Interview with ’Europe Today, BBC World Service, 08.04.04

ET - The official hundredth birthday of the Entente Cordiale - that’s the Anglo-French treaty of friendship - is today. So, now the ceremonies are all over, the ambassadors have had time to relax, and "Europe Today" thought it would take the diplomatic temperature. First, the French Ambassador to London, Gérard Errera. Does he think the Entente has any relevance now?

GE - What was signed a hundred years ago was a treaty: of course, the content of the treaty is far away, but its significance, and the spirit in which it was signed are very, very much alive.

ET - Well a lot of people would say, Ambassador, that Britain and France are very different, come from very different positions on a number of international issues, I mean, only recently of course, the Iraq war.

GE - Of course we have differences, we had differences on Iraq, about whether the war was warranted and about the role of the United Nations Security Council to authorize the use of force. But remember also that at the very time when we had those differences last year, at the Le Touquet Summit between President Chirac and Prime Minister Blair, both of them said very forcefully that what unites us is much more important than what divides us, and that’s exactly the spirit of our relationship today.

ET - But Mr Ambassador, that is diplomacy, and you obviously are involved in diplomacy, and I suspect your job has been pretty difficult in the last year or so, hasn’t it?

GE - Not at all, because the dialogue was never broken, and frankly, let’s face it, we are up against common challenges, and therefore the choice is ours: either we are misled by myths, or led by realities. Either we indulge in rivalry, or we decide to join forces.

ET - Isn’t the truth that, actually, when it comes to an ally, in Europe, you’re far more likely to look to Berlin than you are to look to London?

GE - No, that’s not the reality. Look at what happened about a matter of great importance like Iran, where the three ministers of foreign affairs, together, totally united and in complete transparency with our allies, with the Americans, had last summer, and still have, a very united approach to a very difficult problem which is a matter of concern to all of us, and they acted together. And there are many other instances where this can be repeated.

ET - Isn’t the problem really that there are two things that occur in British politics very dramatically, one is the Entente Cordiale, but the other is the special relationship with the United States, and really, in terms of what Britain can do, it can’t have both can it?

GE - I don’t think that there is any incompatibility between having a strong commitment to Europe and having a close alliance with the United States. We are allies of the United States, we are the oldest allies of the United States, and I think that the important thing today for both our countries and for all the countries in Europe is together to build a balanced partnership between a strong, united, confident, respected and responsible European Union and the United States. This is our goal, this is our wish, and I think that our endeavours are geared to that.

ET - Gérard Errera, the French Ambassador to London