The row over Germany’s side deal to evade US sanctions on telecommunications exports rumbled ion yesterday and showed no sign of abating after the European Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan told German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt the Commission wanted a reply by last night to its request for explanations of the bilateral deal with US.Reuter was told that Sir Leon phoned Rexrodt expressing strong concerns about what appeared to be happening and that the Commission was awaiting the German government’s considered response later yesterday after setting the deadline in the letter it sent to the German authorities on Monday. The Commission has put the row over the deal on the agenda of its weekly meeting on Wednesday and the subject is likely to overshadow Thursday’s talks in London between Sir Leon and the man who announced the agreement, US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor. The issue is likely to go right up to Chancellor Helmut Kohl according to a government spokesman in Bonn. The discussion has a new political character. I could imagine that the Chancellor will bring this up at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, the spokesman said. Community officials have said it appeared that Rexrodt had acted without the backing of the German government, but Bonn denied this. There is a clear system of checks in the federal government and the Foreign Ministry is always involved, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Meantime French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur entered the row late Monday, saying It is up to the Commission to check it and to draw conclusions – then we will see where we stand. Using unsually strong language, the French foreign ministry said in a statement: France has asked the European Commission to clarify this matter fully. We cannot imagine that such a breach of Community solidarity could be approved. And according to the Financial Times, even the German telecommunications industry – apart presumably from Siemens AG, which is seen as the sole beneficiary of the side agreement – is up in arms about the deal, because it fears that cheap US imports will now enter the Community via Germany and hurt the domestic German industry.
