The Sarkozy method in Europe is marking time. France does not convince at the Summit

As in 1792, we were going to go there. Oh yes. The first verses of La Marseillaise seemed to ring in our ears. " The day of glory has come !? Against us from the tyrany. ?The bloody banner is raised.” On the menu: recognition of the opposition with great fanfare, Thursday, with photos of handshakes in the Elysee Palace (only the Republican Guards were missing for a state visit), and announcement of targeted airstrikes by skilfully organized leaks at the Elysée. All on the eve of a special European Summit, devoted to Libya, which France had requested, demanded, to be convened. Hard to understand but whatever. For the French president, the main thing was done: make an impression, show that France guides Europe, regain weight in the polls. Triple winner a priori. Only Europe doesn't work that way. And Sarkozy has slaughtered assets rather than forcing the consensus in his favour.

A slap to Germany, the partner

The Frenchman, all occupied by his spring love affair with the Briton David Cameron, has dropped his partner of reason, the German, Angela Merkel. This can be justified on a military/bilateral level, not on a political/European level. Germany has truly been dumped. She wasn't even told what the French president was going to do in Paris. And there was even less prior discussion. A lack of consultation that shocked across the Rhine. Especially since it's not the first time. What could initially have been seen as impolite now looks like a breach of the Franco-German partnership, a couple that structures the European Union (let us remember) more than Franco-British "friendship" can do. And which is difficult to replace. The 24 other members of the Council also had the unpleasant impression of being mere puppets in a political game of Sarkozy, with more internal than European electoral aims. Which has not escaped anyone.

A bad tackle at Juppé

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, barely appointed, had made a strong impression on his colleagues. Going from Defense to Foreign Affairs, and his past as Prime Minister, while having already managed a few geopolitical crises, gave France a aura certain in European circles. The French minister has thus multiplied contacts with his colleagues in recent days. For example, with the Swedish Carl Bildt or the German Westerwelle. Bildt thus declared himself, a few days ago, “close to the French positions” (this was before the declarations of N. Sarkozy). While Westerwelle was surprised to learn from Alain Juppé, in front of the journalists, that they had a “mutual” agreement on recognition. When it was wrong. Juppé's rating has fallen. Everyone having understood among the ministers that foreign policy would remain punctuated by the Elysée, as before.

The threat of a military strike wavered to no effect

The announcement of military air strikes against Libya seemed a strong gesture, at least political. But this announcement turned out to be worthless at the military level or even counter-productive since it has not been followed up (at least so far). " Strikes are not announced, they are made as a soldier would say. The result is a triple loser. At the political level, by waving what may look like a red rag, we unnecessarily provoke opposition when the whole difficulty is to solidify the international community (Russia and China, Arab League and African Union) and Europe. Under international law, it is an act of war and therefore can only be authorized by the United Nations. In military terms, while it is clear that a strike would be "a serious warning shot", it is not clear that it will have a huge impact on the ongoing conflict in the medium term. Except to have repeated strikes, and a massive bombardment. It also means taking the risk of having civilian casualties. As one participant at the European Summit meeting put it, "imagine Gaddafi with a dead child in his arms as a result of the airstrikes, what would be the effect on the Arab populations"...

A double failure: no request from the 27 for a new UN resolution and opponents who are waiting

The cautious option side won. The only point indicated is a commitment to study all possible options in the event of crises on civilians. The prevailing consensus in international and Western matters, whether within NATO or the EU, is indeed the impossibility of acting militarily without a United Nations resolution, and a request from the Arab countries. If this one is now acquired with the Arab League's request for a "No Fly Zone" (made on Saturday), the first is not yet. It is also striking to note that the European Union has not asked the United Nations to take up the issue again. Rather than mentioning the detail of the necessary military operations or a No Fly Zone, this was undoubtedly where the effort should rather be made.

As for the Libyan opponents, Mahmoud Jibril and Ali al-Essawi, they waited in one of the offices of the European Council, and were finally received, only on the sly, by the diplomatic adviser of the President of the European Council Van Rompuy . Even if he split a press release far from being as dithyrambic as the French president (read: also Libyan opponents received on the sly at the European Council on Friday).

The "loud-mouthed" method reaches its limits

In summary, as I indicate Sunday in an article published in Ouest-France, under the French presidency, in 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy had used and abused his favorite technique – to speak loudly and to take aback. With some success, especially in Georgia. The financial crisis had also given him the opportunity to showcase his talents. At least at the start. But today, the “loud-mouthed” method seems to have reached its limits. By recognizing, before anyone else, the Libyan National Council of Benghazi as a legitimate interlocutor and by evoking, all alone, the possibilities of targeted air strikes, the French president torpedoed a European summit which he had nevertheless called for. He angered the traditional German partner. And most European leaders were thus shocked to see the French president thus trampling on the democratic functioning of the European Union.

Certainly Sarkozy has won the media battle, the French press room filling up on Friday evening. But, in the corridors, France suffered a defeat. No call for a new UN resolution is expressed, Libyan opponents forming an antechamber in a Council room and a simple commitment to study all military options, the result resembles a defeat for French diplomacy.

If, on the merits, the French position seems logical – political progress with the opposition, economic program to support democracy in the Mediterranean and threat of military options – its tactics are autocratic methods from another time which annoy. By wanting to dribble everyone and leading the "personal" action, Sarkozy missed the opportunity to impose his views. Europe does not only need a leader but a unifier. You have to know how to convince to exist and not to exist to convince.