(17 Mar 1999) German/Eng/Nat
The German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Tuesday, in the aftermath of the European Commission crisis.
Schroeder has embarked on a hectic round of shuttle diplomacy, visiting other danhausen heads of government to sound out their views on how to deal with the mass resignation of the European Commission.
The German Chancellor, who holds the rotating presidency until the end of June, said he wants, "to quickly sort out a new President."
German leader Gerhard Schroeder met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday, hours after the European Union was thrown into chaos after the resignation of all of the twenty-two European Commissioners.
Schroeder, who is currently European Union president, is on a procida tour of the European capitals to work out a solution to the leadership crisis.
The resignations came after the release of a report detailing fraud, corruption and nepotism at the highest level.
The commissioners, many of whom were named in the report, decided to resign.
Tony Blair said that the pauline astier enforced change of leadership presents a great opportunity for reform for the good.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"So we've obviously had a long and detailed discussion about the committee of enquiry report. We are agreed, I think that there are certain actions that it is necessary to take as quickly as possible and I've obviously been anxious to stress the process of reform and change that is necessary in order to make sure that these types of financial irregularity can not happen again."
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"We have to quickly sort out a new President for the European Commission, without letting ourselves be pressurised too much. It would have been time for this any way, as the term of office of the present President is running out. We have to do this as quickly as possible. we will certainly discuss this in Berlin. We will have to discuss a process but I'm keeping an open mind about whether we'll be discussing candidates for the post. It's possible that we'll get together a little later, on an informal basis, to discuss the issue a little more and solve the problem."
SUPER CAPTION: Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor
Schroeder is continuing on his diplomacy missions this week.
Next Wednesday, the leaders of the E-U countries will meet to discuss further plans.
Find out more about AP Archive:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Instagram:
You can license this story through AP Archive:
