The report card of the French presidency

At the time of President Sarkozy's visit to the European Parliament, it seemed interesting to do a little review of French priorities and results, to somehow hand over his report card for the semester to the French presidency

To gauge a presidency, comments this experienced diplomat, you have to look at “the priorities, - the expected - and the crisis management - the unexpected -.

Detailed review of the results obtained in relation to the stated ambitions...

• Union for the Mediterranean (UPM). An emblematic file, it did not really achieve the proclaimed goal. From a major civilization project, the UPM has been downgraded to a secretariat responsible for managing major projects. We will have to see the future of this project. Mention: very average.

• Immigration. The "European Pact for Immigration and Asylum" has been completed without frills. The blue card for certain “skilled” workers has been endorsed. But the atmosphere is more to the repression of illegal immigration than to the integration of immigrants. Pass grade

• Climate energy. On this difficult “package”, getting an agreement was not easy. The disappointment of certain environmental organizations should not make us forget that auctioning CO2 emission quotas is well worth a few exemptions… Mention: good.

• Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). While France aimed to draw a real roadmap for the future, it is a technical assessment of the "health" of the CAP. It's not for lack of trying. But the atmosphere was elsewhere. Rating: Average

• Defense. Negotiated in the shadows, this subject has made real progress. Europe has deployed three major missions (Georgia, Kosovo, Pirates), made progress on industrial projects. And the European Headquarters can be strengthened, finally! Rating: good.

• The Lisbon Treaty. The “Irish No” had put one more priority for France. After some hiccups, the Irish Prime Minister agreed to reconvene the
voters next year. In exchange, the Europeans renounce a major element of the Treaty: the reduction of the Commission. Rating: good.

• The legislative files. The results are very honorable since several agreements were obtained this semester, such as the recovery of maintenance payments, temporary work or the Erika III security package. The presidency has completed all its files, sometimes at the cost of a lowered ambition. Grade: Good

• The crisis management. Despite divisions over Russia, the Europeans managed to keep their unity during the conflict in Georgia. And even if the economic coordination is not perfect, the recovery plan adopted at 27 shows that everyone is now convinced of its necessity. Clear progress. Rating: excellent.

• theOrganisation. If the French administrative and diplomatic apparatus is still “efficient” notes an observer, and Sarkozy “a Lamborghini of the com '”, the French presidency experienced some notable failures. Several ministers “dried out” in Parliament. And some obviously haven't grasped all the European terms yet. Witness Christine Albanel, the Minister of Culture, speaking about the result of the “Council of Europe”. Not very serious when we teach all schoolchildren that the European Council is not the Council of Europe. We can dare to use the term "frankly bad", when we approach the question of "hyper-centralized communication at the Élysée". This has led to some resounding hiccups, such as this EU-Ukraine summit, moved in disorder from Evian to Paris. Each time, it was the "firefighter" of the presidency, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the Minister for European Affairs who was called to the rescue. Mention: very average.

In the end, however, between the priorities assumed, the management of the conflict in Georgia as well as the financial economic crisis blew all the criticism.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(*) the presidency has thus abandoned the small briefings (technical or political) of journalists during the summit. The Commission starts from the Head of State. And he's the only one talking. More diplomatico-political personality (as Catherine Colonna excelled under the Chirac presidency) to allow follow-up of the evolution of the files, behind the closed doors of the meetings (and at the same time to convey the message of the presidency, one must not be naive). Here nothing filters, except the presidential speech.

(Original article published this Tuesday in Ouest-France, supplemented).