EU-DIGEST

Listening to him in the run-up to this month's UN climate conference in Copenhagen, French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be more in his element than the average world leader at such international conferences on global threats. In November, he stood on the steps of the Elysee Palace with Brazilian President Luiz Inacia Lula da Silva and proclaimed that the two of them had agreed on a plan to save the world from global warming. Then, trailing press releases like confetti, he traveled to Brazil and the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago to trumpet the proposal.But this was just typically Sarkozian. As head of the European Union during the economic crisis, he convoked numerous summits, which he approached with a messiah's zeal and a tap dancer's sensitivity to his audience.

Before every G8 or G20 summit on the crisis, he loudly proclaimed his intention to save the world from bad capitalism and threatened to walk out of the meeting if it did not come up with concrete solutions. Sarkozy never walked out, and capitalism remains pretty much what it was before the crisis. Now, that same table-thumping advocacy and media awareness has accompanied Sarkozy's approach to Copenhagen.

Note EU-Digest: It's called - all talk,no action.

Labels: Copenhagen Climate Summit, EU, Sarkozy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has shared his memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall, telling his Facebook fans he chipped away at the concrete slabs with a pickaxe on November 9, 1989. Mr Sarkozy posted his personal account as he headed to Berlin to join European leaders for joyous celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Wall. The president recounted that he traveled to Berlin from Paris on the morning of November 9 after hearing the first news reports of the mass influx of East Germans to West Berlin.Then a 34-year-old member of parliament, Mr Sarkozy was with other French politicians who headed straight for the Brandenburg gates "where an enthusiastic crowd had gathered to welcome the looming opening of the Wall". "We then headed for Checkpoint Charlie to see the eastern side of the city and finally confront this wall and I was able to take a pickaxe to it," recounted Mr Sarkozy.

Labels: Berlin Wall, EU, Sarkozy

France: - Sarkozy’s Son Will Not Seek High-Profile Post

Amid fierce accusations of favoritism, President Nicolas Sarkozy's son renounced his candidacy Thursday for the leadership of the organization that runs France's most important business district on the western edge of the capital. The younger Sarkozy's candidacy drew mounting criticism from both the left and within the conservatives on grounds the 23-year-old, who has not completed his law studies, was not qualified for the high-profile job. The polemic was starting to damage his powerful father whose ratings have slipped in the last two weeks, in part because of the polemic over his son.

EPAD, as the organization is known, is a quasi-governmental agency that oversees real estate and administration in the La Defense complex where 150,000 people work. The French president has big ambitions for La Defense to become an even more important European financial center, and his son's accession to a leadership position was part of the plan.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France: Sarko nepotism row rages in France The youth wing of the French Socialist Party last night launched a tongue-and-cheek campaign urging jobless youths to ask President Nicolas Sarkozy to adopt them, as a nepotism row rages over his son Jean's expected appointment to run France's top business district. The 23-year-old second-year law student and municipal councillor plans to take the helm of the EPAD agency overseeing development at La Defense, west of Paris. "This is to help young people who are struggling because it appears that it is easier to find a job when your name is Sarkozy," said Thomas Le Goff from the Socialist Party youth wing.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy insists health is 'fine'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is back at work and has declared his "health is good" after he collapsed while jogging on Sunday. His often frenetic schedule has earned him the nickname the "hyper-president". Following his release from hospital on Monday he admitted he needed to scale down on activities in the coming weeks.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy collapses while jogging

(AFP) France's President Nicolas Sarkozy collapsed while jogging near his weekend retreat Sunday and was rushed to hospital where officials said he was "doing well" but would remain overnight. The 54-year-old conservative president's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy raced to his side on the back of a police motorbike after he felt faint while running in the wooded park around the Versailles Palace, a witness said.A presidential aide told AFP that Sarkozy had a problem related to his vagus nerve -- which helps the body regulate its heart rate -- but that doctors considered the problem "minor". A condition known as vasovagal syncope can reduce the heart rate and blood pressure -- particularly if the victim is dehydrated. Patients can faint but normally make a complete recovery, medical experts said. Sarkozy's office said there were no plans to cancel Sarkozy's visit on Tuesday to the Mont Saint Michel abbey in Normandy.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Netherlands: Germany and France jeopardize pact - by Robert Wielaard

The Netherlands charged Tuesday that France and Germany are running their economies so differently that they are threatening the rules that underpin the stability of the euro. Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos said France and Germany "are sending different signals about how they regard the necessity to put public finances in order." He told reporters that it was "worrisome" that neither Berlin not Paris will acknowledge publicly that they are taking vastly different paths to return their slumping economies to growth. That, he added, was eroding confidence in the euro budget rules that require governments to contain debt within certain limits. While the German government has advocated limiting debt and bringing government spending back in line, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said "he sees no reason to commit himself in that sense" and plans to allow the deficit widen to stoke growth, Bos said. "That kind of nonintervention can have devastating effects" on the euro stability rules at a time when most of the 16 euro-zone nations have budget gaps far exceeding the limit of 3 percent of gross national product, he said.While the German government has advocated limiting debt and bringing government spending back in line, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said "he sees no reason to commit himself in that sense" and plans to allow the deficit widen to stoke growth, Bos said.

"That kind of nonintervention can have devastating effects" on the euro stability rules at a time when most of the 16 euro-zone nations have budget gaps far exceeding the limit of 3 percent of gross national product, he said.

Labels: Economy, EU, euro, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sarkozy, Wouter Bos

A New Brew - Sarko Black Label - by John Vinocur

The new Nicolas Sarkozy doesn’t wear his Ray-Bans at public appearances anymore. He has upped his cultural aspirations to read Stefan Zweig and Jose Luis Borges. And he has invited over to dinner people like David Lynch, the film director, and Michel Houellebecq, whose novels are hardly associated with beach-books and sun tan oil. There’s something to it, though the actual process looks more like part of a mid-course re-launch by the Élysée Palace of a president with a five-year term. Or Sarko Black Label, a brand extension that would hope to market the original willful and energetic template as more modest, pondered and refined.

Labels: France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy says eastern Europe poses risk for EU - by by James Mackenzie

The financial crisis in eastern and central Europe poses a risk to the European Union but necessary measures to confront the situation have been taken, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday. "On the question of eastern and central Europe, there is an economic and political risk for them and for us," he told a news conference after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels. But he said that the combined efforts of international organizations had been mobilized and the measures needed to face up to the crisis had been taken.

Labels: Eastern Europe, EU, Sarkozy

Sarkozy goes after US protectionism - by Elitsa Vucheva

French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday (24 February) called on the EU to protect its industry in the face of US protectionism, and said France and Italy would insist on this during a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Sunday. "There must be competition, but competition to build big European groups, not to make the totalities of our industries delocalize. France and Italy will as soon as Sunday [at an emergency EU summit] speak with one voice to ask Europe to take decisions, strong decisions," Mr Sarkozy told the press following a meeting with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome.

The French president's comments come as the US earlier this month adopted a $787 billion (€617 billion) package to boost its economy. The bill contains "Buy American" provisions prohibiting foreign steel companies bidding for US infrastructure contracts financed by the plan. The European Commission has already raised concerns about the clause.

Labels: EU, EU Economy, Sarkozy, US

Google backs Europe case against Microsoft browser

Google Inc. wants to help European regulators prove Microsoft Corp. has stifled competition and innovation by bundling its popular Web browser with the Windows operating system. The decision to back the European Commission, announced Tuesday, isn't a surprise because Google wants to lessen the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer with a competing Web browser called Chrome.

Labels: Accident, Aircraft disaster, Amsterdam, EU, EU Economy, Google, Microsoft, Netherlands, Railways, Sarkozy, Transportation Logistics, Turkey, US

Sarkozy tells it as it is.

For the complete report from the Telegraph click on this link

French President Nicolas Sarkozy accuses Gordon Brown of ruining British economy(and criticizes US recovery plan)

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, has accused Gordon Brown of ruining the Britain's economy and vowed not to repeat his mistakes in a frank interview which has sparked a cross-channel diplomatic row. Said Sarkozy: "In France, we chose investment because when we put France into debt by taking money to invest, in return we have assets, infrastructure. When you put your country into debt to pay for operating costs, you have nothing in return for your debt and you ruin the country. If the English did that it's because they don't have any industry left. Gordon Brown cannot do what I am doing with car makers [giving them up to 6 billion euros... in construction and other industries, because they haven't got any left. In the US, bipartisan talks are underway to reduce the size of the American stimulus. There are Democrats as well as Republicans who think that the $920billion package contains a good deal of waste in it. When you examine some of the detail it's clear there is hundreds of billions of dollars worth of rubbish included which will not create recovery and only saddle the US with higher debt. A $1.5 billion package spent on broadband for rural areas? I bet that'll be efficiently spent. That's one of the items which will likely come out, and by the end the stimulus is expected to be at least $90billion smaller than originally envisaged."

Note EU-Digest: Mr. Sarkozy understands that in order to get an economy going again you need to get people working, not finance the culprits who caused the problem.

Labels: Britain, EU, EU Economy, France, Sarkozy

France - Secret of Sarkozy's stamina

The secret of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's boundless energy lies in an alternative therapist who massages his back and sends him “positive energy waves”, according to a new book on the man known as the 'hyper-President'. Sarkozy, who will be 54 later this month, has been treated by therapist Jean-Paul Moureau — known by his patients as 'Moureau the guru' — for 15 years with his special technique of 'manual therapy', says the book by journalist Patrice Machuret. Quoting from the book, The Sunday Times said Sarkozy's tirelessness — they call him the Duracell Bunny — has long been a subject of speculation and that in French political circles he is regularly accused of being “on something”, with theories ranging from amphetamines to cocaine.

Moureau is described as a practitioner of etiopathy — a system that pinpoints “the real cause of an illness” and treats it with manual therapy.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Was Nicolas Sarkozy's Model Right for an E.U. President?

Filling the vacuum left by the exhausted Bush administration and frequently overstepping his nominal authority, Mr. Sarkozy brokered the cease-fire between Georgia and Russia, presided over Europe's unusually quick and coherent response to the financial crisis and, at a final summit last month, pushed the union to adopt an aggressive plan for reducing carbon emissions.

"Bold" and "brilliant" are among the adjectives being heaped on Mr. Sarkozy by European diplomats and pundits -- especially those of the French persuasion -- who have long dreamed of a European Union president who could meet his U.S., Russian and Chinese counterparts on more or less equal terms. Not coincidentally Mr. Sarkozy has been leading the push for the ratification of a new E.U. treaty that would end the six-month rotation in favor of an elected president with a 2 1/2 -year term. He's demonstrated that a capable and strong-willed politician in that job could have a greater impact than national European leaders acting separately.

Labels: EU, Sarkozy

EU President Sarkozy Heading to Jerusalem to mediate between Israel and Hamas - by by Aimee Kligman

How lame is the US duck? Lame enough that we are witnessing a first. The President of Europe and France, together with his Foreign Affairs Minister, Bernard Kouchner, are heading to Jerusalem to mediate between the warring factions. This feels uneasy, though I am elated to see that at least one head of state stands behind his words. Everyone who has a voice around the world has been busy pontificating over what should be done, why and where. But the only man willing to put his money where his mouth is - is Nicolas Sarkozy.

Have we arrived at a world where the U.S. is no longer the peace maker, the relations promoter, the center stage power? Will France edge itself closer to Israel and its politics? Let us remember that Sarkozy has very deep Sephardic Jewish roots. Though this has not been emphasized in the English speaking press, it has been a very big deal in French speaking media. Remember that after the U.S., France has the largest size Jewish community.

Labels: EU, Hamas, Israel, Sarkozy

Did Sarkozy's stint change the EU for good? - by By Stephen Castle and Katrin Bennhold

Six months after France illuminated the Eiffel Tower in a deep cobalt blue to open its European Union presidency, the Czech Republic - which takes over the job in January - asked privately if the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, would take part in a handover ceremony. Sarkozy, came the polite but firm reply, does not want to be the person who switches off the giant neon EU symbol on the famous Paris landmark.Sarkozy's leadership has helped to reconnect the French with the EU, just three years after France - a founding member of the bloc - shocked itself and others by rejecting the EU's constitution in a referendum. In a BVA poll published Tuesday, 56 percent of the French approved of Sarkozy's EU presidency, while his domestic policies remain deeply unpopular. Sarkozy has also surprised some by forging an alliance with Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, even inviting him to a meeting of countries that use the euro, which Britain has shunned.In some ways, Sarkozy has already forged a legacy. By lobbying for the G20 meeting in Washington in November and setting the stage for a follow-up in London in April, he has created a precedent that his successors cannot ignore.

If the global economy continues to deteriorate, his ability as crisis manager might be called on once more.

Labels: Economy, EU, Sarkozy

France, Eastern Europe Make Progress Toward EU Climate Accord - France, Eastern Europe Make Progress Toward EU Climate Accord - Katarzyna Klimasinska

France and nine eastern European countries moved nearer to a compromise on a new European Union climate change agreement, after a Polish-led coalition of new member states won a pledge for more exceptions. “We have managed to make some progress,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said today after a meeting with Eastern European leaders in Gdansk, Poland. “Despite the financial crisis, none of the member states questions the target.” The EU is seeking to reduce fossil fuel emissions by cutting quotas of allowed pollution and pushing power producers to buy the carbon dioxide emission permits now allocated largely for free. The EU wants to introduce purchases under a so-called auction system in 2012. Poland, which gets 93 percent of electricity from coal, has previously threatened to block changes, saying they would boost inflation and hamper economic growth.

France, current holder of the 27-nation EU’s rotating presidency, doubled the exception period for Polish power utilities, so that they wouldn’t have to buy all the permits until 2019, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today.

The EU aims for a deal by year-end, saying an accord among rich and poorer European nations would encourage the U.S. and China to sign up to a new United Nations treaty. Governments worldwide have gathered in the Polish city of Poznan to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. “Europe must be an example for others,” Sarkozy said today.

Labels: Eastern Europe, Emission reduction, EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy Wants to Lead Euro Zone Until 2010

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly said he wants to become president of the euro zone countries once his term as EU heads expires at the end of the year.According to the French daily Le Monde on Wednesday, Oct. 22, several advisors to the French president have confirmed this strategy. Sarkozy's ambition is based on his firm conviction that the crisis in Georgia and the financial crisis both demonstrated that Europe was in need of a strong leader. According to Le Monde, Sarkozy believes that without such an individual at the helm, the EU would never have been able to negotiate with Moscow or decide on an effective plan to rescue European banks. However, it seems unlikely that other EU countries will go along with the idea. In an interview published Wednesday in the French business daily La Tribune, German Finance Minister Michael Glos said the proposal of a single economic governance of euro zone countries was "not suitable for resolving the current problems."

Note EU-Digest: "the idea certainly has merit, or at least a compromise of the idea, whereby the 15 euro-zone leaders elect a Chairman to speak on behalf of the group".

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Europe matters once again, thanks to its impatient, competent, and hyperactive leader - by Lara Marlowe

CAN NICOLAS Sarkozy save the world? In just two months, with his stewardship of crises in the Caucasus and on world financial markets, the French president has attained the image of an international statesman of rare ability. Mr Sarkozy is changing the way the world sees Europe, and the way Europe sees itself. "All has to change," he said at the closing of the EU summit here yesterday. "This [financial] crisis has given us the opportunity to reconcile Europeans with Europe. I'm ready to place a bet: Europe will have a better image after the crisis." Mr Sarkozy called the euro group's emergency summit on Sunday, then on Wednesday persuaded all 27 member states to adopt the bank rescue plan. His next mission - one he has talked about for years - is to "refound capitalism" the world over; nothing less.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

EU takes historic step and seizes the initiative for the construction of a new and fair world economic order

This Thursday, the 27 member European Union leaders will call for a supervising body to oversee the world's 30 largest financial companies, among other sweeping changes to the global economic order. This was disclosed today as the EU political leadership began a two-day meeting to consider further steps to tame the global financial crisis, and will agree to expand a rapid action plan the U.K. and 15 euro-zone countries drew up Sunday to other countries in the bloc.

With the U.S. temporarily hobbled by the approaching election, the majority of E.U. politicians see a once-in-a-generation opportunity to seize the initiative, and play a major role in the construction of a badly needed new and fair economic order. Drawing heavily on proposals made earlier in the week by U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the leaders will call for the overhaul of the Bretton Woods system, an outdated US designed global financial framework which has existed since 1944.

The Europeans want to hold a meeting of leaders from around the globe to get the process underway after the U.S. presidential election. "I've proposed an international summit by the end of the year, preferably in New York, where all these problems started," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in his opening address to the meeting. France holds the rotating presidency of the EU for the six months ending December, and Sarkozy is chairing the meeting of leaders. Sarkozy added that he wants to see financial supervision extended to hedge funds, and to eliminate offshore financial centers.

Long derided for its lack of maneuverability, the E.U. has surprised observers by responding decisively and coherently to the sharp declines in share prices that accompanied rising fears about the viability of the bloc's banking system in recent weeks.

Labels: Brown, Economic World Order, EU, Financial Crises, Sarkozy

SARKOZY BLAMES 'CRAZY SYSTEM' - by Steven Edwards

French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a virtual indictment of the capitalist system yesterday in a hard-hitting speech on the opening day of the United Nations summit. Mr. Sarkozy said he wanted world leaders to hold a summit by year's end to "rebuild together a regulated capitalism." Central to the new mechanism, he said, would be measures ensuring that "those who jeopardize people's savings are punished."

Labels: EU, Sarkozy, US Economic Meltdown

Sarkozy Deserts Bush, Europe Drifting From America

When Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France, it appeared that for the first time a French President was going to play a second fiddle to President Bush. He gave the impression that he was also a staunch rightist who was bent upon reversing the liberal and leftist traditions of France and tows the neo conservative and reactionary policies of President Bush. However, the recent developments in Europe and the Middle East show that Sarkozy has parted company with Bush.

What made Sarkozy change his policies? Europe is fundamentally different than the United States. America remains the only country in the world that is loyal to the pure and unadulterated consumerist capitalism. Europe has long back deserted the traditional capitalism and has adopted the concept of a social welfare state based upon what can be called utilitarian capitalism. This form of capitalism can also be called “Capitalism with a human face”.

The poor performance of the American consumerist capitalism as compared to the European utilitarian capitalism has convinced Europe that it is on the right track. Failure of the American policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran as well as the deepening economic crisis at home has convinced the Europeans that time has come to put a distance between America and Europe. The resurgence of Russia as a global power and the relative decline of the American power has also led the Europeans to review their relations with Russia and America and adopt a more balanced and independent stand in the conflict between the two countries.

Labels: Bush, EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy Says Iran May Provoke Israeli Attack, Causing Disaster - by Francois de Beaupuy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iran's nuclear program may provoke an attack by Israel, urging the Islamic republic to accept international inspections. ``Iran is taking a major risk in continuing its process of obtaining nuclear weapons, which we are certain is happening,'' Sarkozy said today in Damascus, Syria. ``One day, whatever the Israeli government is, we can imagine ourselves one morning with an Israel that would have attacked. That would be a disaster.''

Labels: EU, Iran, Israel, Sarkozy

Sarkozy accused of hypocrisy as his wife meets the Dalai Lama - by John Lichfield

The French First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, will meet the Dalai Lama in France this week – adopting for the first time her self-proclaimed role as a kind of queen of human rights. Officially, Mme Bruni-Sarkozy will meet the Buddhist spiritual leader as a man of faith, not as as a symbol of Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule. In truth, her role will be more ambiguous and more political, deflecting criticism from her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, who announced last week that he would not "provoke" the Chinese government by meeting the Dalai Lama while the Olympic Games were in progress in Beijing.

The French media have, almost universally, interpreted the deployment of the First Lady to greet the Tibetan leader as a clumsy attempt to combine realpolitik and principle.

The centre-left newspaper Libération said: "To human rights activists [the President] is saying 'Carla'. To the Chinese, he is saying: "here I come'." The first secretary of the Socialist Party, François Hollande, said: "Nicolas Sarkozy has already won the gold medal for hypocrisy." Elysée officials said that the decision was made at the suggestion of the Dalai Lama himself, who advised Paris that it was "better not to annoy the Chinese during the Olympics".

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy, Tibet

France - Bruni wants a child with Nicolas Sarkozy

Just days after the release of her new music album in which she sings of her love for Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni [Images] has expressed her desire of having a baby with the flamboyant French president. "I'd love to have children with Nicolas. I hope to, if I am young enough. It would be a dream," Bruni, who already has a child from her first marriage, said in an interview to Vanity Fair magazine at Elysee Palace in Paris. However, the 40-year-old former Italian supermodel-turned-singer has ruled out fertility programs. "If it comes, I'd be the happiest person in the world, but if it doesn't come, I'm not going to tempt the Devil. If life doesn't give me another child, well, it has given me so much already," Bruni said.

Labels: Bruni, EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy says will not sign WTO deal as it stands

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday he would not sign the current version of a global trade deal unless it was modified.Talks to salvage a global trade deal faced a crunch point on Thursday after three days of scant progress and officials said it would be clear soon whether it was worth pressing on.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy, WTO

Sarkozy says EU Treaty Needs No Renegotiation - by Helene Fouquet

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Lisbon Treaty to overhaul European Union institutions should not be renegotiated after Irish voters rejected the treaty, the Irish Times newspaper reported today, citing an interview. Sarkozy, who holds the rotating presidency of the EU, will visit Ireland on July 21. He said Europe must resolve the crisis ``several months'' before the June EU parliamentary elections and the Commission's renewal later next year, the newspaper said.

Europe needs Ireland and Ireland needs Europe, Sarkozy told the newspaper. The French leader said the EU's executive arm, the Commission, under the Lisbon Treaty, could keep one commissioner for each of the 27 member states until at least 2014 and that this could be discussed as a solution with Ireland, the newspaper said. He said the EU common defense plan would not threaten the Irish neutrality, the Irish Times reported.

Labels: EU, Lisbon Treaty, Sarkozy

The United States cautiously welcomed on Monday the summit of European Union (EU) and Mediterranean countries, which also brought together top leaders of Israel, the Palestinian authorities, Syria and Lebanon. "We don't have an observer there. We don't have a place at the table. But I think, generally, it's an effort that we can, at the least, be supportive of," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Leaders from all the 27 EU member states and 16 North African, Middle East and Western Balkan countries launched in Paris, France, the Union for the Mediterranean on Sunday, aimed at boosting cooperation between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East through a series of regional projects.

The delegates approved six cooperation projects: the de-pollution of the Mediterranean, the building of maritime and coastal land highways, the fight against disasters, a solar energy program, an EU-Mediterranean university and a business development initiative.

Labels: EU, France, Mediterranean summit, Sarkozy

EU- Mediterranean realism triumphs - by Marwan Bishara

The dream of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, to establish a union between Europe and its southern neighbours has finally seen the light, albeit in a somewhat deflated project. The July 13 summit of 40 leaders from the Mediterranean region in Paris was a major symbolic and diplomatic victory for French foreign policy which had long been thought to suffer from stagnation and paralysis. France managed to create a process of dialogue and cooperation during the summit despite the past European failure of adopting a single constitution and the breakdown of the Barcelona process, which by 2005 was meant to have created a north-south Mediterranean rapprochment, but was instead considered all but dead.

Moreover, the failure of America's New Middle East project to produce any tangible results beyond chaos and war, prompted even Washington's closest allies to come together under French auspices and embrace a union that demanded little of their governments.

Labels: EU, Mediterranean summit, Sarkozy

EU plan for grand union - by Lorne Cook

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and 42 other leaders were to launch last night a union between Europe and its Mediterranean neighbors but tensions among Middle East countries could undermine their grand plan. Heads of state and government from the 27 European Union nations and an arc of countries running from Morocco to the Balkans representing some 756 million people were expected to endorse the new forum at the Grand Palais on Paris's Champs Elysee."

Labels: Air France, EU, Grand Union, Mediterranean region, Sarkozy

US, France clash over G8 expansion

The United States and France clashed Monday over plans to accommodate India, China and other large developing countries into the Group of Eight (G8) of industrialized countries, according to Japanese media reports quoting officials from both sides.In an interview given to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper prior to his departure for Japan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said G8 annual summits should also include China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

Labels: Air France, Council of Europe, G8, Russia; US, Sarkozy

Sarkozy calls for changing the way Europe is being built

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday called for a profound change to the way Europe is being built as France prepared to take the helm of the European Union. "There have been errors in the way that Europe has been built," Sarkozy said in a television interview as France was to take over the presidency of the 27-nation bloc starting on Tuesday. "We must therefore profoundly change our way of building Europe," he said.France wants to push issues it says Europeans find relevant: taking steps to stem the influx of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers; assuaging fears that jobs are being lost to globalization and emerging powers like China; softening the blow of high oil prices on fishermen, farmers, truckers, and low-income households.

France's presidency will, a senior diplomat told me recently, be "fun". That is not a word used often to describe EU presidencies.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France's Nicolas and Carla assume Europe's throne - by Angela Charlton

France's first lady sings in English and dreams in Italian, and the president's roots reach to Hungary and Greece. Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy could be a metaphor for a harmonious, borderless Europe. The real Europe is a cacophonous and conflicted place, though, as the Sarkozys will soon discover: On Tuesday, they become the continent's public face, as France takes over the presidency of the 27-nation European Union. It's an unusual, important job, presiding over a bloc that boasts nearly half a billion people and an economy rivaling America's yet that struggles to manage its financial and diplomatic heft.

"Modesty" and "no arrogance" — Sarkozy's aides say these are the watchwords of the French EU presidency. Skeptics question whether the glamorous and wealthy Sarkozys can pull that off.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy is making enemies when he should really be making friends

Making enemies might seem a strange way to launch a presidency. But Nicolas Sarkozy just cannot help it, it seems. In the run-up to the start of France's six-month leadership of the European Union, kicking off next Tuesday, a steady stream of venom is pouring Brussels's way from Paris. The two main targets are Jose Manuel Barroso, the ex-Portuguese prime minister who heads a liberal commission, and Peter Mandelson, former New Labour brain and now powerful trade commissioner. The rhetorical knives are out.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Labels: EU, France, Israel, Sarkozy

Labels: EU, France, Military, Sarkozy

Sarkozy seeks to reassure disgruntled

President Nicolas Sarkozy, looking to rebuild his shattered popularity ratings, promised on Tuesday to preserve France's 35-hour work week and cushion the impact of soaring energy costs for the hardest hit. In a dawn media blitz, Sarkozy visited France's biggest food market and then went on breakfast radio to reassure people that he understood their concerns over rising prices. The president ruled out any budget austerity, laid to rest fears his government might hike the retirement age and denied rumours of a possible increase in the television licence fee. "I don't believe in austerity ... What did austerity measures bring (in the past)? Higher unemployment, higher deficit and less growth," Sarkozy told RTL radio. Sarkozy's ratings have hit record lows for a president one year into office, with voters angry about the rising cost of living and disenchanted with a ceaseless churn of reforms.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France's Club Med Plan Riddled With Problems

President Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial plan for a Mediterranean Union, expected to be a cornerstone of France's looming EU presidency, is in trouble with experts saying many questions still need to be resolved. Last year French President Nicolas Sarkozy had a vision for an exclusive “Club Med,” in which membership was based solely on a shared Mediterranean coastline. This meant that only EU countries on the 27-nation bloc’s southern flank, such as France, Spain and Italy met the criteria for a geographical grouping that stretches from Morocco to Israel, Syria and Turkey. Sarkozy’s “Mediterranean dream” was supposed to provide a forum for tackling regional issues that ranged from stopping illegal boat migration from Africa and combating terrorism to harnessing solar energy and cleaning up the polluted sea.

But there were numerous problems with the proposal, with Germany playing a key role in torpedoing Sarkozy’s original plan, say EU experts. German chancellor Angela Merkel had insisted that the initiative be anchored within existing EU structures and must include all member states.

It is unclear whether France's enthusiasm for the project will be shared by other EU members.

Labels: EU, France, Mediterranean region, Sarkozy

For the complete report from AFP click on this linl

Russia and EU - The dream team: Putin heads to France as foreign policy master

Vladimir Putin heads to France Thursday on his first major foreign visit since becoming prime minister, as he continues to wield influence in foreign policy, overshadowing that of his Kremlin successor. In a sign of his powerful role, Putin has been invited to dinner by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday after his meeting with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon -- a rare honour for visiting heads of government. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said France was chosen as his first major foreign destination because of its presidency of the European Union later this year. Putin visited Russia neighbour Belarus on a brief trip last week. In a stroke of good timing, EU member states on Monday approved the launch of negotiations with Moscow on a new partnership and cooperation agreement, putting an end to two years of crisis in EU-Russia relations.

Labels: EU, France, Russia, Sarkozy

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Unpopular Sarkozy defends his presidency

In a live televised interview French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday tried to reverse his unpopularity in opinion polls. While admitting making mistakes during his first 12 months in office, he defended his record and pledged further reforms: "Since I was elected President of the Republic the price per barrel of oil has doubled, there's been the subprime crisis, the euro has hit unbelievable levels, or rather the dollar has fallen to very low levels, and there's been a sharp rise in other raw materials.This quadruple shock means we need reforms,change and adaptation," he said. Answering questions by French journalists Sarkozy reiterated his opposition to Turkey becoming a member of the European Union, because that country is not in Europe, he said. His predecessor Jacques Chirac wanted an automatic referendum on any new country seeking membership. Sarkozy said he doesn't want the referendum to be something automatic, but if the issue is raised during his mandate, he will organize a referendum on Turkey.

Labels: EU, Sarkozy

French President Sarkozy wants bigger 'green' economy - by Angela Charlton

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday the fight against climate change needs massive new amounts of private investment and globally regulated "green" markets to succeed. About 90 percent of the money for fighting global warming will come from the private sector over the long term, Sarkozy said at climate talks in Paris with the world's biggest polluters. Mobilizing a few hundred million euros, or dollars, is not enough, he said, adding that the international community must "massively redirect financial flows toward this new low-carbon economy." The U.S.-sponsored talks in Paris this week are aimed at ironing out disagreements among leading economies such as the United States, the European Union, China and India over how to reduce global warming. They are meant to feed broader U.N. efforts to work out a follow-up plan to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which requires signatories to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases that contribute to global warming.

Sarkozy also said the carbon credit market and other environmental financial tools currently used in Europe should be "globalized and regulated." Karsner, however, said he saw little need for a globalized carbon market.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France's Sarkozy tells feuding ministers to stop it

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told his ministers to stick together, in an effort to end infighting that has dented government credibility at a time of low popularity ratings for Sarkozy. The ruling conservative UMP party is trying to recover from a poor showing in last month's municipal elections - partly blamed on Sarkozy's personal popularity slump - but the task has been complicated by ministers arguing in public. "The president, at the end of the cabinet meeting, called on all members of the government to be loyal, to show solidarity and to form a united team around him and the prime minister," government spokesman Luc Chatel told a news conference.

In the early days of his administration, the hyperactive Sarkozy was markedly more popular than his more discreet prime minister. But the latest poll, published on Sunday, showed 38 percent of those surveyed were satisfied with Sarkozy while Fillon's approval rating stood at 51 per cent.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Could the Bucharest NATO Summit Give Birth to an EU Army? - by Gulfstreamblues

When it comes to great expectations, few summits could be said to be generating as much anticipation recently as the NATO summit in Bucharest this week. Besides hammering out a plan to rescue the military fiasco in Afghanistan, it is set to enlarge and restructure the alliance in a way that will fundamentally change it. All indications seem to suggest that Sarkozy will push this issue hard at the NATO summit, and that the meeting could end with not only new members and a redefined mission in Afghanistan but also with a specific NATO and US blessing for an EU army, starting with the EU policing project in Kosovo. Ironically, the most important thing to come out of this meeting may be the birth of an entirely different organization that could one day replace.

Labels: EU, European Army, Kosovo, Nato, Sarkozy

For the complete report from Reuters.com click on this link

Prospect of French NATO return tilts power balance - by Paul Taylor

The prospect of France returning to NATO's military command after more than four decades of estrangement is tilting the balance of transatlantic relations. The United States is courting France as a new partner in leadership, overshadowing Britain and Germany, diplomats and analysts say, even though President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to skirt the reintegration issue at this week's Bucharest summit of the 26-nation alliance. Sarkozy announced last year that Paris was willing to return to the military structure from which General Charles de Gaulle withdrew it abruptly in 1966, provided the European Union first made progress on a common defense capability.

The new president has taken a risk at home, since much of the political establishment is wedded to the notion of an independent French or European foreign policy and hostile to any hint of subservience to the United States.

Labels: EU, France, Nato, Sarkozy, US

Bruni and Sarkozy disarm the British in cross-Channel charm offensive - Mark Rice-Oxly

They have perhaps the longest international rivalry in the history of the nation state, a mutual disdain rooted in generations of medieval war, decades of imperialistic antagonism and a cultural dissonance that persists to this day. But are Britain and France about to kiss and make up?"Sarkozy wants to close the chapter of Gaullism," MacShane adds. "Mitterand and [former French President Jacques] Chirac always kept the British at a distance." Newspapers returned Mr. Sarkozy's compliments with interest. Tabloids swooned at his supermodel wife, Carla Bruni Sarkozy, who cut a classy, demure figure at a royal banquet on Wednesday night, inviting comparison, albeit perhaps hyperbolic, to Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana. At the heart of his appeal was a call for Britain to become more closely engaged with the EU. Britain may be a more European country these days, but political discourse is still dominated by Euroskeptics unconvinced by the case for closer affinity with the 27-nation bloc. "The political class in France and Germany assumes that the other is their first partner in Europe," he says. "The political class in Westminster certainly doesn't assume that. It assumes that its first partner is the US, and still has quite a lot of reservations about Europe." Brits would, he adds, be misguided if they thought Sarkozy's offer was about replacing France's long-term partner Germany with a new paramour. "It would be very foolish to understand that it's us instead of Germany," he says, "it's us as well as Germany. A ménage à trois."

Labels: Britain, Bruni, EU, France, Sarkozy

Anyone who discounts Nicolas Sarkozy as a lame-duck president is missing the point - Anne-Elisabeth Moutet

"Sarkozy sinks even further!" was the headline in Le Canard Enchaîné, France's Left-wing answer to Private Eye, as the French president launched a new nuclear submarine at Cherbourg last week.Nicolas Sarkozy, who is beginning a two-day state visit to Britain on Wednesday - three months before France assumes the European Union's rotating presidency - will arrive weighed down by a controversial image and baggage as heavy as the gold Rolex watch which he has only recently been persuaded to give up. Fellow European leaders consider, with feelings ranging from fascination to dismay, his precipitous slide in the opinion polls of more than 30 points in less than three months; his party's poor performance in last week's local elections, and the cloud of high-octane gossip that has surrounded his very public divorce and his new marriage, to the model and singer Carla Bruni.

Labels: Britain, EU, France, Sarkozy

Europe idle as US battles meltdown - by Ambrose Evans - Pritchard

It is the first time since the Great Depression that the US Fed has stepped in directly to absorb credit losses, crossing a line deemed unthinkable just months ago. The dramatic late-night move on Sunday required dredging up Article 13 (3) of the Federal Reserve Act, which allows the Fed to shower money on almost anybody it wishes by a vote of five governors in "unusual and exigent circumstances".Jean-Michel Six, chief Europe economist at Standard & Poor's, said the Europeans were in no mood to rescue America. "There is monetary war going on. The ECB view is that Fed is a victim of its own mistakes and should pay for its past crimes. Frankly, they don't see why they should be cutting rates when inflation (3.3pc) is accelerating," he said.

There are now echoes of October 1987 when the German Bundesbank (and therefore Europe) refused to ease monetary policy, even though the dollar was in freefall and Wall Street was fragile. The spat was the backdrop to the Black Monday crash.

Note EU-Digest: The ECB is on the right track, the problems of the US economy are of the US her own making. If the ECB cuts the interest rates in Europe, inflation would rise and Europe's economy would also spiral into disaster.

Labels: Britain, Christianity, Energy, EU, EU Economy, euro, France, Gas Supplies, Healthcare, Iraq war, Islam, Italy, Romance, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex Appeal, Turkey, US, US Economy

Sarkozy's party suffers losses in local elections

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party suffered considerable losses in local elections that concluded Sunday, as the opposition Socialists won several major cities including Paris. The first round of the vote was conducted on March 9, with Sunday's being the second or final round.The left-wing Socialist Party gained control of Paris, the country's third largest city Lyon, as well as Strasbourg and Toulouse. However, Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) won the second largest city Marseille to save itself from complete humiliation in the nationwide vote. The elections were widely regarded as the first major test of popularity for Sarkozy, who defeated Socialist Segolene Royal in last May's presidential elections.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Germany pours cold water on Sarkozy union - by Ian Traynor

President Nicolas Sarkozy was last night forced to back away from an ambitious scheme to launch a French-led "Mediterranean Union" linking the EU's southern states in a political club with the Maghreb, Turkey and Middle Eastern countries including Israel. Sarkozy had planned to launch the bold new union when France took over the presidency of the EU in July, but climbed down after fierce opposition from Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. At an EU summit in Brussels last night, Sarkozy and Merkel jointly proposed a much looser grouping, to be initiated at a summit of EU and Mediterranean countries in Paris in July. Worried that the Sarkozy scheme would split the EU while leaving the wealthier countries of Germany and Scandinavia footing the bill for an exercise in French aggrandisement, Merkel was said to have threatened to boycott the Paris summit unless Sarkozy scaled back his plans.

Labels: EU, Europe, Mediterranean region, Merkel, Sarkozy

Dutch listed affiliate Carlyle may face cashflow trouble : by Alexandra Hudson

Private equity firm Carlyle Group's Dutch-listed affiliate said on Friday it may face cashflow problems after it received substantial additional margin calls and default notices. "In the past several days there has been a rapid and severe deterioration in the market for U.S. government agency AAA-rated residential mortgage-backed securities," Carlyle Capital Corporation (CCC) said. CCC had said earlier it received margin calls totaling more than $37 million on Wednesday and expected at least one more default notice. The Dutch market regulator (AFM) suspended trading in CCC after its shares closed on Thursday at $5, having lost more than half their value. Carlyle Group has a $150 million exposure to CCC through a credit facility.

Washington DC based The Carlyle Group has more than $75 billion under management and has attracted a string of high-profile advisers including President George Bush in the early 1990s and former British Prime Minister John Major. This week it said it had hired Olivier Sarkozy, half-brother of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, from investment bank UBS as it looks to "capitalize on the dislocation in the financial services sector."

Labels: Carlyle, EU, Sarkozy, The Netherlands, US housing market

Municipal French Elections Appear to Rebuke Sarkozy - Molly Moore and Corinne Gavard

Preliminary voting returns and exit polls indicated that Socialist candidates were outpolling members of Sarkozy's ruling Union for a Popular Movement for mayoral seats in key towns and were easily maintaining their power bases in Paris and Lyon, the country's third-largest city. Nine months after his inauguration as president, Sarkozy has become such a liability to his own party that most candidates from his party shunned his support in their campaigns and some stripped the governing party's labels from their Internet sites and campaign literature. Socialist leader Francois Hollande said voters Sunday sent "a warning to the president of the republic and the government on the policies conducted over the past nine months."

Labels: Elections, France, Sarkozy

Don't play politics with the euro - and don't follow US example of reducing interest rates or listen to France

For anyone seduced by French complaints over an overvalued euro, and the need for the European Central Bank (ECB) to concentrate more on pursuing growth, the lesson is plain.

If you ignore the post-1945 German focus on fighting inflation and pour in easy money, then disaster follows. Note EU-Digest: All you have to do is look at the US economic policies so greatly admired by Mr. Sarkozy. Without tight monetary controls and economic discipline the greed of the corporations takes full control and the stock-market becomes a casino.

Labels: EU, euro, Sarkozy

Sarkozy, Merkel Find Compromise Over Mediterranean Union Spat - by Bryan Parkin and Francois De Beaupuy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they resolved a policy spat over a plan to set up a Mediterranean Union that strained a traditional show of Franco-German unity ahead of a European Union summit. Sarkozy and Merkel said after talks late yesterday in Hannover, Germany, that a French initiative to improve cooperation between the north and south Mediterranean seaboards would not be an exclusive club but open to all 27 states of the EU. Merkel has criticized Sarkozy's initiative, indicating that exclusivity may hurt Franco-German ties in the 27-state trade bloc.

``We've made efforts to reach out toward each other - that's the rule of the game on European matters,'' Sarkozy told reporters after the 90-minute talks with the German leader. ``In coming days, you will see that we found a compromise on the Mediterranean Union that excludes nobody.''

Labels: EU, France, Germany, Merkel, Sarkozy

Sarkozy and Mandelson 'strike a deal to get top EU job for Blair' - Simon Walters

Nicolas Sarkozy is backing Tony Blair's campaign to become the first President of Europe in return for the way Peter Mandelson secretly helped him win the French Presidency, it was claimed last night. The suggestion of a secret EU Presidency deal between the three men will enrage Gordon Brown, who has always blamed Mr Mandelson for the way Mr Blair pipped him to the post of Labour leader in 1994. A senior member of Mr Sarkozy's inner circle claims the French President regards his support for Mr Blair's bid to become Europe's first fully fledged political leader as a "quid pro quo" for EU Commissioner Mr Mandelson's help in winning last year's election.

Note EU-Digest: Please spare us Europeans to get Tony Blair, George Bush his loyal friend and co-conspirator of the Iraq war disaster, as our EU president. A better suggestion would be that instead of Blair coming to Europe, Sarkozy should go and live in Britain. France and Europe would probably be greatly relieved. As to the British, lets face it, they don't feel part of the EU anyway. They only want to enjoy the benefits without any commitments on their side. With friends like this who needs enemies.

Labels: EU, Mandelson, Sarkozy, Tony Blair

Merkel and Sarkozy to dine on brief encounter

Amid friction in the Franco-German relationship, Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to dine Monday with President Nicolas Sarkozy during a brief encounter at the CeBIT computing trade fair. Sarkozy will be in Hanover, Germany to highlight the software prowess of France, which has been appointed this year's "partner nation" of CeBIT, an annual, 75-nation expo that begins Tuesday. The president has regularly flown the flag for French exports, so there was no question of missing the Monday evening ceremonies to launch the fair, which focusses on the computing needs of government and big corporations.

Sarkozy's plan to set up a Mediterranean Union, an organization for southern European Union states to consult with non-EU neighbours, has annoyed Berlin, which objects to a forum where it will be on the outer. Merkel says she supports closer relations in the region but opposes setting up a new organization to manage them.Berlin's warnings against "parallel structures" have been rejected by Sarkozy aides, who say there has been a Council of the Baltic Sea States since 1992 on the EU's northern flank. But the Germans say this is not a valid argument, since most of the nations on that sea are now EU members.

Labels: EU, France, Germany, Mediterranean region, Merkel, Sarkozy

France to Sarkozy: 'Get Lost, You Jerk'

It's hard to believe that anyone could long for the good old days of Jacques Chirac, but when President Nicolas Sarkozy visited the Agriculture Fair in Paris a few days ago, he managed to remind the French how comfortable they used to feel with his lanky, laid-back predecessor. When Chirac visited the annual fair, he did so as a bon vivant. Sarkozy, on the other hand, went through it in an overheated rush, using language fit for a scrum in the Metro. The video of the event captured by the tabloid daily Le Parisien has been watched by more than three million viewers. The climax comes when Sarkozy is shaking hands with the crowd and one man pulls back, "Ah, no, don't touch me." Sarko, his fixed smile unwavering says, "Get lost, then." To which the man responds, "You got me dirty." To which Sarko responds (this is a polite way of putting it), "Get lost, you jerk."

The French don't like their presidents to talk that way in public. (Chirac's language was plenty salty in private.) But the real problem is that they're discovering they just don't like Sarkozy. The cover story of this week's Le Nouvel Observateur explains why. In the lead article headlined "And if this were to end badly ...," François Bazin writes that other presidents have been unpopular, but for the most part late in their terms. When Chirac's ratings took a nose dive in 1996, early in his first mandate, his prime minister, Alain Juppé, took the fall. But Sarkozy wants all attention fixed on him, and is managing to attract opprobrium to the office of the president itself. "What's happening today is literally unimaginable," writes Bazin.

Note EU-Digest:For the video on Sarkozy's outburst and the translation by the Shadow Land Journal click on this link

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy's Honeymoon: Fini! - by Bruce Crumley

Though beautiful while it lasted, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's honeymoon with a formerly adoring French public that elected him just eight months ago has definitely come to an end. The only question is what deserves the most credit for his precipitous drop in the polls: disappointment in his policies and plans for economic reform, or growing disenchantment with his tabloid-friendly love life.Yet it's the political fallout that has Sarkozy's conservative allies more worried. With nationwide municipal elections just five weeks away, conservative candidates fear a possible leftist rout in cities across France, as voters signal their displeasure with Sarkozy's national leadership. Signs of Sarkozy's falling fortunes were starkly apparent on Thursday, when three of the nation's newsweeklies hit kiosks with critical Sarkozy-focused cover stories.

Conservative legislators and mayoral candidates worry that the small-business owners most affected by the proposed reforms — historically stalwart UMP voters — are likely to join the rising tide of displeasure at the municipal polls next month. That prospect of appears to have caused Sarkozy to blink; on Wednesday, leaders of protesting taxi drivers were called to the Elyse and assured the deregulation plans had been shelved. And despite Sarkozy's avowal in December that state "coffers are empty," the presidency also announced new handouts for retirees receiving minimal pensions — a demographic pollsters count among the largest defectors in Sarkozy's approval slide. Whether all that is enough to protect conservatives from an election mauling will be seen in March.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France's trade deficit breaks 'sad' record

The 2007 French trade deficit will likely come close to a record 38-39 billion euros (56-57 billion dollars), Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Herve Novelli said in an interview to appear Thursday. Novelli told the newspaper La Tribune the performance amounted to "a sad record." The shortfall in 2006 was 28.2 billion euros, according to customs authorities, who are due to release the 2007 figures on Thursday.

"Despite an improvement in exports, our industrial balance, which is barely positive, cannot compensate for the energy bill," Novelli told the paper. In the first 11 months of the year the shortfall amounted to 35.5 billion euros, far more than the 31.7 billion forseen by the government.

Labels: Economy, EU, France, Sarkozy

Merkel rebuffs Sarkozy on Mediterranean Union plan-by John Thornhill and Bertrand Benoit

Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, pointedly told France's ruling UMP party yesterday that the future stability of the Mediterranean region affected the whole European Union and that all 27 member states should be involved in the engagement process. Mrs Merkel's comments, at a joint appearance in Paris with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, appeared to be a polite rebuff of his proposals to launch a Mediterranean Union, linking those EU member states that border the sea with their north African neighbours. However, Mrs Merkel said that her CDU party was united with Mr Sarkozy's UMP party - both on the political centre-right - in the view that the EU should offer Turkey a privileged partnership rather than full membership as envisaged by current accession talks.

Labels: EU, Mediterranean region, Merkel, Sarkozy

Sarkozy and Kerviel's French-American dream - by Paul Bets

This week has been a bonfire of French vanities. The Société Générale scandal has left the credibility of one of France's most respected banks, its highly regarded chairman, Daniel Bouton, a classic product of the business elite, and the French capitalist system as a whole in ashes.

This seems, at least, the prevailing impression outside France. How could a country that has always denounced the brutal excesses of Wall Street capitalism have fallen prey to what it likes to call le capitalisme sauvage? After all, even with its new arch-liberal president, Nicolas Sarkozy, France has always boasted an enlightened, state-led system of economic and social management - the antithesis of free-market, Anglo-Saxon capitalism. Mr Sarkozy, predictably, called this week for Mr Bouton's head, but the SocGen board ignored him and reaffirmed confidence in its chairman. So did the bank's employees. So much for so-called political cronyism at the top of leading French blue-chip companies. Even more interesting is the way the rogue trader - Jérôme Kerviel - is turning into something of a popular hero, or rather anti-hero, as the man who nearly broke one of the country's biggest banks.

Labels: EU, Sarkozy

Sarkozy in Freefall - by Carole Landry

President Nicolas Sarkozy is taking a beating in the polls, his popularity dropping to its lowest level since he took office as the French grow increasingly worried about their pocketbooks. Eight months after he was elected on a promise to usher in sweeping economic reform, Sarkozy’s approval rating has dropped sharply to 41 percent, down eight points in a month, according to a TNS-Sofres poll to be released at the weekend. The fall comes amid a gloomy economic outlook and ahead of municipal elections in March that the opposition Socialists are casting as a referendum on Sarkozy’s presidency. The latest tumble prompted the popular Le Parisien newspaper today to proclaim "Sarkozy in a freefall" and that "the time for disappointment with Sarkozy has come." The TNS-Sofres poll to be published in Le Figaro magazine shows 41 percent of the French still trust the president compared to 55 percent who have lost faith - pushing Sarkozy deep into negative ratings.

Labels: EU, Sarkozy

Sarkozy: Low on dignity, high on humanity-by Shashi Tharoor

It is curious that even in the Indian media, the build-up to the visit this week of France's president Nicolas Sarkozy focused quite so obsessively on his personal life. Had he secretly married the Franco-Italian model-singer Carla Bruni? Was he going to bring her to New Delhi as First Lady? Sarkozy has humanized his office by televising his presidential and personal life; instead of adapting himself to the presidency, he has adapted the presidency to himself, individualizing his political power in an increasingly individualist society. The proliferation of media in the 21st century has made voyeurs out of every citizen. Sarkozy is the first major office-holder to realise this, and to cater to it for his political purposes.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France begins to grow weary with the Sarkozy soap opera - Alex Duval Smith

Smooching their way through a five-course lunch yesterday at an exclusive Paris restaurant, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni made it clear that they care nothing for what anyone thinks, including their gooseberry guest of honor, Tony Blair. The former PM was invited to the five-star Hotel Bristol after addressing a rally of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement party. But all eyes were on the 40-year-old Bruni, who every now and again lifted her sunglasses to lean in and nuzzle the presidential cheek. Sarkozy reciprocated with kisses and cuddles, oblivious of any uncomfortable fidgeting from those around them.

with six Paris-Match covers to his credit since his election in May, Sarkozy is winning the nickname 'President Bling-Bling', as suspicions grow he may be more style than substance.

Labels: Bruni, EU, France, Politics, Sarkozy

Speculation Grows Over Blair's Ambitions for EU President

Even before the Lisbon Treaty was signed, speculation was rife as to who would be the first European president as proposed in the new document. Now it is signed and sealed, one man heads the list of potential candidates. The role, outlined in the treaty signed by the 27 member states at the end of last year, will replace the current system whereby each country assumes the rotating presidency for six months. The job, a two-and-a-half-year term, will be up for grabs in 2009 if the bloc's 27 member states can keep to their timetable and individually ratify the treaty over the next year. It now appears that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken an early lead in the speculative stakes after he jetted into Paris for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a meeting of the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party in Paris on Saturday.

Sarkozy has made no secret of his admiration for Blair and was the first and most vocal advocate of his potential presidency. "He is a very remarkable man. He is the most European of Britons ... it would be intelligent to think of him," Sarkozy said last year.

Note EU-Digest: Let us hope the EU will be able to have a universal vote with several candidates on who they want to have as their President and that we do not get a President shoved into our shoes. The whole of the EU needs to make the choice for a President not Mr. Sarkozy.

Labels: EU, Power Politics, President, Sarkozy, Tony Blair

France - Sarkozy proposes companies pay a third of profits to employees - "Socialism in a Conservative Suit?"

French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on Wednesday that a third of company profits should go to employees, with the same amount reserved for shareholders and investment. "A system in which a third of the profits of a company would be for shareholders, a third for employees and a third for investment is a system ... that would have a certain coherence and logic," he told parliamentarians.Public concern about buying power, already a hot subject during the presidential campaign early last year, remains at the top of voters' concerns in opinion polls. Sarkozy argued that his radical proposal would help boost purchasing power, in addition to the longer working week that he intends to implement. "Saying that sharing profits has nothing to do with purchasing power, (or) saying that a revolution as profound as the one I have proposed for sharing earnings has nothing to do with purchasing power is to treat people like fools," he said.

Labels: Economy, EU, France, Sarkozy

France - Sarkozy to marry girlfriend ex-model Bruni in February

Citing several anonymous sources, the Journal du Dimanche said the couple, currently on a private visit to Jordan at the invitation of King Abdullah II, is believed to have set a wedding date for either February 8 or 9.Sarkozy, who has yet to comment publicly on his new relationship, is to answer questions on the subject at a new year's press conference Tuesday, as a poll showed his confidence rating slipping seven points - a drop blamed in part on voter concerns about his relationship. According to a CSA poll in Le Parisien, 48 percent of voters say they trust the president to tackle France's problems, compared to 55 percent last month. Forty-five percent said they did not trust him, compared to 38 a month before.

Labels: Bruni, EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy - Ah, l'amour ... but the French aren't so sure- by Jacqueline Male

Since winning the presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy has done his best to demonstrate that indiscretion is the better part of valour. Suave in mirrored aviator sunglasses, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was more George Clooney than Charles de Gaulle as he canoodled with his new lover, Carla Bruni, on the banks of the Nile last month. Sarkozy has opened up his life to the French public, which duly follows its twists and turns in gossip magazines and newspapers. He calls this "transparency"; his critics call it "narcissism".

A newly published book, Des Hommes d'Etat, about Sarkozy's political past, claims he believes that the French public values narrative above achievement in politics.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France - Sarkozy issues 'report cards' to ministers - by Henry Samuel

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has enrolled a private audit firm to help assess his ministers' individual performance and to hand them out "end of term reports cards".

Under the scheme - unique in Europe - marks are to be issued by prime minister François Fillon over the coming weeks to each of the 15 ministers in the eight-month-old government. Every term, cabinet ministers will receive grades based on 30 indicators specific to their portfolio, while junior ministers will be marked for their results in 15 areas.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

France ends contact with Syria over Lebanese presidential election

France is cutting off talks with Syria until Damascus shows its willingness to let Lebanon elect a new president, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. Lebanon's Western-backed government and pro-Syrian opposition have been unable to break a deadlock over filling the presidential post, empty for a month, and many Western countries have accused Damascus of interfering in the process — a claim Syria denies. "I will not have any more contact with the Syrians until ... we have received proof of Syria's intention to let Lebanon designate a president of consensus," said Sarkozy at a press conference Sunday in Cairo after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Labels: EU, France, Lebanon, Sarkozy, Syria

"Lover President" Sarkozy uses billionaire's jet for getaway to Egypt"

President Nicolas Sarkozy, in Egypt with new girlfriend Carla Bruni, came under attack at home for flying on his Christmas holiday aboard the private jet of a billionaire businessman. Opposition political parties accused the president of compromising his office, and asked what the plastics-to-media magnate Vincent Bollore can expect in return for his generosity. "As soon as the President makes himself dependent on the favours of billionaires, inevitably there will be qui-pro-quos and we would like to know what they are," said Socialist Party deputy Arnaud Montebourg. "This mixing of private and public interests damages the impartiality of the state," he said.

Labels: Carla Bruni, Egypt, France, Politics, Sarkozy

Sarkozy to host Mediterranean summit in July

Visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday announced that he would host a summit of Mediterranean rim countries to establish an EU-type union of the zone in July. He made the announcement at a joint news conference in Rome with the Italian and Spanish prime ministers, Romano Prodi and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Sarkozy advocates the grouping partly as an alternative to Turkish membership of the European Union. Italy favours Ankara's entry into the EU.

Labels: France, Mediterranean summit, Sarkozy, Turkey

Sarkozy and Carla Bruni

There's a donor conference on aid to Palestine on in Paris today, with Mahmoud Abbas, Tzipi Livni, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice and others in town. Security is tight; the matter is pressing. But what are people really talking about in the French capital this morning? Only one subject: the revelation, according to L'Express magazine, that Nicolas Sarkozy's new girlfriend is Carla Bruni, a Franco-Italian model and singer.What really caught my eye about this story, however, is not that the president, who announced his divorce from Cecilia in October, has found time in his head-spinning diary for romance. It is that the couple were apparently spotted by photograhpers this weekend, not at the Opera, nor the latest exhibition at the Grand Palais, but at…Disneyland. Given Sarkozy's Americaphilia, and his manifest weakness for light entertainment in all its early-Saturday-evening-TV-variety-show forms, this should perhaps not come as a surprise. Sarkozy is clever and sharp and brilliant in many ways but he is not an intellectual, and has no time for the coffee-drinking left-bank crowd. Note EU-Digest: Certainly a new page for France has been set by Mr. Sarkozy, only the future will tell if its good or bad?

Labels: Bruni, EU, France, Sarkozy

Sarkozy-Bruni photos spark new romance speculation.

New pictures of President Nicolas Sarkozy with pop singer and former top model Carla Bruni -- who has counted Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton among her ex-boyfriends -- have sparked renewed speculation about the French president's love life. Sarkozy only announced his divorce from his second wife, Cecilia, on October 19 but on Saturday he went to the Disneyland Paris theme park with Bruni, and three French magazines will publish photos this week,according to lexpress.fr, the website of L'Express magazine.Bruni, who will be 40 on Sunday, was born in Italy and was the heiress of a tyre manufacturing fortune. She was a fashion model before turning to pop music and has one daughter. Sarkozy, 53, has two sons from his first marriage and one son from his marriage to Cecilia Sarkozy.

Labels: Bruni, EU, France, Sarkozy

Labels: Brown, EU, Sarkozy

Sarkozy advisor slams EU's "dogmatic vision" - but is he right? - NON!

'European affairs cannot be governed only by general, impersonal, automatic rules which have been fixed in advance. Europe should debate these things together and decide together, as happens in all other democracies in the world,' Guaino said. He singled out the independence of the European Central Bank (ECB), a repeated target of Sarkozy's ire.

'For the moment there is no project to change the statutes of the ECB, but France wants to strengthen economic governance and to discuss this monetary policy because in a democracy we should be able to discuss everything,' he said.

Note EU-Digest: "It seems Mr. Guaino wants to blame France her economic problems on the EU. If only France had adopted the EU economic guidelines its economy would be in far better shape than it is today. Also his quote about the US economy is out of context. France copying US economic principles based on their present social and economic structure would mean completely economic collapse. Mr Guaini and his boss Mr. Sarkozy do better to internally clean up France's economic mess before they start attacking the rigid rules of the EU."

Labels: EU, EU Economy, France, Sarkozy

Gadaffi's visit to France sparks protests - by Ben Hall in Paris

Rama Yade, a junior foreign minister, attacked civil rights abuses under Col Gadaffi's regime, telling Le Parisien newspaper that the timing of his visit, on international human rights day, was "scandalous". Ms Yade warned her own government not to promote commercial ties with Libya while ignoring torture, censorship and history of support for terrorism under his 38-year long rule. France stood for "more than a trade balance", she said.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Euro thaw towards US not what it seems - Merkel and Sarkozy's political vision show a pragmatic pro- European strategy

Both Merkel and Sarkozy have been contrasted with their predecessors, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, who were leading critics of the Iraq War. They have been feted as "pro-American" European leaders who not only admire America's free-market orientation but are also willing to accept U.S. leadership of a revitalized trans-Atlantic alliance.It would be quite misleading to depict Merkel and Sarkozy as American-style free marketers. Sarkozy's reformist approach fits very much with his stance as an economic nationalist who has also pledged to protect "strategic" French companies from international competition. Similarly, in calling for restrictions on immigration from Muslim countries and for blocking the entry of Turkey into the European Union, the French and German leaders are reflecting what in the context of American politics would be described as nationalist positions. At the same time, their respective agendas on global warming are not very different from that of Al Gore and his allies in the environmentalist movement.

For Sarkozy and Merkel, the current American military intervention in the Middle East is compatible with their short- and mid-term strategic and economic interests. Let the Americans pay the costs of stabilizing the government in Baghdad and juggle the many contradictory commitments to Iraq's ethnic and religious communities there while at the same time trying to contain the rise of Iran. Let them handle the Middle East mess their policies helped to produce. If and when the Americans fail in their mission, stronger and more assertive Europeans would be ready to pick up the pieces. From that perspective, Sarkozy and Merkel are not promoting a "pro-American" policy -- but one that is easily compatible with French and German interests.

Labels: Angela Merkel, EU, Middle East, Sarkozy, Strategy, US

Sarkozy condemns riot 'yobocracy' - by Emma Charlton

In a prime-time television interview, Mr Sarkozy promised his government would take a tough line towards those behind a flare-up of violence that left more than 120 police wounded, some by gunfire. "These people are yobs, ready to do anything. We will find them one by one," said Mr Sarkozy, who seized hold of the suburb crisis upon his return from a state visit to China.

Two nights of arson attacks and clashes around Villiers le Bel, north of the capital, were triggered by the death of two teenage boys in a motorbike collision with a police car on Sunday.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy, Yobocracy

Suburb's fury trained on Nicolas Sarkozy - by Chrles Bremner

Three small bouquets were propped up yesterday against the wall where two teenagers died in a collision with a police car in a quiet street in a north Paris suburb. Shaking his head, Hussein, a construction worker from Mali, nodded at the flowers: “You can say that Sarko did this,” he said. The charge struck a chord on the housing estates of Villiers-le-Bel, where hundreds of hooded youths, most no older than 17, fought police, burnt cars and buildings and looted for a second night on Monday. Nicolas Sarkozy, the former Interior Minister who brought tough policing to the presidency in May, is the channel for the anger that lingers in Villiers.

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy

Dutch court allows Srebrenica lawsuit against UN, Netherlands to proceed

A court in the Netherlands ruled Tuesday that the families of approximately 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who were killed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC timeline; JURIST news archive] can proceed with their class action lawsuit [JURIST report; case backgrounder] against the United Nations and the Netherlands filed June 4, according to lawyer Marco Gerritsen, who represents approximately 6,000 family members of victims in the lawsuit. Gerritsen said the court ruled the case can proceed in spite of the UN's claim of immunity [JURIST report; press briefing transcript] under Article 2 Section 2 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations [PDF text], which says that the UN's property and assets "shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except it has expressly waived its immunity." The thousands of Srebrenica survivors who filed the lawsuit allege that both the Netherlands and the UN are liable for their failure to protect civilians, many of whom were refugees that relocated to the Srebrenica enclave declared [S/Res 819, PDF] to be a "safe area" by the UN Security Council in 1993.

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US

E. Africa bloc signs interim trade agreement with EU

Five East African countries agreed a new trade deal with the European Union on Tuesday, weeks before a preferential trade pact is due to expire, EU officials said. Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi -- which form the East African Community trading bloc -- and the European Commission inked an interim deal, covering goods and fisheries. The move was a step towards a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) covering issues such as services and investment to be reached by mid-2009, the Commission said.

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US

Number of New HIV Cases in European Union Nearly Double Since 1999, Report Says

The number of new HIV cases recorded in European Union countries has nearly doubled from 28.8 cases per one million residents in 1999 to 57.5 cases per one million residents in 2006, according to a report released on Friday by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, BBC News reports. More than 50% of cases are through heterosexual transmission, although men who have sex with men are at higher risk of infection, ECDC said (BBC News, 11/23). The EuroHIV data, published in ECDC's journal Eurosurveillance, found that in 2006, a total of 86,912 new HIV cases were reported across 50 of the 53 countries of the World Health Organization European Region. A total of 26,220 cases, or 30%, reported in E.U. countries, according to the data. The average rate of new HIV diagnosis across Europe is about 111 cases per one million residents, and the rate among countries in the European Union is 67 cases per one million residents (ECDC release, 11/23). According to the report, the number of HIV cases is continuing to rise in non-E.U. areas of Europe, with 288 cases per one million residents in Ukraine and 275 cases per one million residents in Russia (BBC News, 11/23). The data indicate that former Soviet countries had the highest number of new HIV cases in 2006, primarily because of drug use, Reuters reports. Former Soviet countries reported 59,866 new HIV cases in 2006, which is more than all of the new cases in Western and Central Europe combined (Reuters, 11/23).

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US

UK broadband network 'lagging behind the rest of Europe' - by Gary Cleland

The broadband network needs urgent improvement or it will fall behind the rest of Europe, industry experts have claimed. Telecommunications leaders said internet access needed a faster broadband network to cope with rising demand for services. They claimed at a Government-organised summit that the flagging network could be left behind by other countries. Almost nine out of 10 British internet users connect via broadband yet they have to put up with some of the slowest broadband speeds in Europe - worse than Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US

EU to get its own GPS system: Galileo to be partially funded through EU farming subsidies

Following months of disagreements, the EU has reached a funding compromise and resolved the crisis around its Galileo satellite navigation system. Two thirds of the missing 2.4 billion euros will be provided from EU farming pots alone. This was announced by the Portuguese Chair of the European Council in Brussels on Friday night following more than 12 hours of budget negotiations for 2008 by the EU Ministers of Finance or their representatives. Germany could not uphold its reservations against fully funding Galileo from the EU budget, reported EU diplomats. Berlin didn't want to put the EU's long-term financial plan on the line, which runs until 2013. According to German Minister of Finance Peer Steinbrück, the German government was also apprehensive of straining its national budget by an additional more than 500 million euros. European Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget Dalia Grybauskaite spoke of an "important decision". As she had suggested, farming subsidies would for the first time be used to improve the EU's competitive position. The current Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Portuguese State Secretary of Finance Emanuel Augustos Santos, said that farming subsidies had not been exhausted this year, and that therefore nothing would be taken away from anybody.

Unlike the US system GPS, the European Galileo satellite navigation system is intended mainly for civilian purposes. It was initially planned to be available this year. The planned start has been postponed to 2013. Apart from the European Union, both China (COMPASS) and India (IRNSS) plan to launch their own satellite navigation systems into the earth orbit. The Russian GLONASS system is planned to be fully functional again from 2009.

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US

Dollar down, euro up, so what - by John M.Berry

The U.S. dollar is still at the center of the world's financial system, and its importance isn't fading in the face of exaggerated claims to the contrary.Nevertheless, the dollar continues to dominate foreign-exchange markets, U.S. financial markets are the world's deepest and most liquid, and Treasury securities remain the globe's premier risk-free investment. And, of course, the US is a market second to none, to which foreign companies supplied more than $2.2 trillion worth of goods and services last year.

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US

A New French Revolution - by Fareed Zakaria

In an essay in the current issue of The American Interest, Brookings scholar Philip Gordon writes that Sarkozy might well be able to make France a larger player in the world, "punching above its weight," the way Tony Blair did during the 1990s and early 2000s. Blair, and Thatcher before him, were able to create a new image for Britain and made the country a modern world power. But that transformation rested on the revival of the British economy, which became a symbol of success in a globalized age. France currently ranks 18th in the World Economic Forum's annual competitiveness rankings. That's not bad, but it is nowhere near commensurate with the place that the French imagine for themselves in the world.

Labels: Britain, China, Elections, Energy, EU, France, Immigration, Iran, Netherlands, Russia, Sarkozy, Sex, Trade, US