Britannia Radio

BBC Blog MARK MARDELL    16.12.08
Czechs and balances
[SEE my "The true colours of the EU" today and "Two of our rulers 
plus a democrat" of  6.12.08 ]
Strasbourg 1330

President Sarkozy has called it an "outrage" and a "wound" that the 
president of the Czech Republic doesn't want EU flags flying from 
public buildings. The order caused a spat when a delegation from the 
European Parliament came visiting Prague Castle.

The trip was apparently a rather torrid affair, with the Greens MEP 
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, that old student radical from 1968, verbally 
attacking President Vaclav Klaus. They were hardly likely to be big 
buddies: Mr Klaus is seen not only as an outspoken opponent of the EU 
and the Lisbon Treaty, but he also dismisses mainstream beliefs about 
climate change, calling the legislation that the EU is so proud of "a 
silly luxury".

Mr Sarkozy was responding in the European Parliament to the UKIP 
leader Nigel Farage, who said that the delegation should have shown 
respect to a head of state rather than behave like thugs and bullies. 
Mr Sarkozy suggested respect should be shown by Mr Klaus as well.

This didn't protect the French president from the wrath of Mr Cohn-
Bendit, who has apparently decided to make attacking heads of state 
his new trademark. Pointing his finger, he said America's president-
elect would say "No, you can't", because the climate change 
legislation didn't go far enough.

Mr Sarkozy, rather mildly for him, responded in effect that the Green 
MEP always seemed such a nice man when they had agreeable lunches 
together, but turned into a different fellow altogether when the TV 
cameras were switched on.
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EU 'spirit of compromise'
Strasbourg 1030

"Europe turned up."
President Sarkozy was talking about the Georgian crisis, but it was 
the message of his whole speech - that the world needed Europe to be 
strong, and a strong Europe had to be united. After his speech the 
leaders of the political groups had their say.

Much of the French president's speech was pretty standard fare of 
course for speeches to the European Parliament - stress the need for 
Europe, and need for unity. It's what most here believe and want to 
hear.

He placed the blame for the financial crisis squarely on the 
shoulders of the American government: he said it began when they 
accepted the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. He also boasted that 
despite the difficulty of coordinating a response by the 27 countries 
with very different economic and political cultures, despite the 
misunderstandings and hesitations, Europe had got the response right. 
He said that the US had belatedly followed with a solution "based 
entirely on our plans".

He said there had to be a "re-moralisation" of capitalism, based on 
entrepreneurship, not speculation.

He told MEPs that when he first visited Dublin he had caused a fuss 
by saying the Irish would have to vote again on the Lisbon Treaty, 
but that is what a "courageous" Irish government had now decided. He 
said this wasn't easy for the Irish people, but Europe was about "a 
spirit of compromise" and this was what was being displayed. He 
predicted Lisbon would come into force, just a year late.

He concluded by saying Europe had to be built with the will of the 
nation states and labelled what he called "integrationalism" as an 
historic error. He'd enjoyed himself a lot, and the last six months 
had taught him a great deal. "Europe is the most beautiful invention 
of the twentieth century, Europe has moved me, it has changed me."
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Sarkozy's big EU ambitions

. 16 Dec 08, 09:20 AM

On 1 July the French took over Europe with fanfare and flummery, the 
Eiffel Tower was bathed in blue, the EU's gold stars projected on 
this symbol of France.

And President Nicolas Sarkozy, the new President of the Council, 
proceeded to impose his frenetic style on an organisation used to a 
more leisurely pace. Today he is giving a final speech in this role 
to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. I doubt he will manage 
undue modesty.

Last week's summit of the EU's prime ministers and presidents ended 
in what Mr Sarkozy, at least, regarded as an historic triumph, with 
deals on climate change, the economy and the Lisbon Treaty.  [Most of 
them wsere watered down fudges!  The rest of his Presidency plans 
were ditched under pressure of events. ]

The presidency can be a rather weak excuse for a few "informal" 
meetings in the country holding the presidency, with a few pet ideas 
shoved on top of whatever is the main business of the day. This was 
dramatically different.

There's no doubt Mr Sarkozy put his stamp on the presidency in a way 
that few manage, behaving as if he was indeed the President of Europe.

The veteran French Socialist Jack Lang told me he didn't always agree 
with Mr Sarkozy, but during his presidency he "gave a personality to 
Europe. He gave a feeling that Europe had a political existence. From 
an international point of view he gave presence to Europe".

Just as some unlikely leaders come to the fore in wartime so Mr 
Sarkozy seemed well-suited to our crisis-ridden times. But did his 
success really amount to very much?

The Irish No vote to the Lisbon Treaty was certainly seen as a crisis 
by the EU leadership, although it might not have bothered anyone else 
that much. Then there was the Russian invasion of Georgia. Within 
days Mr Sarkozy was in Tbilisi negotiating a ceasefire, then in 
Moscow signing it. Many felt it was deeply flawed, and ignored some 
crucial details. If so, it was typical of his style: restless action 
rather than careful analysis.

He called the first emergency summit since the Iraq crisis, to 
discuss the aftermath of the war. It wasn't to be his last.
One adviser told me this was an example of Mr Sarkozy's stubbornness 
paying off. Failure was not an option. Restless energy was. He called 
an emergency summit in Paris. It failed. He called another one. It 
was slightly better. He called an emergency EU summit. A bit more 
agreement. He travelled to Washington. He travelled to Beijing.

Ulrika Guerot of the European Council for Foreign Relations says "it 
may not be the best way of doing business, because you can make the 
reproach he looks like the king of Europe, it's an imperial way of 
doing the business of Europe.

"But with respect to the financial crisis he was the driving force 
for bringing together the G20 in a very short time, and he will be 
judged a success beyond his personal temper."

She forcefully makes the point that in the Georgian crisis and the 
financial crisis it was Europe making the running, not the United 
States. For some that is enough in itself. That is what really 
excites those who want the EU to play a bigger role in the world.

But this high-wire, high-risk summitry has infuriated Germany's 
leader Angela Merkel. When she was in the hot seat, conjuring the 
Lisbon Treaty out of the wreck of the European Constitution, she 
worked meticulously to discover each nation's hang-ups and hopes and 
carefully wrought a delicate compromise. Mr Sarkozy announces an 
idea, which often comes as a surprise to his diplomats and civil 
servants, let alone other leaders... and waits to see if it will fly.

Lord Patten, the former Conservative Party chairman and former EU 
Commissioner for External Relations, told me "While they both hate 
the comparison, the young Sarkozy is a bit like Chirac when he was a 
young prime minister - he was known as the bulldozer and he was known 
for his energy, his ubiquity and the way he got his own way simply by 
steamrollering or bulldozing things through, and I think there are 
aspects of that in Mr Sarkozy. It may or may not be the best way of 
doing business in France, but I have my doubts in Europe, which 
requires more continuity. But it has been a style and I suspect that 
after six months of the next presidency we might be looking forward 
to the smack of charisma again."

There were tentative suggestions from the French press and indeed Mr 
Sarkozy himself that there should be a way for him to continue his 
role, perhaps as leader of the Eurozone countries. This will formally 
come to nothing, but I bet one of the arguments we hear more of, 
perhaps today, is that his success and style proves the need for a 
full-time President of the Council, as proposed in the Lisbon Treaty.