After forthright argument and hard bargaining, the 15-nation European Union (EU) finally issued a joint declaration over Iraq on Monday, saying UN arms inspections in Iraq could not continue indefinitely if Iraq failed to provide full cooperation and war could be an option but only as a last resort.

This declaration was a victory to the hard-line stand of the United States and a setback to Germany and France which were strongly opposed to a war against Iraq, China Youth Daily quoted White House officials as saying after the summit.

EU nations have been bitterly divided over the heated Iraqi issue, and with differences within the European bloc escalating, the EU was split into an anti-war camp headed by Germany and France and a British-led pro-war camp, the newspaper said.

Angered by the anti-war stance of Germany and France, which severely hindered the US efforts to get its war plans adopted at the NATO and UN, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has grouped Germany, France and Belgium into "old Europe" which the US can no longer rely on and labeled eight cooperative European nations including Britain, Italy and Spain as members of the "new Europe".

The EU emergency summit over Iraq in Brussels was an attempt to bridge the gap between "old" and "new" Europe and achieve internal unity over the Iraqi issue, the China Youth Daily said.

However, "old Europe" lost out at the summit and the declaration hardened the EU stance towards Iraq and reiterated solidarity with the US. Moreover, the declaration accepted that a large US military presence in the Gulf region is a "necessary" guarantee for Iraq to accept UN arms inspection.

The EU declaration demonstrated the willingness within the EU to obtain internal unity and ease conflicts among its members. On the other hand, though Germany and France hoped to separate Europe from US influence, more EU members are reluctant to undermine their relations with Washington, the newspaper analysis said.

Though largely losing this bout at the EU summit, Germany and France were not complete losers, the newspaper said, noting the two countries succeeded in having the warning "time is rapidly running out" for Iraq removed from the declaration and insisting the declaration state clearly that the UN arms inspectors would be given enough time to do their job.

The power struggle between "old" and "new" Europe is far from over, the China Youth Daily said. To boost his popularity and reverse a decline in public confidence, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is trying to persuade France to back a second UN resolution on Iraq, a war option proposed by Britain, at the UN. Negotiations over this resolution are likely to see "new" and "old" Europe continue their wrangle, the newspaper said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2003)