At the European Summit, the nights will be sleepless
(B2) The smiles are strained, the faces already drawn, the quick embraces. The European leaders who arrive, one by one, this Thursday, at the Justus Lipsius, the seat of the Council of the European Union, are each trying to show optimism. But we feel that the spirits are elsewhere.
Distracted, or voluntarily, the Polish guy Lech Kaczynski tries to avoid the photo and the handshake with the President of the Union, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nicolas Sarkozy passes very quickly. Barely the first steps climbed, Tony Blair recalls its main demands and the four red lines on which it does not intend to yield, such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights or the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The tone is set. Under the eyes of the photographers, Angela Merkel engages in discussion with Tony Blair, exchanges some last information with Jose-Manuel Barroso. The nights will be sleepless...
The first blows had left in the afternoon during the meetings of each political group, which traditionally precede a Summit. Lech Kaczynski's statement in the Financial Times on World War II — “ Without the war, Poland would have 66 million inhabitants – led to general disapproval. "We can't live forever in the past," replied Andrus Ansip, Prime Minister of Estonia. And Luxembourgish Jean-Claude Juncker, playing the role of the sage, reminded the other leaders that it was precisely Helmut Kohl who had insisted, in the name of history, that Poland should be part of the first round of enlargement.
At the meeting of socialist leaders, Tony Blair had been targeted. "It's out of the question to touch the Minister of Foreign Affairs, if that's the case, I'm leaving" declared the Spaniard Zapatero. The supporters of the Constitution go on the attack. As for the French, they display themselves, under the banner of Nicolas Sarkozy, as the staunchest supporter of the German Presidency. " There is not the shadow of a cigarette leaf between them and us. says a diplomat. An agreement does not seem out of reach, however. Compromise proposals were drafted during the night to bring everyone together.
This Summit will also be the last Belgian Guy Verhofstadt and Britain's Tony Blair. Two men whom everything has opposed until now and whom everything still opposes. The first was tipped to take the helm of the European Commission in 2004, the second vetoed it. The former has always defended a federalist vision of Europe. “The United States of Europe” is the title of his latest book. The second, an intergovernmental vision very close to that of Margaret Thatcher.
