The good and bad points of a presidency

In Nice, Jospin and Chirac hold the reputation of the French presidency in their hands. On the other files, the results being, to say the least, mixed

(Archives B2) It was last July. The French presidency of the European Union seemed promised to a bright future. " Modest " But " ambitious was the French leitmotif of the moment. A little “too” ambitious no doubt, comment today, perniciously, the foreign diplomats posted in Brussels. Too preoccupied with its domestic political issues, the “frenchie” frog had too big eyes...

Symptomatic example of this myopia : mad cow disease and gas prices. Hex officials superbly ignored Europe, took solo action, and only came to Brussels to get their national policy endorsed, " to benefit from European subsidies comment the nasty tongues (which are not lacking). The rout announced on the mad cow, however, turned into " succès thanks above all to the discovery, in extremis, of cases in Germany and Spain. Jean-Claude Gayssot was not so lucky on the oil measurements and the truck drivers. The Council of Ministers, convened in haste at the end of September, did not lead to any concrete decision except to provoke the ire of his colleagues.

Diplomatic side, the same lucky constellation ruled. The Zagreb summit was as much a “success” as the meeting in Marseille on the Mediterranean countries was a “failure”. But more for external reasons: the election of Kostunica at the head of Yugoslavia, in one case, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the other.

It is especially " social ambition "of France and its will" to bring the citizen of Europe closer which elicit a bad point. From the "red thread" of the presidency, to use Jacques Chirac's expression, this theme has turned into a red rag. Admittedly, a “social agenda” could be completed, but at a discount. More catalog without tail or head, it gives pride of place to the liberal concepts of wage blocking and putting the elderly back to work. On a good point, it is, in fact, to Laurent Fabius that it comes back. Praised for his skills as a negotiator, he succeeded in unblocking the tax harmonization file. In fact, there is only one unknown left!

Nice? Indeed, as one veteran diplomat put it, " the reputation of a presidency is made on the last summit ". However, if the preparation for this summit was carried out masterfully by the team of Pierre Vimont, the permanent representative of France in Brussels, it is now the European heads of state, particularly the Jospin-Chirac couple, who hold the keys to the French presidency. "Great" or "failed". Answer Saturday or Sunday...

Nicolas Gros-Verheyde (published in France-Soir, December 2000)