The Economic Summit : Too Much on the Menu--Gala Dinner Cut

The seven leaders at the economic summit decided Saturday to cut short their meetings by half a day, reportedly after several decided that French President Francois Mitterrand’s lavish schedule was running too long.

The summit meeting had been scheduled to end tonight, after President Bush and the other leaders completed one more high-calorie French meal in four days of diplomacy and revelry. But “several of the leaders felt that they had better things to do than attend one more fancy dinner,” a senior U.S. official said.

As a result, a gala dinner that Mitterrand had planned tonight at the Elysee Palace, his presidential office, was canceled. “It’s ending with lunch on Sunday,” the U.S. official said with a hint of relief.

Mitterrand’s spokesman, Hubert Vedrine, denied reports that the summit was being cut short because British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was annoyed at Mitterrand and had refused to attend his dinner. The two leaders have been nurturing a badly concealed dislike for each other for several months.

Instead, Vedrine told reporters, the summit was ending early because the leaders were reaching such quick agreement on all their agenda items. “There is no other explanation,” Vedrine said.

Nevertheless, diplomats said that both Thatcher and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl may change their schedules to leave Paris early this afternoon.

The seven leaders have been in the French capital since Thursday morning. They spent two days celebrating the bicentennial of France’s 1789 revolution before beginning their annual summit in earnest Saturday morning.

U.S. officials said that President Bush did not intend to change his travel plans.

He is scheduled to stay in Paris until Monday morning, when he will leave for a one-day visit to the Netherlands before returning to Washington on Tuesday.