It is not quite the “empty chair”, but Nicolas Sarkozy is making very clear that he is unhappy with Gordon Brown’s grand plan. Will the G20 meeting survive the Sarko huff?
The French president told French radio that the “projects” on the table “satisfy neither France or Germany”. He warned that he would “not associate” himself with “false compromises, not dealing with the problems that keep us busy”. His ultimatum is a more stringent crackdown on financial services.
This may be empty grandstanding, some low politics to push up his poll numbers, or an unflattering translation (I haven’t seen the French transcript). But Sarkozy is definitely revelling in being the troublemaker at the “unity” conference. All this from the leader that Brown appeared to be closest to in Europe. What happened to the “entente formidable”?
Here is an alternative translation of his comments from Reuters:
“I will not associate myself with a summit that would end with a communique made of false compromises that would not tackle the issues that concern us.”
“Regulation is at the heart of the debate that we are going to be holding during these hours,” he said.
“As of today, there is no firm agreement in place. The conversation is going forward, there are projects on the table. As things stand at the moment, these projects do not suit France or Germany.”
“The empty chair policy would mark a failure, which would be that of the summit.”
“I do not want to think that we will come to that. I had (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel on the telephone again late last night. We are on exactly the same wavelength. We have and we will carry a European view on values which are those of Europe.”
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
