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Blair, Chirac row threatens summit
LONDON, England -- The future of an Anglo-French summit is in doubt after UK Prime Minister Tony Blair clashed with French President Jacques Chirac. Downing Street has confirmed the pair had a "vigorous exchange" of views over the future of the Common Agricultural Policy at the European summit in Brussels last week. The pair had been due to meet again in December, as part of a regular series of meetings. But Downing Street, responding to newspaper reports that the gathering had been cancelled, confirmed the meeting was now in doubt. Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced a deal on the eve of the talks, which Chirac was reported to have believed meant payments to French farmers would be untouched until 2013. (Full story) But Blair then successfully argued that a scheduled review of the CAP should take place anyway, and that the new deal meant to phase in payments to new EU countries could also be altered by world trade talks if there was a breakthrough there. Chirac was understood to be angry that his deal had been scuppered and complained that he found Blair's treatment of him offensive. "I'm not going to get into particular comments or private conversations, but, yes, there were vigorous exchanges," said a Downing Street spokesman. "You expect that at European councils because people do have their own country's interests to speak up for, and sometimes that does mean speaking up vigorously. I don't think we were the only country involved in speaking up vigorously." News reports said Chirac was angered that Britain and other EU members wanted a package of farm subsidy reforms agreed by France and Germany to be subjected to further review. "Jacques Chirac defended with conviction the situation of a common agricultural policy and of French farmers, and Tony Blair defended an opposing position, so it's normal in this sort of meeting," French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told LCI television in France. "The essential is that the position of Jacques Chirac was adopted."
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