Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus

by LazyEnterprise Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 10:43:23 AM EST

Headline in today's Le Parisien:

Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus?

It has made comparatively great headlines in German newspapers and on TV, but less in France.

Should we worry about this? Is this just the (lack of) personal chemistry between these two - who are probably two people as different as you can find them - or is this more?

Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus | 26 comments (26 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 4)

Le Parisien? Methinks Libération: Rien ne va plus dans le couple franco-allemand

Près d'un an après l'arrivée au pouvoir de Nicolas Sarkozy, les Allemands commencent à douter que la sauce prendra un jour entre le Président et la chancelière. Deux rencontres de haut niveau ont été annulées par Paris au cours des derniers jours : le sommet franco-allemand du 3 mars vient d'être reporté à juin et un rendez-vous entre la ministre de l'Economie, Christine Lagarde, et son homologue allemand, Peer Steinbrück, prévu hier, est passé à la trappe.

I mentioned the original Steinbrück-Sarko incident here.

I hope someone attempts a full bilingual translation (there are too many words in it I don't know and Google doesn't either), and this evening, I may dig up the original German articles Libée refers to.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 11:10:01 AM EST

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 4)

I think the Google translation is not to bad. One does have to make some character substitutions before translating. The single quote used is that other single forward quote. And replacing ellipses with three dots improves the output as well. Other than that, I tried to make some improvement in language by swapping some words around, and replacing some awkwardly phrased stuff with what I guessed might be correct. But at no point did I actually have to read the French...

Rien ne va plus dans le couple franco-allemand		Nothing works anymore in the Franco-German relationship
Près d'un an après l'arrivée au pouvoir de Nicolas Sarkozy, les Allemands commencent à douter que la sauce prendra un jour entre le Président et la chancelière. Deux rencontres de haut niveau ont été annulées par Paris au cours des derniers jours : le sommet franco-allemand du 3 mars vient d'être reporté à juin et un rendez-vous entre la ministre de l'Economie, Christine Lagarde, et son homologue allemand, Peer Steinbrück, prévu hier, est passé à la trappe.		Almost a year after Nicolas Sarkozy came to power of , the Germans are beginning to doubt that things will ever run smoothly between the President and the Chancellor. Two high-level meetings were cancelled by Paris in the past few days: the Franco-German summit scheduled for the 3rd of March has been postponed to June and an appointment between the Minister for the Economy, Christine Lagarde, and his counterpart German Peer Steinbrück, scheduled yesterday, fell by the wayside.
«Brutalité». A chaque fois Paris évoque des raisons de calendrier. «On peut se demander si les dirigeants français considèrent les rencontres avec leurs homologues allemands comme facultatives, note le quotidien Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. En ce qui concerne Peer Steinbrück, tout laisse à penser qu'il est devenu persona non grata à Paris depuis qu'il a osé contredire publiquement Nicolas Sarkozy lors d'un sommet Ecofin. Sarkozy avait demandé à Angela Merkel de désavouer son ministre, ce qu'elle n'avait bien entendu pas fait. Sarkozy, qui traite ses contradicteurs avec une certaine brutalité, n'a sûrement pas oublié l'affaire...»		"Abuse". Whenever Paris evokes scheduling reasons. "One wonders whether the leaders believe that French meetings with their German counterparts are optional note the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Regarding Peer Steinbrück, everything suggests that he became persona non grata in Paris since he dared to publicly contradict Nicolas Sarkozy at the Ecofin summit. Sarkozy had asked Merkel to disown her minister, but she has obviously not done this. Sarkozy, who treats his opponents with some brutality, has certainly not forgotten the case ... "
Certes, chaque nouveau couple franco-allemand a connu des ratées au démarrage, qu'il s'agisse de Chirac et Schröder ou de Mitterrand et Kohl. Mais cette fois, la période de froid dure vraiment longtemps et même les Italiens sont inquiets. «On n'avait jamais vu une telle phase de glaciation entre la France et l'Allemagne», note le quotidien La Repubblica.		All new Franco-German couple has experienced failures at the beginning, both Chirac and Schroeder and Kohl and Mitterrand. But this time, the cold weather has endured, and even the Italians are worried. "We have never seen such a cold period between France and Germany", notes the daily La Repubblica.
Le projet sarkozien d'une Union méditerranéenne est au centre des tensions. Les Allemands redoutent à la fois une scission de l'Europe et une perte d'influence de Berlin. «On a affaire à deux conceptions radicalement différentes de l'intégration européenne, constate Martin Koopmann, chercheur à l'institut DGAP. Pour les Allemands, c'est une question de principe. L'Allemagne, tout comme la Pologne ou le Benelux d'ailleurs, a autant d'intérêts dans la région méditerranéenne que la France. Prenez la question de l'immigration clandestine. Dans une Europe aux frontières intérieures ouvertes, l'Allemagne est bien sûr également concernée par la question de l'immigration en provenance d'Afrique du Nord. Même chose avec l'énergie ou les relations bilatérales avec le Moyen Orient...» Les Allemands, pour relancer la politique européenne en Méditerranée, misent plutôt sur une relance des dispositifs existants, tels que le processus de Barcelone ou la politique européenne de voisinage, plutôt que sur la création d'une nouvelle entité dont ils seraient exclus et au contenu flou.		The Sarkozian project of a Mediterranean Union is at the centre of tensions. The Germans fear a division of Europe and a loss of influence. "They are dealing with two radically different conceptions of European integration, says Martin Koopmann, a researcher at the DGAP institute. For the Germans, this is a matter of principle. Germany, like Poland or the Benelux moreover, has as much interest in the Mediterranean region as France. Take the issue of illegal immigration. In a Europe with open internal borders, Germany is of course also concerned with the issue of immigration from North Africa. Same thing with energy or bilateral relations with the Middle East ... " The Germans, want to relaunch European policy in the Mediterranean relying on existing devices, such as the Barcelona process or the European neighbourhood policy, rather than the creation of a new entity with unclear content, and from which they would be excluded.
«Apprentissage». La personnalité du président français jouerait dans la crise actuelle un rôle de second plan. «Certes, Nicolas Sarkozy doit apprendre qu'on ne traite pas ses partenaires étrangers de la même façon que l'opposition au Parlement, note un conseiller. Mais Angela Merkel sait aller au-delà de ce genre de choses. A Berlin, on veut encore bien croire que le Président se trouve dans une phase d'apprentissage, qu'il saura écouter ses conseillers et qu'il comprendra qu'il doit davantage tenir compte des différences de position...»		'Learning'. The personality of the French President plays a secondary role in the current crisis. "Certainly, Nicolas Sarkozy must learn that one does not deal with foreign partners in the same way as one does with the opposition in parliament, an adviser notes. But Angela Merkel knows to go beyond this kind of thing. In Berlin, we want to still believe that the President is in a learning phase, he will listen to his advisers and he will understand that he should better respect differences of position... "

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 12:02:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 3)

Aaargh, how did I miss your translation? I must have had the diary in a tab for a while before I looked at it...

So I did a translation too, it's no better than yours so I won't post it.

It would be nice if Google knew what apostrophes were... ;)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 12:32:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 2)

Thanks!

Meanwhile, I must be hallucinating, I thought I saw De Welt mentioned in the article, not just FAZ. Even more curiously, I couldn't find the quoted FAZ article so far. Until then, a quote from Handelsblatt:

Sarkozy gibt "kein Vorbild" ab		Sarkozy "not acting as a role model"

Indes mehren sich Spekulationen, dass es im deutsch-französischen Verhältnis knirscht. Das für den morgigen Dienstag geplante Treffen von Finanzminister Peer Steinbrück und seiner französischen Amtskollegin Christine Lagarde ist überraschend abgesagt worden. Einen Grund für die Absage konnte die Bundesregierung am Montag nicht nennen. Es gebe aber keinen übergeordneten Zusammenhang, sagte Regierungssprecher Ulrich Wilhelm lediglich.		Meanwhile, there is increasing speculation of friction in the German-French relationship. The meeting between Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück and his French counterpart Christine Lagarde planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, was cancelled surprisingly. The federal government could not name a reason for the cancellation on Monday. But there is no overarching context, was all that government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said.
Er war bereits am Wochenende dem Eindruck entgegengetreten, dass zwischen Frankreichs Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy und Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) Funkstille herrsche. Zuvor hatte schon die Verschiebung des so genannten Blaesheim-Treffens zwischen Merkel und Sarkozy für Spekulationen gesorgt. Offiziell wurden terminliche Schwierigkeiten von Sarkozy als Grund genannt.		Already over the weekend, he challenged the impression that there is zero communication between French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). Previously, the postponement of the so-called Blaesheim meeting between Merkel and Sarkozy already led to speculation. Officially, Sarkozy's scheduling difficulties were named as reason.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 03:23:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 3)

I think this is just a consequence of Sarkozy being an asshole with no interest in foreign or European policy. Not unlike Brown, actually.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 11:15:45 AM EST

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 4)

Oh, Sarko does have an interest, see Bulgarian nurses, granstanding at G8 and EU meetings, and pushing Bliar. He has no interest in talking to anyone in ways other than master to subordinate.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 02:49:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I disagree (4.00 / 2)

He clearly is the subordinate when talking to Bush.

A 'centrist' is someone who's neither on the left, nor on the left.

by nicta (nico＠altiva․fr) on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 05:55:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 2)

Again: should we be worried about this? The Italians seem to be.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

by LazyEnterprise (lazyenterprise@gmail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 03:46:33 PM EST

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 2)

We predicted that a Sarkozy Presidency would be a disaster for Europe. Sarkozy is a loose cannon --- nobody else knows quite what he's up to, for instance on the Mediterranean Union --- and if he breaks the Franco-German axis Because ha cannot treat Germany as an equal the consequences will be major.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 04:15:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 4)

I think one should be worried!
Even if in Germany the gov would change in 2009, I can't see a chancellor Beck or Steinmeier being much more friendly to Sarkozy than Merkel, when one remembers, that Merkel and Sarkozy are from the same political direction and Merkel has a tendency to be rather patient with machos. Issues like better Eurozone gouvernance can only be addressed if there is some trust and respect for each other, even when people differ on issues.
Sarkozy is not yet a year in office, so more than 4 years more to come, so it will really be a hard time for Europe if Sarkozy does not change his behaviour or steps back voluntarily.
There is no other European motor than the Franco-German one. Better relations with UK, fine but that will neither deepen the EU, nor can Euro issues be addressed. Italy has such an unstable gov and the chances for a return of the political clown Berlusconi are not too bad. Other EU subgroups with Germany would probably lead to conflicts between the club med and the northern countries, which Sarkozy already has started with his mediteran union idea. So no convincing alternative for an functioning Franco-German relationship.

Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den Menschen
Volker Pispers

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 04:30:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

Typical Euro issues would include

Common Eurozone representation at IMF and World Bank
regulation, Germany has already announced to introduce unilaterlly some regulation in the financial markets if nothing happens on higher levels, but clearly a European effort would be better
as the case may be some more modification of the GSP in cases of asymmetric fiscal shocks.

Many of these issues are in Sarkozy's interest I think, but with his behaviour he is destroying any chances to get something done

Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den Menschen
Volker Pispers

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 04:39:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 2)

And to think of it, not a year ago, FAZ had an article I found earlier today titled Sarkozy - Kandidat ohne Schwächen = the candidate without weaknesses....

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 04:56:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 3)

In hindsight embarrassing. Recently they titled on the front page "Der kleine Nic heiratet". The letters to the editor in response to that ranged from outrage over the disrespectful treatment of the French president to hilarious amusement.

But I have the impression that many French voters had illusions about Sarko as well.

Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den Menschen
Volker Pispers

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 05:04:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

Der kleine Nic heiratet = Little Nic marries

Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den Menschen
Volker Pispers

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 05:05:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 2)

"But I have the impression that many French voters had illusions about Sarko as well."

Yes, but for the life of me I never understood that. It was that obvious all along, I mean, NOTHING has been exactly surprising (OK, we could not guess the daily specifics, but all the trends were exactly what was expected).

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi

by Cyrille (cyrillev domain yahoo.fr) on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 01:44:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

Indeed. On ET, our French-based readers made the point that he had the media in cahoots (for newer non-French readers: the three big industrialists/media barons who own the top private TVs and much of the written media, as well as the new majority owner of leftist Libération, are Sarkozy's personal friends); but even taking that into account, it seems to me a good deal of cognitive dissonance was involved...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 04:53:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 5)

Ok, Sarko has disappointed many. But it would be dangerous to underestimate him. Here is a recent piece from the Economist Blogs:

14:07 GMT +00:00
February 20th
Sarkozy, Obama and McCain
Posted by: The Economist | PARIS
Categories:
From our Paris Bureau Chief

AS Barack Obama widens his lead over Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination, it is worth recalling a trip that Nicolas Sarkozy made to Washington DC in September 2006. That visit is remembered in France mostly for the photograph that Sarkozy managed to arrange of himself with George Bush at the White House. He was then the French interior minister, and not even officially a presidential candidate, so for him it was a real coup. For the French back at home, however, it was baffling: why did Sarkozy want to cosy up to a leader widely reviled in France?

What is less well-known about the trip is who else he met. I've just looked up the official programme that I brought back, as one of the journalists accompanying him on that visit, to make sure my memory isn't playing tricks. Besides other members of the Bush administration, while in Washington Sarkozy met only two other American politicians: astonishingly, they were Barack Obama and John McCain.

According to my hastily scribbled notes from the time, after Sarkozy met the American senator in his office on Capitol Hill, Obama stood in front of us and said: "I shouldn't be predicting French elections, but I've been following the minister's career, and I know that he has a good opportunity to lead France in the future."

In Paris-Match magazine recently, Obama recalled that visit, and promised to return the favour if he won the nomination. It looks as though both had impressive foresight, or at the very least were well advised. That Sarkozy picked two men, neither of whom at the time were front-runners as presidential candidates, is pretty remarkable. I suspect that it reflects the advice of Jean-David Levitte, French ambassador to Washington at the time and in charge of Sarkozy's schedule for that trip; he is now Sarkozy's diplomatic adviser at the Elysée in Paris.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2008/02/sarkozy_obama_and_mccain.cfm

In fact, I believe that this is one of the inherent dangers of the current Sarko malaise: that other governments (in particular Frau Merkel's) will no longer take him (as) seriously (as they should).

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

by LazyEnterprise (lazyenterprise@gmail.com) on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 05:23:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 3)

Well, according to this week's Canard Enchaîné, the newsmagasine Courrier International (Owned by Le Monde, publishes translated articles from many newspapers around the world), tried to put up an add in the newspapers selling chain Relay titled "Sarko ce grand malade". Relay refused. Incidentally, Relay is owned by the Sarko friend Lagardère... And sells a nice share of the country's news papers, for example it has a monopoly in train stations.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 05:40:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (4.00 / 2)

Apparently the Euromediterranean partnership (Barcelona Process) has not worked as intended, so people in the Commission are keen to hear any proposals to make it work. Sarkozy is a problem because his Mediterranean Union seems to be outside the EU, and he hasn't even explained what he wants to do, or how. It is a good thing that Merkel is interested in revitalizing the Barcelona Process, but I would also say that there's more to the Mediterranean than immigration. So the need remains, but there's no hope for real progress with Sarkozy.

The European Neighbourhood Policy is the way to go. Within this, the EU has set up a "Black Sea Synergy" which seems to be working quite well. Other similar structures around various sea basins could be set up. One is the Euromediterranean partnership, but others include the Baltic (where only Russia is not an EU member) and the North Sea (where only Norway is not an EU member). Both the Black Sea and the Mediterranean have geopolitical problems to address, whereas the Baltic and the North Sea can just get on with economic development and integration. My concern is that Sarkozy may push Germany and the rest of Northern and Europe to work on the Baltic and the North Sea basins and neglect the Mediterranean.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 05:19:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

"Sarkozy is a problem because his Mediterranean Union [(MU)] seems to be outside the EU, and he hasn't even explained what he wants to do, or how."
When I heard of the phrase Mediterranean Union I thought even some kind of serious concurrence project to the EU. In a way this fitted together with something from Wolfgang Münchau I read, about Who is Henri Guaino?, where it seemed that Sarko might not be too interested in the Euro.
In a double leading role in the EU and in a MU, France could play Germany and other countries in a way which would give France extra power. So Sarkozy could be interested in a real concurrence to the EU, just because of starving for power.

Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den Menschen
Volker Pispers

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 05:33:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Guaino (4.00 / 6)

comes from the sovereignist left (the Chevenement wing of the party: "republicain"), which is anti-Europe, nationalist, secular and statist. Its ideal is the 19th century militant teacher that brought education to all - and turned all into citizens, so not all its ideas are bad or even outdated, but it's hard to build Europe on them, because they are too French (for lack of a better word here, but I think it fits).

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 06:13:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

In a double leading role in the EU and in a MU, France could play Germany and other countries in a way which would give France extra power. So Sarkozy could be interested in a real concurrence to the EU, just because of starving for power.

In a way the expansion from the EU12 to the EU27 has increased the influence of Germany to the detriment of France, so it makes sense that France would try to build a counterweight by creating a sphere of influence extending to the South.

That doesn't mean that the "Union of the Mediterranean" (as it appears Sarkozy, Zapatero and Prodi agreed to call it in July last year) has to be separate from the EU. That's what people are afraid Sarkozy wants, but it is not what Zapatero seemed to have in mind.

Then again, if a cooperation area is built around the Mediterranean basin, I don't see why Germany needs to be involved. It is not itching to get into the Black Sea Synergy: in that case just the Commission oversight seems to be enough, why would it not be enough in the case of the Mediterranean?

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 06:27:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

Comission oversight would be perfectly fine. The details matter and if the details are not presented and wording is used as is used, confusion can be the result, especially when anyhow irritated by this Guaino, and in time when a new European treaty is in the ratification process.
The plans maybe OK, but the presentation and the wording had quite some disturbing potential.

Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den Menschen
Volker Pispers

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Wed Feb 27th, 2008 at 06:51:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 0)

I believe Europe's political class is starting to worry. Here is a very perceptive article by Dominique Moisi:

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/moisi27/English

He begins with this: "Ever since key public figures signed a manifesto in a French magazine denouncing the dangers of a monarchical drift - without ever mentioning the president's name - the political atmosphere in France has been electric."

And ends with this: "Indeed, the most serious casualty of the current political climate in France is Sarkozy's reform agenda. It is as if his personality had become the biggest obstacle to his determination to break with the past."

I think he is on the mark.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

by LazyEnterprise (lazyenterprise@gmail.com) on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 07:43:23 AM EST

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 1)

His personality is a good thing. Politicians come and go, but the breaking up of the Libération agenda would be much more long lasting.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 07:54:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus (none / 0)

I guess there's nothing to worry about. Merkel wins.

FT.com: Sarkozy dilutes plans for Mediterranean bloc (March 5 2008)

Nicolas Sarkozy has watered down his plans to set up a union of Mediterranean states, instead agreeing with his German counterpart to revitalise an existing European Union initiative.
Speaking after a dinner with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, in Hanover on Monday night, the French president said his project would now involve all 27 EU member states and would be embedded in the Barcelona Process - a framework of political and economic agreements between the EU and 10 states around the Mediterranean launched in 1995.
The concession amounts to a climbdown by Mr Sarkozy, who initially wanted to establish a smaller and more "operational" group of states bordering the Mediterranean to give impetus to political and economic co-operation.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Mar 6th, 2008 at 06:41:22 PM EST

Merkel-Sarkozy, rien ne va plus | 26 comments (26 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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