Indeed, one of Schroeder’s first major foreign-policy experiences was the EU summit of 1999, where the leaders of France and Britain played rough with the newcomer from Berlin. The lesson that Schroeder drew was to insist that Germany could no longer be taken for granted and would demand a role commensurate to its size and weight.
确实，施罗德的第一次重大外交政策经验就是1999年的欧盟峰会。当时的英法两国领导人给了这位来自柏林的政坛新人一个下马威。施罗德所汲取的教训就是坚持德国不能再被轻视，它需要扮演一个与其国力相适应的角色。坚持己见成为德国外交政策的口号。