"Those countries that want to proceed further with integration, on a voluntary basis and in specific areas, must be allowed to do so without being held back by those who, with every right, do not want to proceed as quickly," he said.

The speech was intended to be the high point of a two-day visit to Berlin to revive the Franco-German relationship, which had been cooling in the 1990s as the German rulers began to increasingly look to their east after reunification.  
 
Military, economic cooperation
Some steps had already been taken at a meeting in Mainz in early June, where German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Chirac insisted their alliance within the European Union remained solid. They confirmed they would work together on producing a satellite reconnaissance system open to other governments in Europe, and agreed to order 125 new Airbus A400M military transport aircraft. Both heads of state also criticized Washington's plans for developing an antimissile shield.

These moves by Paris and Berlin are intended to reduce their reliance on Washington's military might.

This past May, Joschka Fischer, German foreign minister and head of the Green party, delivered a speech at Humboldt University that drew much attention and provoked harsh reactions in most camps in Europe. The speech, put forward as his personal opinion, suggested that a European federation with a directly elected president and a parliament sharing real executive and legislative powers was needed for the union to function effectively.

The fact that Fischer spoke out at all, though, was widely applauded in some quarters because of the objectives he has in mind, which are to revitalize the European Union, with a revived Franco-German relationship as its motor force, as a means to put the European imperialist powers at a better competitive advantage vis-a-vis their rivals in the United States.

There is an economic upturn going on in both Germany and France, and in the Scandinavian countries as well. Sales of German goods overseas have been powered by the economic recovery in other parts of the world and the 20 percent fall of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar since its launch in January of 1999. German exports this year are expected to break the DM 1,000 billion barrier for the first time, for a total increase of 12 percent. With a possible slowing of the U.S. economy this year, though, German finance minister Hans Eichel was quoted in London's Financial Times worrying that Germany is too heavily dependent on exports and, as a result, "international crises are affecting our economy too hard."  
 
Holding down wages
This year, the German social democratic government and the employers have been comparatively successful relative to other countries in Europe in holding down wages by promising job security. Although the more than 3 million public workers in Germany recently voted to strike, a new contract proposal was endorsed without a strike, in a vote by the unions two weeks later. The pact contained only cosmetic changes and a lump-sum bonus of 400 D-marks to buy a "yes" vote. The capitalists in France, Germany, and the countries in Scandinavia are also pushing for--and making some headway in imposing--more "flexible" work hours, a code word for lengthening the work day, thus strengthening their competitiveness.

These attacks on the workers in Europe take place at the same time as workers in the United states are putting up more resistance to a relentless assault by the bosses there. This creates a more favorable situation for the capitalists in Europe, and especially those in Germany and France, to make inroads into the competitive advantage held by capitalists in the United States. The strength of U.S. imperialism, for example, has been reflected in the decline of the euro against the dollar since its launch.  
 
Paris and Berlin the motor force
The enlargement of the European Union into eastern and central Europe, which has been said to be the reason for changing the European Union institutions, such as the redistribution of the national votes in the Council of Ministers, is actually more and more being put off. Meanwhile, a Europe with Berlin and Paris as the locus of cooperation by a few countries on the military, economic, and policing fronts, is now becoming a central aim of the ruling classes in the two countries.

The French presidency of the European Union is planned to end with a summit in December this year in Nice. The meeting will most likely focus on issues like adjusting the weighting of member states´ votes in the council of ministers and getting rid of the veto power held by some of the member states. This moves will make it easier for small groups of EU member states to forge ahead with "cooperation."

Berlin has floated the idea that because it is the most populous state in the EU, with about 80 million people, it should receive more voting power compared with France, Britain, and Italy, which have a population of about 60 million each. But such a move would have to have the backing of Paris. At the meeting in Berlin, president Chirac promised to push for a permanent place for Germany in the UN Security Council as a further sign of Paris's willingness to revive its relations with Berlin.  
 
UK opposes "two-speed" Europe
The United Kingdom is not part of the European common currency, the euro, but has been playing a leading role in the military cooperation among EU states, pushing plans to set up a 60,000-strong rapid deployment force. It has traditionally opposed a two-speed Europe, and advocated incorporation of more countries in the European Union. The government of Anthony Blair has also tried to set an example in taking on the trade unions and the workers in order to improve the competitiveness of the capitalists in the UK, who have been pushed back more over the last decade than in any other country in Europe.

Blair moved soon after Chirac's visit to Berlin to rebut Paris and Berlin's calls for deeper integration among a core group of European Union states, saying that any attempt to split the union into a two-tiered bloc would threaten Britain's interests as well as the prospects for EU enlargement.

A spokesman for Mr. Blair said that Britain was not prepared to give up its veto over future policy initiatives by a core group.

Blair visited Berlin the day after Chirac left. While President Chirac spoke in the Reichstag on his proposals for changes in the European Union, Blair had a private meeting with Chancellor Schröder and later spoke on "globalisation " at the University of Tubingen.

It is unlikely that London will allow Paris and Berlin to move ahead with the cooperation they propose, nor give up the right to veto cooperation between them that is not in London´s interest.

The Swedish daily, Svenska Dagbladet, noted July 2 that Paris plans to do outside the European Union what is not possible do within it. The paper quoted unnamed French officials threatening, "you can´t stop the inevitable."

Carl-Erik Isacsson is a member of the metal workers union in Södertälje, Sweden.  
 
 
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