EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: FRITS BOLKESTEIN CRITICISES FRANCE AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT.

Frits Bolkestein, European Commissioner with responsibility for the Taxation and the Single Market portfolios, raised the stakes on 26 January in The Hague by making highly inflammatory statements on the future of European integration in the aftermath of the Nice Summit. First in the Dutch Commissioner's firing line was the French Presidency, which he accused of being too concerned with internal power struggles. Mr Bolkestein summed up the influence of the French on the European Union by pointing out that the European Commission was run along the lines of a French administration with French as its main working language and French nationals holding key positions. He quoted the US Secretary of State...