In a rare public appearance to mark 30 years since he became chancellor, Kohl was celebrated by party allies, an array of former presidents and prime ministers, as well as Angela Merkel, a former protégé with whom he has had a frosty relationship since she turned on him over a decade ago.

Frail since a fall in 2008 put him in the hospital for months, the 82-year old Kohl has remained largely silent through three years of euro turmoil, but on the occasions he has spoken out, he has voiced doubts about Merkel's handling of the crisis.

Those countries have adopted a hard line stance on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), proposing a reduction of the European spending to the tune of €100 billion.

They view austerity measures as the harsh medicine needed to solve the European debt crisis. However, the government of François Hollande has been less clear.

“In a country where austerity is a four-letter word, France is hiding a bit”, explained a European diplomat.

In a statement issued on Tuesday (25 September) after a meeting of their finance ministers in Helsinki, the three AAA-rated countries set out the terms under which they would be willing to allow the euro zone's permanent rescue fund, the ESM, to recapitalise at-risk banks.

The idea of a special budget for the eurozone was shared by many influential countries, including Germany and France, according to one senior EU diplomat, who was speaking to journalists on condition of anonymity.

“It’ an idea developing in all directions, still far away from the stage of a clear-cut proposal,” he said.

The diplomat said countries were discussing what type of income and expenditure the budget would cover, with the aim of putting in place an instrument for financial and macroeconomic intervention against “asymmetric shocks”.

Christina Pantazi, a Cypriot official whose county holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said discussions held this summer in Nicosia between EU environment ministers called for implementing legislation – including the water framework, nitrates and groundwater directives – rather than making sweeping new proposals.

“Everybody agrees that we do not need new legislation on water,” Pantazi told EurActiv yesterday (20 September) on the sidelines of a water conference, hosted by the Eurelectric trade group.

The revised, 48-page ‘negotiating box’ from Cyprus, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, develops in more detail a similar paper left behind by the Danish presidency.

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Sofoclis Aletraris

Sofoclis Aletraris

Tue, 2012-09-18 16:23

• general

Sofoclis Aletraris has been minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment in the Republic of Cyprus since 5 August 2011. An engineer who was educated in Greece and the United States, he was the previous director of the Cypriot Water Development Department. Excerpts of an interview with EurActiv’s Timothy Spence follow.

The report finalising seven months of work was adopted during a meeting of the Future of Europe Group held in Warsaw on 17 September, a press release of the Polish foreign ministry says.

The final meeting of the group was attended by the foreign ministers and deputy foreign ministers of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.