Cartoon : 19th December The Economist

The Economist 2008

19th December Charlemagne in the Economist

The magnificence of Nicolas Sarkozy. Charlemagne, The Economist (en)
" ... Amid all this manoeuvring, France often angered small countries, which felt pushed around. A multi-speed Europe is a risky idea that could break up the EU. But Mr Sarkozy was surely right that future global co-operation will take different, ad hoc forms. It is “untrue” that institutions stop Europe from taking decisions, he said. Europe’s problem is a lack of political will. Like Bosquet’s in 1854, Mr Sarkozy’s judgment was both harsh and correct. ..."

"L'Europe est forte lorsqu'elle s'appuie sur des Etats forts et responsables (...) L'erreur est de croire qu'il faut des Etats faibles pour faire une Europe forte"

" The Europe is strong when it relies on strong and responsible States (...) The mistake would be to believe that we need weak States to create a strong Europe"

Nicolas Sarkozy, the 16th December, Strasbourg, European Parliament, end of the French EU Presidency

Video : 15th December Medvedev Mimicing Sarkozy During G20 Press Conference

Video found Via Charles Bremner's Blog, The Times 2008.

Newpapers : 15th December

France hails Sarkozy, European saviour -- Germany doesn't . Chearles Bremner, The Times (en)
" ... The hyper-active President is convinced that he has galvanised Europe and given it new power in the world with deft management of the financial crash and the other emergencies, such as the Russia-Georgia war in August. Close partnership with Britain's Gordon Brown is part of the new European power balance, says Sarkozy ...
... The satisfaction in Paris is not dimmed by the glaring failure of the French Euro-presidency: Sarkozy's cold war with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor ...
... She calls him the Energizer Bunny (Lapin Duracell in French) and she has watched the films of Louis de Funès for clues to understanding the ever-agitated French president. (De Funès, a brilliant and much-loved comic actor, played the manic, excitable vain Frenchman in many hit films ...
... Spiegel magazine has just explained that the Chancellor sees Sarkozy as "an unfeasibly vain Jack-in-the-box...She has so far failed to find a way to handle him....She has watched de Funès' films... but she has nothing to counter him apart from her eternal impassiveness. Her fist may be clenched but she keeps it in her pocket." ...

Sarkozy praised for Brussels agreement. Tony Barber, The FT (en)
" ... Meanwhile, in Brussels and in EU national capitals from Dublin to Vilnius, officials say that memories of France under Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy’s occasionally cantankerous predecessor, are fading fast ..."

23rd October : German reaction to Sarkozy's Bomb Speech

After Sarkozy speech in the European Parliament, I found an article from the Spiegel summarazing the German reactions via :

Nein, Danke from Open Europe Blog (en)

" ...Sarko has been busy cooking up a new plan to keep himself in the EU hotseat past December ... According to Le Monde (here on European Avenue) he neglected to consult Angela Merkel about the idea before announcing it in the European Parliament ... "

Sarkozy Speech Bombs in Germany. Spiegel (en)

" ... On the morning after, however, as the first reviews come in, it's clear that the response to Sarkozy's attention-grabbing performance has not exactly been what he'd hoped for.
Nowhere more so than in Germany, where politicians, experts, and editorial boards have joined to issue a blistering critique of not only the French president's proposals, but also of his motives and theatrics. ...

... (From the Süddeutsche Zeitung ) "What Sarkozy is now proposing for Europe is the same thing he did a couple years ago to the French company Alstom when he was still Interior Minister. He saved the firm and Siemens from bankruptcy through a partial nationalization. Today Alstom is a model enterprise -- thanks to Sarkozy. This, at any rate, is the way that the president relentlessly presents it ... With the Alstom episode, Sarkozy already demonstrated an important characteristic: he is a crisis politician.... Europeans will have to endure this until the end of December. After that, the EU president emeritus will fall into a terrible funk if he doesn't manage to find another playground." ....

French Newspapers : 22nd October

LE QATAR, JOKER DIPLOMATIQUE DE NICOLAS SARKOZY. Reuters, Le Monde (fr)

Nicolas Sarkozy veut diriger la zone euro jusqu'en 2010. Cécile Chambraud, Arnaud Leparmentier and Philippe Ricard, Le Monde (fr)

Sarkozy l'européen. Editorial, Le Monde (fr)
" ... Quand il était à l'intérieur ou aux finances, Nicolas Sarkozy rongeait son frein durant les interminables réunions auxquelles il devait assister à Bruxelles. Maintenant, il a visiblement pris goût à ces réunions, surtout depuis qu'il les dirige comme président du Conseil européen ...
... mardi 21 octobre, devant le Parlement de Strasbourg : il deviendrait président de l'Eurogroupe jusqu'à ce que la présidence tournante revienne à un pays de la zone euro, c'est-à-dire pendant encore un an au moins.
M. Sarkozy a ainsi inventé, à son profit, la présidence stable de l'Europe que le traité de Lisbonne aurait instituée s'il n'avait été rejeté par les Irlandais. Pour faire bonne mesure, le président français a aussi proposé de transformer cet Eurogroupe en un "gouvernement économique européen", de créer des fonds souverains en Europe pour investir dans les secteurs clés, de mettre en oeuvre une politique industrielle européenne. De vieilles idées françaises qui sont de véritables chiffons rouges agités devant nos amis allemands ...
... Il sait que toutes ses suggestions ne seront pas retenues, mais que nos partenaires ne peuvent pas toutes les refuser. Proposer, proposer, il en restera toujours quelque chose... La tactique a fonctionné dans la tempête ..."

Video : Sarkozy EU Parliament Session 21st October

France 24, 2008

Financial crisis: Sarkozy calls for EU rule change to protect against foreign takeovers. John Bingham , The Telegraph (en)
" ... During an address to MEPs in Strasbourg, Mr Sarkozy, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, called for sweeping changes to state aid laws to allow far greater protectionism in the face of the economic crisis. He urged Brussels competition watchdogs to bend regulations to allow governments to take direct stakes in industries to protect them from outside competition ... "

EU Presidency and Thomas Moore Institue : Weekend 17th Oct Scoring 11.5/20

Thomas More Institute for European studies. (en , fr)
The independent Brussels-based think-tank has argued the French presidency of the EU deserves a mark of 11.5 out of 20 for its mid-term performance

information found via EUObserver, Elitsa Vucheva, Barroso and Sarkozy plead for permanent EU presidency.

French EU Presidency : Trip to Ireland and the UM

Sarkozy gets the message. The Independent.ie (en)
Sarkozy visit constructive. Editorial, The Irish Times (en)
Sarkozy's European Quest is not Impossible. Philippe Randrianarimanana, Courrier International (fr)

Before the Trip : Attention Nicolas s'il vous plait. Editorial, The Independent.ie (en)

Wade and the Union for Mediterranean : Support for Kadafi. Morin Yamongbe, Le Faso (fr)

French EU Presidency : 16th of July

Sarkozy: Irish must vote again on treaty. Henry Samuel, The Telepgraph (en)
Sarkozy demands new Irish vote on EU treaty. David Charter, Philip Webster and Charles Bremner, The Times (en)
For Sarkozy, « les Irlandais doivent revoter ». Le Soir (fr)

Union for Mediterranean : a Risky Engagement. Ghassan Charbel, Al Hayat (ar)

Union for Mediterranean : a Slim First Outcome. As Safir (ar)

The French EU Presidency : The Union for the Mediterranean

Among the foreign dignitaries who attended the Bastille Day military parade on Monday in Paris were, from left, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qatar’s emir; Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general (partly obscured); President Bashar al-Assad of Syria; President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt; President Tarja Halonen of Finland; and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel. (Photo and Comment from The New York Times, 15th July)

Battle to host France's Club Med. Nick Meo and Susan Bell, The Telegraph (en)
Sarkozy urges peace at 'Club Med'. Henry Samuel, The Telegraph (en)
France gathers world leaders for Bastille Day parade. The Independent (en)
Sarkozy revels in Club Med 'bringer of peace' role. John Lichfield, The Independent (en)
President Sarkozy hosts ‘Club Med’ summit. The Independent (en)
Breakthrough for Syria and Lebanon in Paris. Tony Barber, The FT (en)
Roula Khalaf: The Mediterranean’s new union. Roula Khalaf, The FT (en)
In France, Syrian Stirs Tensions. Katrin Bennhold, The NYT (en)

Sarkozy Helps to Bring Syria Out of Isolation. Stephen Erlanger and Katrin Bennhold, The NYT (en)

The view from Club Med. The Economist (en)

The Mediterranean economy : Club Med. The Economist (en) **

L'Union pour la Méditerranée sous le signe de la paix. Samuel Potier, Le Figaro (fr)

Quote of the Day : 10th of July. Nicolas Sarkozy

"Je ne laisserai personne derrière. L'Europe à plusieurs vitesses ne peut être qu'un dernier recours".
"I will leave No one behind. The several-tier Europe can only be in the last ressort".
Nicolas Sarkozy, 10th July 2008
European Parliament, Strasbourg

Scorbut.be 2008

French EU Presidency : Sarkozy at the European Parliament, 10th July

Le Monde, Reuters 2008

At Strasbourg, Nicolas Sarkozy tries to overcome the Europe's Breakdown. Arnaud Leparmentier, Henri de Bresson et Philippe Ricard, Le Monde (fr)

Wrong notes in the Franch priorities. Thomas Ferenczi, Le Monde (fr)
When Sarkozy overplay 'Politics'. Françoise Fressoz, Le Monde (fr)

WTO negociations: "Le compte n'y est pas", warns Nicolas Sarkozy. Claire Ané, Le Monde (fr)

Excerpt of Sarkozy's Speech to the MEPs. NouvelObs.com (fr)

Irish "No" : Sarkozy promises a solution. NouvelObs.com (fr)

Sarkozy warns on ‘multi-speed’ Europe. Tony Barber, The FT (en)

French EU Presidency : 7th of July

The Economist (2008)

Egypt joins French-led Med group. Ben Hall, The FT (en)
Sarkozy’s EU options seen as limited. Bertrand Benoit and Ben Hall, The FT (en)
Sarkozy turns screw on Irish over EU treaty. Nicola Smith, The Times (en)
President's pledge on Lisbon treaty. The FT (en)
Union of Mediterranean, About to Be Inaugurated, May Be Mostly Show. Steven Erlanger, The NYT (en)
At the G8, Sarkozy is leading the "European Locomotive". Alain Barluet, Le Figaro (en)

Comment U : The 4 Key Points of the 2008 French Presidency

Part 4 : The Immigration.

Le Monde.fr 2008

A outside view of the last Brussels decisions on Immigration, few weeks ago :

E.U. Passes Tough Migrant Measure. Caroline Brothers, The NYT (en)
E.U. Moves to Standardize Immigrant Policy. Molly Moore, The Washington Post (en)

Precedent Related Post:
Part 3. Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Part 2. The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

Part 1 : Environment, Climate Change and Energy.

Comment T : The 4 Key Points of the 2008 French Presidency

Part 3. Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Le Monde.fr 2008

For more information about what is the CAP :

Common Agricultural Policy. Wikipedia.org (en).

Precedent Related Posts :

Part 2. The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

Part 1 : Environment, Climate Change and Energy.

Comment S : The 4 Key Points of the 2008 French Presidency

Part 2. The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
For more information about how works the ESDP :

European Security and Defence Policy. Wikipedia.org (en)

Precedent Related Post:

Part 1 : Environment, Climate Change and Energy.

French EU Presidency : 4th of July

Courrier International 2008

Reckless Sarkozy is sometimes right. John Thornhill, The FT (en)

French Ideas under the test of the French Presidency. Thomas Ferenczi, Le Monde (fr)

French EU Presidency : 2nd of July

Peter Mandelson and Poland spoil Nicolas Sarkozy's first day at EU helm. Henry Samuel, Bruno Waterfield and Andrew Porter, The Telegraph (en)
Miliband backs strong EU military force. Patrick Wintour, The Guardian (en)
French priorities for EU presidency. The Guardian (en)
Discord marks EU power handover. Tony Barber, The FT (en)
Paris seekeing a parade to Kaczynski's objections. Stephane Kovacs, Le Figaro (fr)
Hubert Vedrine : «The Irich No does not weight down the French presidency». Samuel Poitier, Le Figaro (fr)