The Hindu : International : U.N. Security Council seat sought for European Union

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 21, 2004

International

International

U.N. Security Council seat sought for European Union

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, NOV. 20. The new European Union Commissioner for External Affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, has fuelled British fears about a European "super state'' after she called for a permanent seat for E.U. on the U.N. Security Council saying that Europe needed to speak with one voice on key international issues.

Critics seized on her remarks in an interview to The Daily Telegraph to accuse the E.U. of attempting to impose a common foreign policy on its sovereign member-states. The newspaper said the proposal would `infuriate' euro-sceptics who would see it as a move to `undermine' British sovereignty over foreign policy.

Ms. Ferrero-Waldner, a former Austrian Foreign Minister who has replaced Britain's Chris Patten as the E.U. Commissioner of External Affairs, said: "The more we speak with one voice, the better for us and the better for Europe. We are not important if we do not speak with one voice.''

She regretted the divisions in Europe over Iraq, when Britain clashed with France and Germany to join the U.S.-led invasion, and underlined the need for a more coordinated European approach to world affairs. She also called for a "fresh look'' at relations with America following the re-election of the U.S. President, George W. Bush.

Currently, apart from France, Britain is the only country in Europe to have a permanent seat on the Security Council, and its capacity to take an independent position on the U.N. is likely to be affected if the E.U. also were to become a permanent member.

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