In the big power centres of Europe, there was a sigh of relief on Sunday as Nicolas Sarkozy emerged unscathed from his "cowboy" photo-op in the Carmargue and with a healthy lead in the first round of the presidential elections.

Although Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s socialist prime minister, might hope Segolene Royal wins (to replace his old quasi-socialist chum Jacques Chirac) most of the rest of Europe’s big leaders would have voted for Sarko.

That includes Angela Merkel, German chancellor, Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, and British "socialists" Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, neither of whom have even met their comrade Ms Royal.

Their view is that Sarko is more likely to carry out the internal economic reforms needed to modernise France’s economy - an act which would make the country more self-confident and better able to face the modern world. He would also ratify a mini-EU treaty without a referendum.

On the debit side, Sarko is an old-style Gaullist, an economic meddler and protectionist, more than willing to blame Europe for France’s ills. Like Merkel, but unlike Barroso or Blair and Brown, he opposes Turkish membership of the EU.

But leave aside policy for a minute and imagine what Sarko would be like on a personal level on the European stage. If you think Chirac tried to dominate European summits, wait until you see the little cowboy in action.

When he was France’s finance minister he would hog the limelight, launching endless initiatives and briefing the press on what had happened at Ecofin meetings before the official presidency press conference - a brazen breach of protocol.

As Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, says: "Europe is the antithesis of his approach. He always wants to be acting constantly, getting into details, while Europe lays down rules to constrain the action of national politicians."

Even if Sarko’s policy agenda is one of modernisation, how long before his assertive French Gaullism, taste for the limelight and ill-considered initiatives, start to get on the nerves of his colleagues?

Angela Merkel and Gordon Brown, assumed to be Britain’s next prime minister, apparently instantly formed a rapport, based partly on the fact that they are both the children of sober protestant ministers. Neither is known for their flashy style.

The image of Sarkozy riding high in the saddle of his white steed looked great in the papers, but if it is a portent of a more macho political style to come then Europe could be in for some exciting and bruising times ahead.

April 24th, 2007 in Uncategorised | Permalink