Vu par le Times, Sarko à la manœuvre

Le sommet de l’UE à Bruxelles a été d’un grand intérêt pour le grand cas qu’il a fait de la manœuvre diplomatique, de l’efficacité plus ou moins grande des uns et des autres, des pressions tactiques considérables qu’il a permises. Un texte du Times, que nous relayons par ailleurs, montre précisément, à partir de documents obtenus par le quotidien, les manœuvres de Sarkozy pour imposer la suppression d’une mention sur la libre compétition à l’intérieur du marché européen. Dans un premier temps, la manœuvre a été éventée ...

«Minutes from Tuesday’s meeting seen by The Times show that, near the mid-point of the discussions, the Hungarians drew attention to the redrafted statement. It included commitment to the internal market but omitted the phrase “where competition is free and undistorted”.

»The Hungarian questioned whether this would affect EU competition policy – a huge area of European Commission activity combating cartels and illegal state aid that could distort fair trade.

»Immediately the Spanish representative observed that it seemed to change one of the principles of the EU and called for it to be looked at further.»

… Mais, finalement, la suppression de l’expression “where competition is free and undistorted” a été maintenue. Sarkozy s’est battu pour cela et, dans un sommet déchiré par ailleurs par d’autres problèmes plus pressants et plus spectaculaires (l’opposition de la Pologne, la faiblesse britannique, le désir allemand de conclure), il l’a emporté.

Il est ainsi apparu sous un jour intéressant qui devrait le caractériser : un homme d’action, habile, appuyé sur des principes de protection des intérêts français qui sont généralement appréciés à partir d’une position nationale affirmée. Le Times le voit ainsi, dans tous les cas, et trace de lui, à partir de l’incident, un portrait significatif.

»The episode is revealing about the summit debutant Mr Sarkozy and his economic doctrine, “Sarkonomics”. Compared with previous French presidents, he is a business-friendly reformer. But he has never hidden his traditional French belief that trade is too serious to be left to mere markets – or the European Union.

»Mr Sarkozy won the election in May with promises to shield France from what the country sees as the hostile force of globalised trade. Like Britain, he also needs the treaty to be sufficiently different from the failed constitution to avoid holding a referendum.

»For more than a decade, supposedly unfair competition from low-cost nations inside and beyond Europe has been blamed as the underlying cause of France’s domestic ills.

»The first line of defence must be the European Union, but Mr Sarkozy insists that it is failing. He earned credit in the campaign with his argument that the union is acting like an innocent among predators when it aspires to scrap all internal and external barriers to trade. He has ensured the ire of Brussels – and Britain – with his demand that the EU must impose tariffs on “unfair” imports.

»Mr Sarkozy’s chief villains are the United States and the emerging world giants led by China. He has waged a campaign against the EU Commission and Peter Mandelson, its British trade chief, for feebleness in the face of US pressure on farm subsidies and protection of its entertainment industry. He accuses China of forcing down its currency to flood Europe with its goods while the European Central Bank turns a blind eye to the “overvalued” euro. Never one to beat about the bush, Mr Sarkozy has repeatedly called for Mr Mandelson to be stripped of the job of negotiating trade for Europe.»

Mis en ligne le 23 juin 2007 à 05H49