War of words over France’s Gypsy expulsions threatens to overshadow EU summit

War of words with France may overshadow EU summit

BRUSSELS — A bitter rift over France’s Gypsy expulsions was set to dominate a summit of European Union leaders Thursday, after French ministers angrily hit back at comments likening the crackdown to World War II deportations.

In an emotional statement Tuesday, European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding called France’s handling of the deportations a “disgrace” that could breach EU law.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke with Reding on Wednesday night and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called his counterpart in Luxembourg, where Reding is from, to try to smooth over tensions.

“Madame Reding … made unacceptable statements about French policy, in particular certain comparisons with the Second World War. She was not speaking on behalf of Luxembourg,” Kouchner said in a statement.

“We agreed that it is urgent to respond to the great destitution of populations of Roma origin, with a priority in their country of origin.”

The Roma issue was not on the official summit agenda, but both Germany and Italy were pushing for a discussion Thursday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined the criticism of Reding’s comments.

“I found the tone and especially the historical comparisons unsuitable,” she said. “And I hope we can find a better way.”

In the face of the fierce criticism, Reding backed away from her comments about the war, acknowledging through her office that “there should not be a parallel with World War II.” But she stood by the rest of her strong criticism of Paris.

The expulsions of Gypsies, also known as Roma, from France, primarily to Romania, have highlighted persistent divisions between richer, older EU members and poorer, newer ones — and revived memories of historic hostilities in Europe that the 27-nation bloc was meant to overcome.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said France and the EU should use the summit as “a moment for dialogue.”

Barroso said he stood steadfastly behind Reding’s comments, saying her surprisingly blunt criticism of Paris was made “with my personal backing.” But he added that “expressions used in the heat of the moment may have given rise to misunderstandings.”

Reding “did not want to establish any parallels between what happened in World War II and the present,” he said.

EU President Herman van Rompuy called Thursday’s summit to discuss how the bloc communicates and what its strategic goals are with key countries such as the United States and China. Over lunch, Van Rompuy also will update the leaders on progress by a task force on economic governance.

Van Rompuy says the bloc, which accounts for 22 percent of the world’s economy, is “punching below its weight” and wants leaders to discuss how they can build a common foreign policy message and “deliver it effectively.”

The EU has key summits in coming weeks with Asian nations including growing economic powerhouses China and India.

The bloc suffered a setback Wednesday when the United Nations voted down its bid to have Van Rompuy and foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton speak on the EU’s behalf, starting at the 65th General Assembly session opening next week.

Ashton played down the vote, calling it a “procedural issue,” but it underscored the trouble Europe has in getting out a unified message to the rest of the world.

Foreign ministers at the summit are expected to consider a proposal for EU members to waive World Trade Organization tariffs on Pakistan textiles as a way of helping the country recover from devastating floods. Such a move could be worth between euro230-euro300 million ($290-$380 million) a year for Pakistan.

Extremely heavy monsoon rains unleashed floods in northwest Pakistan at the end of July and the disaster spread south, killing more than 1,700 people and affecting another 17 million.

The summit could also approve a multibillion dollar free trade deal between the EU and South Korea. The pact has been held up by Italy, which fears it could hurt its auto industry.