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» Monday, June 14, 2004

Europe

Asked again if the European election results had changed the Prime Minister's position on any aspects of this week's European Council meeting in Brussels, the PMOS said no. He referred journalists to Paragraph 66 of the IGC White Paper which stated, "We will insist that unanimity remain for Treaty Change and in other areas of vital national interest such as tax, social security, defence, key areas of criminal procedural law and the system of own resources. Unanimity must remain the general rule for common foreign and security policy, as proposed in the final Convention text". That position had not changed.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Europe

Asked about this week's European Council in Brussels, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that everyone, including our European partners, was aware of what we wanted to achieve. We wanted to see a Constitution which would allow the enlarged EU to work together effectively in the interests of this country. However, that could only happen if the red lines, which we had established, were respected. This included, for example, ensuring that the new Charter did not in any way impinge on our local laws in relation to issues such as strikes and the like. Obviously there was more work to be done on these matters. It was also important to recognise that the issue of vote weighting, which had proven to be an obstacle in reaching an agreement last December, had yet to be resolved, if that was at all possible to do. This was not something in which we were particularly involved.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Iraq

Asked if the Prime Minister's apology on Friday had referred to the war on Iraq, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had not apologised for the war because he believed it had been the right thing to do. It was surely a good thing that the Iraqi people had been given the opportunity to determine their own future. The President of Iraq had described to the G8 leaders last week what life had really been like under Saddam. It was true that there were still some difficulties post-war, as illustrated by the murder today of two Britons in Iraq. We extended our deepest sympathy to their families. However, Iraq today was far better because the Iraqi people were able to determine their own future and no longer had to live under the real terror of a tyrannical regime.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Euro 2004

Asked the Prime Minister's reaction to last night's England v France Euro 2004 match, the PMOS said that he had forgotten to ask the Prime Minister about the game, primarily because he didn't want to intrude on his private grief. Surely, things could only get better?

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

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