British dreams of turning the Franco-German axis into a triangle may be little more than that, while the pound remains in splendid isolation from euro-land.
French elections are still three years off, and, as long as President Chirac remains in office, efforts to prop up the Franco-German axis will be firm.
Now, after a meeting with the French in Potsdam this week, the usual rhetoric of solidarity has failed to paint over the rust in the Franco-German axis.
Italy finds itself part of a new and potentially powerful grouping in the EU as the traditionally dominant Franco-German axis struggles to combat the threat of isolation which its anti-war stance has brought.
The Spanish government's decision to align itself with Britain and the United States reflected Mr Aznar's belief that his country had too often allowed itself to be dominated by a Franco-German axis within Europe.