Angela Merkel, the new German chancellor, set the stage for a tense meeting with Tony Blair in Downing Street today when she called for European leaders to revive the EU constitution. In a statement that will alarm Mr Blair, Mrs Merkel said during a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels: "Europe needs the constitution
[we] should not give up the constitutional treaty." She said the rejection of the constitutional treaty by the French and Dutch in referendums in the summer was not the end of the matter. The comments suggest that Mrs Merkel, whose Christian Democrats are tied into a grand coalition with the Social Democrats, may not shift German policy on the EU as much as British ministers and diplomats had hoped. Frank Walter Steinmeier, the Social Democrat foreign minister, who is accompanying Mrs Merkel, played down hopes of any fundamental change of direction on EU policy under Mrs Merkel, saying there would be "much continuity" from Mr Schröder's tenure.
Before visiting Brussels, Mrs Merkel made her debut on the European stage as chancellor with a trip to Paris to meet President Jacques Chirac. Mr Chirac welcomed her to the Elysée Palace with a chaste kiss on the hand and complimented her on the huge media turnout on her first full day in office. His arm hovered inches from her back without making contact, in marked contrast to the bear hugs he gave Mr Schröder.
Both emphasised what they called the need for a strong and effective partnership to continue at the heart of the EU. Mrs Merkel had already acknowledged the significance of the Franco-German axis by making Paris the first stop of her tour. Nevertheless, Mrs Merkel has already proved an irritant to the French by showing signs of sympathy for Britain's objections to giving up its EU rebate without movement on farm subsidies.
French observers have also been looking for signs that the countries' closeness could be threatened by Mrs Merkel's wish to improve relations with America. They did not have to wait long for hints that repairing the damage to that relationship inflicted under Mr Schröder is now a priority for Berlin. But she promised to continue her predecessor's boycott of Nato's training of Iraqi military officers inside Iraq.