Schröder

"At the beginning of my tenure as chancellor, I was of the opinion that the German-French relationship could be made whole through a British component, making a kind of triangle. This idea was an illusion. For the foreseeable future no European impulse will come out of Britain. On the contrary: The country will try to nurture its intermediary role in the trans-Atlantic relationship, even if that comes at the expense of the European integration process."