Interview given by M. Gérard Errera, French Ambassador, to the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme, 14.07.05

14 July 2005

Q. - There was some confusion about who said what to whom after the EU meeting on terrorism in Brussels yesterday. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has apparently suggested that the British delegation told him that some of the London bombers had been arrested last year; Home Secretary Charles Clark said that was completely and utterly untrue. French Ambassador Gérard Errera is in the studio with us.

Good morning Ambassador and I suppose one should say, happy Bastille Day.

THE AMBASSADOR – Yes, good morning, yes it is indeed Bastille Day. But, if I may add, it is also the day when the whole of Britain, in fact the whole of Europe will pause for two minutes to pay tribute to the victims of the London bombings. And I want to say this to the British people: I want to tell you how close to you I feel, how much we grieve with you, how much we admire your courage and your resolve, and you will always find us at your side, as you have been always at our side.

Q. – France will be also observing the two minutes’ silence, I understand.

THE AMBASSADOR – Yes, absolutely, all of France

Q. – Thank you for that. Can you now address what happened yesterday. How did this confusion between Mr Sarkozy and Charles Clarke arise?

THE AMBASSADOR – I think that the French Minister of Interior was misquoted. There has been a clarification by the press agency since then, and I think that what is important is that at yesterday’s meeting there was a complete agreement between our two countries on the measures to be taken, not only on the measures to be taken, but also on the necessity to implement them quickly. In fact, one of them – the retention of electronic data which is a priority – was a Franco-British proposal.

So I think that it’s not useful to look at artificial differences at a time when what is important is unity and resolve.

Q. – There is a lot about it in the papers this morning and people will want to know what happened. It was simply a confusion was it, in your view?

THE AMBASSADOR - Yes, this was, I think, a misquotation, which was later on clarified.

Q. – I see.

What are we to make of the fact that France has temporarily closed its borders – or suspended the open borders policy, I should perhaps say?

THE AMBASSADOR – As I think we heard earlier on the programme from Mr de Vries, this is part of the Schengen arrangement, every country has the right to do that on a temporary basis and I think this is one of the measures, not the only measure, it’s part of the protection that the president and the government have felt necessary.

Q. – But does it mean that you have specific intelligence or reasons to believe that something might be crossing the borders at the moment, or is it simply a response to what happened a week ago?

THE AMBASSADOR – It is a matter of protection, it is a matter of caution which I think is proper.

Q. – Does it raise the question of whether the open borders policy in the longer term is going to be called into question?

THE AMBASSADOR – No, I think that it is important to strike a balance between the opening of borders and the protection of our citizens, as it is a matter of reconciling the necessity of protecting our citizens with the necessity of also preserving civil liberties. This is the difficult task that democracies have to carry out and we will continue to carry out.

Q. – Of course, and it is actually axiomatic that a balance has to be struck. But does the fact that France has taken the step at the moment suggest that you are rethinking the possibility that the open borders policy with the Schengen agreement and all that goes with it does carry greater risks than you had previously imagined?

THE AMBASSADOR – No, I think that when such barbaric attacks occur, we all have to think about the measures that we have in place. We all have to think how to better our systems of protection while at the same time retaining the values and the principles on which our societies are based.

Q. – Thank you very much Gérard Errera./.