Sarkozy's big EU ambitions

On 1 July the French took over Europe with fanfare and flummery, the Eiffel Tower was bathed in blue, the EU's gold stars projected on this symbol of France.

And President Nicolas Sarkozy, the new President of the Council, proceeded to impose his frenetic style on an organisation used to a more leisurely pace. Today he is giving a final speech in this role to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. I doubt he will manage undue modesty.

Last week's summit of the EU's prime ministers and presidents ended in what Mr Sarkozy, at least, regarded as an historic triumph, with deals on climate change, the economy and the Lisbon Treaty.

The presidency can be a rather weak excuse for a few "informal" meetings in the country holding the presidency, with a few pet ideas shoved on top of whatever is the main business of the day. This was dramatically different.

There's no doubt Mr Sarkozy put his stamp on the presidency in a way that few manage, behaving as if he was indeed the President of Europe.

The veteran French Socialist Jack Lang told me he didn't always agree with Mr Sarkozy, but during his presidency he "gave a personality to Europe. He gave a feeling that Europe had a political existence. From an international point of view he gave presence to Europe".

Just as some unlikely leaders come to the fore in wartime so Mr Sarkozy seemed well-suited to our crisis-ridden times. But did his success really amount to very much?

The Irish No vote to the Lisbon Treaty was certainly seen as a crisis by the EU leadership, although it might not have bothered anyone else that much. Then there was the Russian invasion of Georgia. Within days Mr Sarkozy was in Tbilisi negotiating a ceasefire, then in Moscow signing it. Many felt it was deeply flawed, and ignored some crucial details. If so, it was typical of his style: restless action rather than careful analysis.

He called the first emergency summit since the Iraq crisis, to discuss the aftermath of the war. It wasn't to be his last.

One adviser told me this was an example of Mr Sarkozy's stubbornness paying off. Failure was not an option. Restless energy was. He called an emergency summit in Paris. It failed. He called another one. It was slightly better. He called an emergency EU summit. A bit more agreement. He travelled to Washington. He travelled to Beijing.

Ulrika Guerot of the European Council for Foreign Relations says "it may not be the best way of doing business, because you can make the reproach he looks like the king of Europe, it's an imperial way of doing the business of Europe.

"But with respect to the financial crisis he was the driving force for bringing together the G20 in a very short time, and he will be judged a success beyond his personal temper."

She forcefully makes the point that in the Georgian crisis and the financial crisis it was Europe making the running, not the United States. For some that is enough in itself. That is what really excites those who want the EU to play a bigger role in the world.

But this high-wire, high-risk summitry has infuriated Germany's leader Angela Merkel. When she was in the hot seat, conjuring the Lisbon Treaty out of the wreck of the European Constitution, she worked meticulously to discover each nation's hang-ups and hopes and carefully wrought a delicate compromise. Mr Sarkozy announces an idea, which often comes as a surprise to his diplomats and civil servants, let alone other leaders... and waits to see if it will fly.

Lord Patten, the former Conservative Party chairman and former EU Commissioner for External Relations, told me "While they both hate the comparison, the young Sarkozy is a bit like Chirac when he was a young prime minister - he was known as the bulldozer and he was known for his energy, his ubiquity and the way he got his own way simply by steamrollering or bulldozing things through, and I think there are aspects of that in Mr Sarkozy. It may or may not be the best way of doing business in France, but I have my doubts in Europe, which requires more continuity. But it has been a style and I suspect that after six months of the next presidency we might be looking forward to the smack of charisma again."

There were tentative suggestions from the French press and indeed Mr Sarkozy himself that there should be a way for him to continue his role, perhaps as leader of the Eurozone countries. This will formally come to nothing, but I bet one of the arguments we hear more of, perhaps today, is that his success and style proves the need for a full-time President of the Council, as proposed in the Lisbon Treaty.

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