Chirac verdedigt Duitse belangen met verve (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Gerhard Schröder's request for Jacques Chirac to stand in for him at the European Council summit caused some interesting logistical difficulties, Mr Chirac revealed today.

At Council meetings, each country has three chairs - one for the Head of State, one for the Finance Minister, and one for the Foreign Minister. But Mr Chirac had to request another chair - for a German political advisor.

Mr Chirac said he was "very happy" with the advice he received from his German "colleague" and that he was both "intelligent" and "competent".

Asked whether a German Chancellor could ever replace a French President in the same way, Mr Chirac replied with a very gallic shrug, "naturellement".

But he stressed that he was not responsible for Germany or the German people, but merely acting - in his words - as Mr Schröder's spokesman.

A diplomat said later that Mr Chirac intervened for Germany on the issue of quotas for immigration (which both Paris and Berlin are against) and on the economy.

Politics of the extra chair?

Mr Schröder was unavailable to attend the Council today - where EU leaders agreed the conclusions from yesterday's negotiations - due to a crucial parliamentary vote on social reforms - which in fact were passed.

He asked Mr Chirac to step in for him, which Mr Chirac duly did.

The move, psychologically deeply significant, has caused some controversy.

One German MEP, Hans-Gert Poettering, said that the move "recalled the politics of the empty chair". This was a strategy employed by former French President Charles de Gaulle, who in 1965 withdrew France's representatives from meetings in protest at a plan to increase the EU's budget.

After today's events, maybe the move would better be described as the 'politics of the extra chair'.