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New french president to strengthen europe union { May 7 2007 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a70544a8-fcbe-11db-9971-000b5df10621.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/a70544a8-fcbe-11db-9971-000b5df10621.html
A mixed EU welcome for France’s reformer
By George Parker inBrussels, John Thornhill in Paris and Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: May 7 2007 18:20 | Last updated: May 7 2007 18:20
Nicolas Sarkozy’s declaration that France was now “back in Europe” was greeted with a mixture of relief and foreboding in European Union capitals, where the new French president has as many enemies as admirers.
His ministerial career on the European stage has left a trail of damaged relationships, reflecting his conviction that the perfect Europe would resemble more closely his vision of France.
Mr Sarkozy has caused varying degrees of offence to almost everyone: small countries, poor countries, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and ministerial colleagues – all have reason to distrust or dislike him.
Yet, for all Mr Sarkozy’s bruising Gaullist style, his election was greeted with relief in the EU’s biggest power centres – Berlin, London and Brussels – where he was seen as the best candidate to drag France into the 21st century.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Gordon Brown, the likely new British prime minister, and José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, see him as a potential ally in their reforming, pragmatic Atlanticist cause. In the short term,
Mr Sarkozy should help Ms Merkel, holder of the rotating EU presidency, to rescue something from the Union’s stalled constitutional treaty at a Brussels summit next month. Ms Merkel said she expected “a very good co-operation” with him.
Mr Sarkozy, like Mr Brown, would back a slimmed-down treaty, focusing on modernising the EU’s rules and institutions, which he would ratify in parliament – bypassing voters who rejected the constitution in a 2005 referendum.
But the incoming president made clear on Sunday that this offer comes with strings attached. He wants the EU to move in a French direction, offering citizens “protection” from the outside world.
“I beseech our European partners not to remain deaf to the anger of the people, who perceive the European Union not as a protection but as a Trojan Horse for all the threats of a changing world,” he said.
During the campaign, he called on the EU to protect its citizens from unfair competition from abroad, particularly Asia, and from fiscal, social and environmental “dumping” from poorer EU members in eastern Europe.
That approach is at odds with the “open Europe” model being promoted by most northern, central and eastern European countries and to a lesser extent by Spain and Italy.
Mr Sarkozy’s liberal colleagues hope his protectionist rhetoric is just that and that he will notice the apparent contradiction in his professed admiration of the job-creation record of Britain, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark– among Europe’s least protectionist countries.
Mr Sarkozy’s approach to world trade talks will also be watched for signs of protectionism. His call for the negotiating mandate to be taken away from Peter Mandelson, the EU’s liberal trade commissioner, did not help his relations with Brussels. His interventionist approach could lead to conflict with Ms Merkel, despite their shared commitment to liberal reforms and opposition to Turkish EU membership,
Mr Sarkozy speaks of creating a “Mediterranean Union”, tightening links between Europe and north Africa, although some observers think his idea could extend to Turkey, which might then have friendly relations with the EU without being part of it.
Mr Sarkozy is expected in Berlin later this month, but his relationship with Ms Merkel will be strained if he continues to attack the ECB, whose charter he wants to rewrite to focus on growth, not just inflation.
“Merkel will not rally to Sarkozy’s agenda on reining in the ECB, fighting tax competition and developing an EU-wide industry policy,” said Martin Koopmann, of the German council on foreign relations.
Mr Sarkozy’s previous enthusiasm for giving the EU’s “Big Six” – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain – the leading role in running the club won him no friends in 21 smaller countries.
But it is his energetic, self-promoting style that could really cause problems in a union where consensus is king. While finance minister in 2004, he lectured European colleagues on the need to show a united front in dealing with soaring oil prices, then unilaterally offered concessions to French hauliers and farmers.
At the next meeting, “a terrible row” broke out, said a witness. “He was accused of hypocrisy and responded by losing his temper and attacking everyone in the room – except himself.”.
For all Mr Sarkozy’s idiosyncrasies, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s socialist prime minister, thinks his conservative neighbour has what it takes to help France “recover its self-esteem”. In his EU dealings, a lack of self-esteem is one feature unlikely to define his presidency. Additional reporting by Leslie Crawford in Madrid
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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