Tony Blair met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for wide-ranging talks on European and international issues.
Parts of this transcript may have been edited
Question and answer session
Ms Merkel:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning to all of you. I am very pleased that we had an opportunity this morning here to have a meeting between Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, and the German side, and these were very intensive, lengthy talks. We were able to see yet again that in a large number of areas we are at one. I am very pleased and indeed delighted to have Tony Blair here for the first time since this new government is in place. Yet again a very warm welcome to you.
First and foremost we were discussing our future work in the European Union after the financial perspective and the agreement on that. What will be on the agenda now is for all of us to engage in and inject a new momentum into further developments within the European Union. I must say that it was with great interest and pleasure indeed that I read the speech that the Prime Minister gave in Oxford. He expressed a very great interest, the vested interest that we all have in a strong Europe, an economically viable Europe, and I think that in March during a Council meeting under the Austrian Presidency, this ought to be the direction that we ought to be all heading for. I think that actually the compromise that was found for the Services Directive is a step in the right direction. For us at least that has given new liberty to the services industry, while at the same time maintaining social standards.
We also addressed international issues, first the situation in Afghanistan, then the situation in the Middle East. We agreed what sort of conditions have to be met, what sort of criteria have to be fulfilled by Hamas in order to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority. Firstly, they have to resist the use of force; secondly, they have to respect the right of Israel to exist; and thirdly, they have to accept the steps that have been taken so far in the overall peace process. And we think that it is only right if Europe clearly and unequivocally states what sort of conditions have to be met in order to make further progress in the peace process.
We also addressed Iran and here Germany, France and the United Kingdom have indeed worked very closely together and have given a very important contribution to the international community, making it very clear that Iran has crossed a red line. We also discussed to what degree diplomatic efforts have to be made in order to impress on Iran what sort of steps it has to take in order to make cooperation possible again.
We were both very interested in seeing success and progress made in the World Trade negotiations. I think there is a window of opportunity open right now that needs to be made use of. We think that this indeed is also a very important contribution towards reducing the prosperity gap between the poorer countries of the world and the more prosperous countries in the world and to make the emerging economies more able to participate in global trade.
It was with great interest that I read the State of the Union address of the American President actually and I was very interested to hear what he had to say on energy policy. I think in Europe too that will be another crucial issue on the agenda. We ought to work on a common energy policy position and that too might be a suitable point in the agenda for the March meeting. I think we both are agreed that it would be worthwhile.
Thank you very much for coming here, these were very constructive, very friendly talks.
Tony Blair:
Thank you very much. Well first of all can I say how delighted I am to be here in Berlin with Chancellor Merkel, and to thank her, and to return the compliment. I read both the speech at Munich and also at Davos, and both of them I thought were quite outstanding.
I would also, if I may, since I think this is the first time after the December Summit I have been able to thank her for the very constructive role she played in securing the budget agreement at the Council in December, which is important for Europe. And I think the Chancellor has taken you through all the things that we have discussed, but I think the two things that stand out to me are first of all in respect of Europe, there is a very strong common desire to see Europe move forward in the direction of reform, I think particularly in respect of better regulation, but also in respect of investment in areas like research and development. As the Chancellor was rightly saying, a common energy policy for Europe, there is a great deal of common work that can be done there. And then of course a major part of any leader’s role now is the whole aspect of the international community and international relations, and here there is obviously very important work that we can do together, in Afghanistan, across the Middle East, and in particular in playing whatever part we can in the Middle East peace process.
I agree totally with what the Chancellor has just said in relation to the peace process in Palestine and the necessity for it to be very, very clear that we can only take this forward on the basis that there is the recognition of the state of Israel, a renunciation of violence and an embrace of the road map and the steps in the road map which will have been agreed.
In respect of Iran obviously, as she just indicated to you, we had a discussion about how we deal with this issue and deal with it strongly, but through the diplomatic channels that are available to us. On the WTO, both of us want to see a successful trade round. And on climate change, I think here again there is a great deal that we can do together, and also hopefully with the United States of America, in trying to get a strong framework of agreement to tackle this issue which is important both for reasons of security of supply in energy and for the environment. And finally we also spoke about Africa as well.
So as you can see, we went through the full range of topics, and can I thank her once again for a very pleasant, very constructive, very helpful set of talks.
Question and answer session
Question:
A question to you and to the Prime Minister of England. You said energy politics was something you were working on together. What would you say the EU states in general think about this?
Ms Merkel:
I would think in energy politics we would win a lot if Europe would look at a timescale of about 15 years to see what can we achieve in that time, what kind of forms of energy can we actually have, what kind of forms of energy should have preference. And of course because the situation in the different countries is very different, we should see how we could actually co-ordinate all of this together. And if I look at the discussions that we have with the new members of the EU, and also from Russia, then we could also really help them and kind of show them how we have actually learnt from this and maybe help them forward, and hopefully this would actually help us to have similar goals to achieve, even though of course there will be different opinions. But of course that cannot stop us in any way from now, from day to day, to try to have a strategy and to conserve energy.
Tony Blair:
I actually think in relation to energy policy, there are very clear specific things that we should be discussing. The first is the whole grid within Europe, that is of vital importance. Secondly, there is the whole question of research and development into different forms of energy, for example renewables, there is a whole series of issues there that Europe could discuss and find common ways forward on. Then thirdly of course there is the question of how Europe comes together and uses its collective power in negotiation with the outside world in respect of energy. As the Chancellor has just been indicating, energy is now one of the hot political issues, in Europe, and energy is a major factor in how we are going to be able to make ourselves competitive in the time to come.
And I think it makes perfect sense for Europe to try and develop a common energy policy together, and then of course you have got the liberalisation of the energy market. So I think there are at least four ways, practical ways, in which energy policy can be taken forward. And you know the thing I have noticed about the last two years is that two years ago at virtually any international press conference I would not be mentioning energy policy, maybe the environment, or climate change perhaps. I don’t do a single press conference today when I am not mentioning energy policy. So for Europe, where the interconnectedness is very, very clear, the inter-dependence is clear, for Europe it makes perfect sense for us to do things together.
Ms Merkel:
If you think about how a country like China has an energy policy towards other countries, then obviously it is very much in our interest to have a policy in place to make sure that we are secure.
Question:
You have both talked about revisiting the constitutional treaty. I just wonder how you propose to do that, bearing in mind that the British people presumably probably retain an ultimate veto in a referendum. And could I just ask you to characterise your relationship, is it a friendship, a rivalry, an alliance, how would you describe it?
Tony Blair:
It is very definitely an alliance and a friendship I hope, certainly not a rivalry, no. Look, there is a period of reflection in Europe now about the constitution, and as I keep saying to people, there are two obvious facts: one is that the French and the Dutch voted no in a referendum on the constitution; and the other is that we do need institutional change in Europe for Europe to work more effectively. Now the question is how do you bring back into alignment those two realities, and that is what we have agreed to pause and reflect upon. And I don’t think there is any point frankly at the moment in speculating on what will happen, because we can’t be sure at this moment, and people can make all sorts of predictions, but all I am saying, and what I have said throughout is that at some point we will come back to the fact that a Europe at 25, or 27, cannot work effectively with the rules we have in place at the moment.
So whatever else happens, at some point this issue is going to have to be dealt with.
Ms Merkel:
It is important that we use this phase and that we know what our priorities are, that we make it clear, and the British Prime Minister has made very clear that we need regulation. It is very important to show that Europe is not just a bunch of new rules and regulations, but Europe is there to actually show growth, to actually do something for its people, and look at the interests of its people. If you look at these discussions then we can come back to the general principle, why do we actually need rules and regulations? You can’t just take these from the … beginning, you need to look at the future, and that is what we have really got to focus on for the future now, and that is what I am really working on at the moment.
Question:
Mr Prime Minister, coming back to Hamas, and to make easier, and referring to those three conditions the German Chancellor mentioned, would you rather prefer the attitude wait and see until Hamas might comply with those conditions, or would you rather recommend advice to push the speed up to try some other attempts, like the Russians do, to make them comply with those conditions? There would be a difference.
Tony Blair:
I am not sure what the difference is in the end, I just think we have got to be very clear, and clear for an obvious reason. There can be no settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian issue except on the basis of two states living side by side in peace, Israel confident of its security, and an independent viable democratic Palestinian state. Now if that is the only solution to this problem, it stands to reason this is not just a political demand, it is a matter of logic.
You cannot take that process forward unless both partners to this process respect the existence of the other. So if the Palestinian side is saying we want to get rid of Israel, how can you have a two state solution? It is illogical as well as politically impossible. And therefore what we have got to say from the international community very clearly is that we believe it is a priority to have a solution and get these two states. We want to help the Palestinian people achieve statehood, but the only basis upon which this can be done is if they also respect the right of existence of Israel, and they renounce the violence and embrace the road map that has been agreed by the whole international community.
Now if they do that, then let me tell you the international community is not merely willing, it is determined, anxious, to take this process forward. But the basis of it has to be that basis, because nothing else will work. And let me again make it clear, because sometimes this position is represented as a failure to respect the mandate of Hamas. We respect the fact that they won the election, we respect their mandate, but if they need our help to make progress, this is the only basis, non-violent, respectful of the right of Israel to exist, that is the only basis upon which this process can go forward now.
Question:
Prime Minister … should be closed down, and also there is a report that this morning Iran has called for Britain to pull its troops out of Iraq. Could you please respond to that as well?
Tony Blair:
Well on the issue of Peter’s comments, I have said all the way along, I think I said last year that it is an anomaly and sooner or later has got to be dealt with, but I have really nothing more to add to that. On the issue of Iran’s call, I hadn’t in fact seen this myself, but let me just make one thing clear. British troops are in Iraq today under a United Nations mandate and with the consent of the Iraqi government. They stay as long as the UN mandate is in place and the Iraqi government wishes us to stay, and we now have a fully democratically elected government about to take shape in Iraq.
So there was obviously a very big disagreement about the original conflict and the decision to remove Saddam, disagreement here, disagreement in the international community, but for these last two years there has been no disagreement, there has been a United Nations mandate in place and British troops have been there under it. And the reason we remain there is the desire of the Iraqi people to have a democracy, to elect their own government and to have the same rights and liberties that we enjoy, whether in Germany or in Britain.
Now our job is to help them get that, and what I would say to the Iranians is that there is no point in trying to divert attention from the issues to do with Iran by calling into question the British presence in Iraq, which is there as I say with a UN mandate and Iraqi support
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