Tag: Chirac

Announcement of total number of EU troops and Italy’s role in UN peacekeeping force also expected at Brussels ministerial.

In an attempt to repair transatlantic ties strained by the war in Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac has proposed meeting US President George Bush in the coming weeks.

As a sign of their continuing co-operation, the leaders of Britain and France are scheduled to hold a meeting in London on 18 November. However, disagreements over Iraq continue to linger.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Paris for three days of talks aimed at overcoming French reservations about Ankara's bid for EU membership.

France's left-wing opposition has crushed President Jacques Chirac's ruling conservatives in regional elections paving the way for a government reshuffle.

Differences over Iraq and tensions over broader security issues remained unresolved as the UN's 58th annual General Assembly debate opened in New York on 23 September.

The leaders of France and Germany unveiled on 18 September a 10-point list of infrastructural development projects designed to boost European growth.

France, Germany and Poland pledged at their summit to cooperate more closely on foreign policy and defence despite a damaging rift over the US-led war in Iraq.

Citing their "excellent friendship", the leaders of Germany and Britain said on 15 April they had found common ground. Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac called President Bush for their first conversation in over two months.

Accompanied by four cabinet ministers, British Prime Minister Tony Blair travels to France on 4 February for the annual one-day Anglo-French summit with President Jacques Chirac.

Germany and France brought Turkey's quest for EU accession one step closer to realisation at a meeting of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Jacques Chirac on 4 December. However, the talks failed to produce an unequivocal deal.

On Sunday 5 May, French citizens re-elected Jacques Chirac as their new President, in the second round of the elections. Mr Chirac (RPR) crushed the extreme-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front National) by an overwhelming majority of 81,9 per cent of the votes (vs. 18,04 per cent for Mr Le Pen) - the highest score ever obtained by a candidate in France.

On the first of May, just four days before the second round of the presidential elections, more than a million people have demonstrated all over France against the rise of the extreme right Front National.

French President Jacques Chirac expresses support for European Union constitution

EU foreign ministers will discuss the long-term future of the EU at an informal meeting on 2-3 September.

President Chirac toned down the debate on a "two-speed" Europe in his presentation of the French EU Presidency programme before the European Parliament.

In an interview before German television, French president Chirac said that a European constitution might well be agreed within the next two years.