European press review
Wednesday's papers split over the European
Parliament's new speaker, and also look at France's commitment to the EU and
Germany's attitude to its Nazi past.
The election of Spanish socialist Josep Borrell
as president of the European Parliament, notes Spain's El Pais, is the product
of the "complex balancing acts" which it says have come to typify the
institution.
Mr Borrell, the paper suggests, is someone with
plenty to offer, but also someone who will have to adapt.
"He is a politician with great management
experience, who spent a long period in the wilderness and who faces a task which
is less partisan than being a deputy in the Spanish parliament," it
says.
Missed opportunity
However, two Warsaw dailies argue former Polish
Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek was actually the right man for the
job.
The largest groups in the European Parliament agreed long ago who its president was going to be
The largest groups in the European Parliament agreed long ago who its president was going to be
Trybuna
"There could hardly have been a better candidate
to lead the European Parliament," says Rzeczpospolita, "in which for the first
time we have deputies from the part of Europe that was once cut off by the Iron
Curtain."
The problem, the paper says, is that many MEPs
still think in terms of a division between "old" and "new" Europe.
"Yesterday," it continues, "they themselves did
much to reinforce it."
For Trybuna, the choice of Mr Borrell over Mr
Geremek reveals the true balance of power in Europe.
"It's very unfair, but it is the strongest who
decide on the order of the world and its institutions," it
complains.
"The largest groups in the European Parliament
agreed long ago who its president was going to be and shared out the offices
between their candidates," it argues.
"So the outcome of the vote was a surprise only
to those who believe in willpower overcoming the laws of political
physics."
French enthusiasm
One of the thorny issues facing the European
Parliament is the fate of the proposed EU constitution.
But French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier is one
person who does not need to be persuaded of the document's merits, says France's
Le Monde.
Mr Barnier, it believes, "is convinced that it
will reinforce Europe and that France's voice will be heard even more in the
world as it uses the European amplifier".
And the minister's commitment to the European
project shows through in his top five foreign policy objectives.
"Europe is at the same time one of these major
priorities and the common denominator in the other four," the paper
observes.
On relations in the Mediterranean, transatlantic
ties, the Middle East peace process and poverty reduction, it adds, Mr Barnier's
position is clear:
"Europe is in a position to act, and, in some
cases, it is only Europe that has the full panoply of necessary
resources."
German heroes
In Germany, two papers arrive at contrasting
verdicts on Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's speech marking the 60th anniversary
of a plot by army officers to kill Adolf Hitler.
Yesterday, the chancellor tried the force of caution - and it suits him surprisingly well
Yesterday, the chancellor tried the force of caution - and it suits him surprisingly well
Die Tageszeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung accuses Mr
Schroeder of treating the occasion as an opportunity to justify his current
policies.
But that, the paper says, was not the
chancellor's only failing:
"He doesn't even have an inkling of the sources
from which the men of the 20 July plot drew their strength."
Die Tageszeitung, however, seems far happier with
what Mr Schroeder had to say.
The paper describes his performance as "a good
speech, perhaps even his first good speech, on German history".
"Yesterday," it says, "the chancellor tried the
force of caution - and it suits him surprisingly well."
The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions
The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/2/hi/europe/3912343.stm
Wednesday's papers split over the European Parliament's new speaker, and also look at France's commitment to the EU and Germany's attitude to its Nazi past.
