitted for the first time that the draft EU constitution might not be approved at next month's intergovernmental conference.
The admission came as France's president Jacques Chirac left London after his summit with the PM, having comprehensively insulted his British hosts.
On the face of it, relations between the two men appeared cordial. However, president Chirac's remarks at the press conference showed that he has lost none of the condescension and arrogance that damaged relations between Paris and Washington, not to mention France's already shaky ties with the EU's new eastern European members.
While Blair did his utmost to steer discussion towards areas in which France and Britain share common ground, Chirac sounded forth on allied difficulties in Iraq, his desire for an EU Army independent of NATO and - most infuriatingly - the need for newer EU members to surrender to the demands of their more senior colleagues.
This dramatic echo of Chirac's patronising call for pro-US European nations to "shut up" in their support for the Iraq War may have pushed Blair into what the Independent describes as "a significant change of strategy."
According to the Indie, the British government is now saying that life will go on as normal should the EU fail to approve the draft constitution at the Brussels summit next month. The report quotes a British government official as saying that Britain still hopes to approve the treaty, but the Nice Treaty could still act as a fall back if no agreement was reached.
The Telegraph describes the veto as Britain's 'nuclear option', explaining that the government is raising the stakes before the summit.
Despite misgivings from Eurorealists and some evidence to the contrary, Blair's government claims that its 'red lines' on taxation, defence and foreign policy are not up for negotiation.
As late as yesterday, president Chirac seemed to think they were. In his speech to the press after the summit, he spoke of how to become a good European.
The key? To listen to one's betters. From the Telegraph, again:
(These good Europeans are) the original founder members of the European Community - a team of six which includes France, but not Britain.
(...) it was not conceivable, M Chirac said, to imagine Europe moving forward without Britain. "It would be Europe that would be missing something," he said. It was just that Britain had to know its place.
"That means," said the president "that the relations, the links among a number of countries who have been the founders of this adventure, and who have more experience and who have more faith in these areas, should agree together."
In other words, France and Germany still rule the roost.
As the president spoke, Blair gave Chirac his misty-eyed, respectful gaze reserved normally for speeches in favour of the Northern Ireland peace process. However, behind the facade, he must have been fuming.
Later that evening, he struck back - typically through unnamed "official government spokesmen" - but the message was clear: If France wants to play dirty, Tony can dig out Mrs Thatcher's famous handbag and give as good as he gets.
