Even from the arch europhile Financial Times this is rich! They spout slogans as though they were self-evident truths and every paragraph shows the anti-democratic nature of the Brussels set-up. Fixing behind the scenes away from public gaze is all!
And Sarkozy seems a monstrously touchy little man. 'La Gloire' is all
Christina Speight
FINANCIAL TIMES 16.6.09
Sarkozy smarts at Cameron’s snub on Europe
By Ben Hall in Paris and Joshua Chaffin in Brussels
British voters cannot wait to see the back of Gordon Brown but European leaders are hoping the prime minister can hold on to power long enough for the Lisbon treaty to be fully ratified. [So that’s admitted then! -cs]
“It is a race between the second Irish referendum and the death throes of Gordon Brown’s government,” said Alain Lamassoure, an MEP from the centre-right UMP party and a former adviser on European Union issues to Mr Sarkozy.
If Mr Brown’s Labour government is replaced by David Cameron’s opposition Conservatives, British voters will in all likelihood vote down the treaty and throw the EU into chaos. [Yes! That was the idea! -cs]
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, was asked this week about the pledge of David Cameron, the UK opposition Conservatives’ leader, to hold a referendum on the treaty if he comes to power before it is fully ratified. The French leader’s response was telling.
“I am watching the debate in that country,” Mr Sarkozy said. “I simply want to say that we have been happy to have Gordon Brown round the table with us because he has assumed his responsibilities and he has acted with courage by bringing his country with him on the path of European integration.” [That’s an example of the anti-democratic spirit in the EU. Brown has NOT ‘brought “his country with him”. He’s dragged them there by breaking a solemn promise -cs]
Mr Sarkozy’s tribute to Mr Brown’s “courage” on Europe spoke volumes of his low opinion of Mr Cameron’s Euroscepticism.
The prospect of Mr Cameron’s scuppering the treaty, which overhauls the EU’s decision-making rules, is especially hurtful to Mr Sarkozy, who considers himself its father. [THAT will convince British doubters then ? -cs]
The relationship between the two centre-right leaders – both (relatively) young, dynamic and determined to break party orthodoxies – was long ago damaged by Mr Cameron’s decision to withdraw from the mainstream centre-right grouping in the European parliament, say people close to the Elysée.
This decision is viewed in Paris as a snub to Mr Sarkozy, who pleaded with the Tory leader in four separate head-to-head meetings not to pull out. The move has also angered Angela Merkel, Germany’s centre-right chancellor.
In a book entitled A European in a Hurry, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, who is close to the Elysée, quotes Mr Sarkozy as telling Mr Cameron: “We want the Conservatives to stay with us. It is important politically. If not, we won’t work with you, even on a bilateral level.”
The relationship between the two men broke down when the Tory leader invited his French counterpart to address the Conservative party’s annual conference in 2006, but on condition he did not talk about Europe. “Nicolas Sarkozy was dumbfounded and enraged,” Mr Giuliani wrote. “His anger towards the British Conservative leader has not subsided.”
Even as he savoured victory in Sunday’s European parliamentary elections, in which the centre-right emerged as clear winner, Joseph Daul, leader of the EPP group and member of Mr Sarkozy’s party, could not hide his displeasure with Mr Cameron, and his move to withdraw Tory MEPs from their group. [They were warned again and again and wouldn’t listen or compromise. The Tories were tired of playing second-fiddle to French ambitions -cs]
“I think it will be seen as a strategic mistake,” Mr Daul said, arguing that British legislators would be isolated in the new parliament. Mr Daul has insisted that “the door remains open” to any British Conservatives who wish to return. The EPP’s victory gives the party more committee chairs and senior posts in the new parliament to dangle as enticements. [Smacks of perks for the boys a bit ? -cs]
Some attempts are being made to patch up relations between the Conservatives and Mr Sarkozy’s party. Xavier Bertrand, the UMP secretary-general, struck a conciliatory note, telling the Financial Times that he wanted to find ways of working with Mr Cameron.
“They are leaving,” he said. “Things are clear. We are not cutting the Conservatives off completely. One thing is certain after these elections and it is that Europe is not socialist.”
However, the Tories’ continued promise to kill off the Lisbon treaty is still a strain on relations.
“If [re-opening Lisbon] becomes a subject of the national campaign, then he will be obliged to do it,” Mr Daul said. “This would create big problems, and not only for the EPP but for heads of state and government [as well]”.
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