Chirac opposes energy plan
French President Jacques Chirac yesterday opposed a plan proposing qualified majority voting at EU summits, which could have forced France to open its energy markets to outside competition, the Financial Times has reported.
The paper said the plan was put forward by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The new voting system could have been used by other nations to force France to change its stance on energy.
However it cited an official as saying that "France does not support this proposal - it does not take the EU further forward".
Meanwhile, El Pais reported that Chirac did approve the Spanish presidency's proposal to approve a code of conduct for the council.
But the Spanish daily said Chirac rejected the immediate introduction of qualified majority voting on issues where disagreements between states are clear.
