On the first of July, France will take over the presidency of the European Union for the next six months. It will be Europe's voice and face during a transitional period until the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which will provide a new structure to the EU.
Indeed, when the Treaty is implemented, the presidency of the European Union will no longer be rotated for six months. The new institutional setting will provide a president for the EU, nominated for two years and a half by the member states. It would embody Europe more efficiently and in a more lasting way.
The first task of the French presidency will be to handle the ratification of Lisbon treaty. If only one country refuses to ratify it, the whole process of implementing the treaty will fail. For sure France would not be guilty of such a situation. But, in people's minds, Paris would bear a responsibility. Sarkozy is credited for having pulled out France from a trap it had itself got into. But the French president has upset his European counterparts, giving them the feeling that he wanted to play solo. France is often suspected of being arrogant. In this context, the French Minister for European Affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet did his best to answer the critics. He has undertaken deep consultations at the European level with the other representatives of the member states, spending two days per week in Brussels, and going to a European capital every week.
France has always been a front runner for the construction of a strong European Union, which has always been seen as a factor for peace and economic development. Indeed, France's role and rank is obviously different in a 27-member-state EU than it was in a Europe with 6, 9 or 12 members. France must reshape its European policy because Europe is now too large a tanker to be driven by a single captain.
First, France wants to implement a common immigration policy. Indeed, Europe needs and will need more migrants in the future due to its low birth rate and the lack of manpower in many sectors. But immigration needs to be organised at a European level because some European governments are keen to prevent migrants from coming in. Then, the need for an immigration policy at the EU level comes from the fact that European countries share borders through which people can move freely, but each single European country has its own immigration policy and that creates tensions within the EU.
Climate change
France also wants to play a very active role on climate change and energy, (particularly on nuclear energy). Climate change is of utmost importance for public opinion. It is one of the very few points on which Sarkozy has issued public disagreements with George W. Bush. We must also note that France is a leading country in nuclear energy. With the price of oil skyrocketing, some countries could turn towards nuclear energy. That would be a way for France to get some economic contracts. Indeed, Sarkozy has been presented as undertaking nuclear diplomacy. He has already signed many exports agreements in the nuclear field. However, Sarkozy's strategy is criticised in Europe because some countries (Germany and Nordic countries for example) are still reluctant to develop nuclear energy.
The third priority for Paris will be the common agricultural policy (CAP). The budget attribute to the CAP represents some 40 per cent of the whole EU budget. For Paris, the food price crisis has proven even more fruitful. Thanks to the CAP, European consumers have been granted for years a cheap access to agricultural products. Europe is a leader in a market which could only be extended. For the British, the increase in price of agricultural goods is a proof that the free market would be sufficient to guarantee comfortable incomes to European farmers.
Last priority for the French presidency: revitalising the European defence policy. Since De Gaulle, France has tried to create a European pillar in this field. However these initiatives have mostly failed because the closest allies of the US feared that it could challenge Nato and weaken transatlantic links. By deciding to fully come back inside Nato integrated structures, left in 1966, France wants to show its good will and reinsure Washington and the pro-American Europeans. The deal is the following: France agrees to come back into Nato and in exchange for that Washington gives a long awaited green light to European defence pillar.
Dr Pascal Boniface is the founder and director of IRIS (Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques). He has published or edited more than 40 books on international relations, nuclear deterrence and disarmament, European security and French international policy.
