Est. 1min 15-06-2004 (updated: 07-11-2012 ) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Following recent clashes over Siemens-Alstom, Chirac and Schröder have now decided to hold regular talks to co-ordinate their industrial policy. Commissioner Bolkestein has criticised their “interventionist” approach. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters BackgroundFrance and Germany are planning closer co-operation to avoid future friction on industrial policy by holding regular talks that include industrialists from the two countries. This was decided at an informal meeting between German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac on 14 June 2004 in Aachen. After their recent clash over the Siemens-Alstom case (see ), Schröder and Chirac were careful to demonstrate their rediscovered unity, emphasising their "complete agreement" on all the outstanding questions. Items on the meeting's agenda also included other pressing European issues, such as the Constitution and the next Commission President. Both countries are determined to come to a compromise on the constitution at the European Summit on 17-18 June. With regards to the Commission President, they are expected to jointly propose Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. In the meantime, Single Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein has attacked France and Germany for their "interventionist" approach to industrial policy. "I cannot help feeling that I am in a time warp. I have to pinch myself to make sure that I am not back in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s," Bolkestein wrote in the Financial Times on 14 June. In particular, Bolkestein said that the two governments fuelled the current fear of deindustrialisation and used it as an excuse for reinforced state interventionism, in an attempt to stave off competition especially from the new EU Member States. "The creation of the European internal market did not eliminate knee-jerk protectionist reflexes," he writes. Bolkestein's comments come against the backdrop of Franco-German rhetoric to create 'European industrial champions', French efforts to save engineering giant Alstom through a purely French solution, as well as German demands for new Member States to raise their corporate taxes closer to German levels or face a cut in EU support. Further ReadingNon-assigned links LinksDossier:European Elections LinksDossier:Industriepolitik, Financial Times Financial Times Yahoo!France/AP Financial Times Yahoo!France/AP Reuters France Financial Times Yahoo!France/AP Reuters France Der Spiegel Financial Times Yahoo!France/AP Reuters France Der Spiegel Süddeutsche Zeitung Financial Times Yahoo!France/AP Reuters France Der Spiegel Süddeutsche Zeitung Die Welt
