YOU TALKIN' TO ME?
Fresh from his
election win Chirac, right, chats with
Commission President Prodi
French president Jacques Chirac had reason to feel at ease last week as he met other European Union leaders in Seville for their twice-yearly formal summit. His party's convincing electoral success on June 16 meant that for the first time in five years, the President would not have to share the stage and trade courteous barbs with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. The conservatives' victory in France also gave substantial new weight to the general rightward drift in the E.U., where 10 of 15 governments include centerright parties. At the Quai d'Orsay, a quiet hope springs from the very real prospect...
