PARIS (Map, News) - 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.Impatient and attention-grabbing, Sarkozy will have his hands full trying to guide - and not dictate to - an EU that is trying to prepare the sometimes sluggish continent to meet this century's challenges, from China's growing clout to expanding global demand for shrinking energy resources.
PARIS (Map, News) - 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.
Impatient and attention-grabbing, Sarkozy will have his hands full trying to guide - and not dictate to - an EU that is trying to prepare the sometimes sluggish continent to meet this century's challenges, from China's growing clout to expanding global demand for shrinking energy resources.
here we go again...
one man's sluggish is another man's calm.
jus cuz we don't run around bumping into things in a caffeine frenzy!
oh wait... The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese Proverb.
