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 On 1 July, France will take over the EU's rotating presidency from Slovenia, at a crucially difficult time in the history of the EU following the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish referendum of June 12. President Nicolas Sarkozy has outlined four key priorities for the French presidency: immigration, defence, energy and the environment and agriculture - policies which France's Permanent Representative to the Union has insisted will not be derailed.
On immigration, France wants a new, tougher European immigration and asylum policy, reflecting Sarkozy's call for a "chosen immigration" centred on economic needs. France hopes to obtain a commitment from all Member States to ban blanket amnesties. On defence, France intends to review the European security strategy drafted in 2003 and take action to boost EU military capacity. Sarkozy supports proposals to create a 60,000-strong European force that could be deployed over a year in any combat theatre, and to set up an EU military headquarters in Brussels. Any such strengthening of EU defence policy is difficult to envisage without the Lisbon Treaty. On energy and the environment, France hopes to spearhead a new agreement on climate change ahead of the global conference in Copenhagen next year, but the details of this are still to be decided. On agriculture, France intends to push forward with the "Health Check" reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but according to Pierre Sellal, France's Permanent Representative to the EU, the French approach may involve changes to the Commission's proposals. "Our aim is to adopt the necessary measures - not exactly in line with the Commission perhaps," he said. He commented that the current food crisis put a new obligation on Europe over farming policy and that France aimed to increase agricultural production. Sources: |
