Brussels diary

How well will the new French president get on with the new British prime minister? The British ambassador to the EU isn't going to hang around to find out
June 29, 2007
Can Sarkozy and Brown be friends?

Ahead of France's presidential elections most British politicians made little secret of their preference for a Sarkozy victory. Sarko was, after all, more reform-minded and better disposed towards Anglo-Saxons than his socialist opponent. Moreover, he has promised not to hold a referendum on any treaty that might rise from the ashes of the European constitution.

But in the cold light of day, the election of Sarkozy seems no more than the better of two evils. One might have thought that, as a former finance minister, Sarko would have bonded with Gordon Brown. In fact, Sarkozy's brief spell as French finance minister coincided with one of the (many) periods during which Brown avoided Ecofin council meetings like the plague. Though the two men have met at other gatherings, there is little to suggest that they will become buddies. More likely, both men will indulge in a race for the affections of Angela Merkel, Germany's very effective chancellor. As interior minister, Sarkozy preferred working with the four other big EU member states to being tied to the Franco-German axis. Nevertheless, he is likely to see a chance to reinvigorate traditional ties with Berlin. And there are two issues on which he has much more in common with Germany than Britain.

First, on the constitution, Sarko's much-trumpeted plan for a mini-treaty envisages a document with much less content than the constitution rejected in 2005—but with a lot more than London favours. Sarko, for example, wants more majority voting, something that is high on the hate list in Whitehall, where the avoidance of a British referendum is seen as essential. A Merkel-Sarkozy agreement on a new treaty would give it real momentum and put Britain in a tricky position at the next EU summit in June.

Second, in the autumn, Paris is likely to block the opening of new chapters—areas of negotiation—in Turkey's bid to join the EU. During his campaign, Sarkozy said clearly that Turkey has no prospect of becoming a full EU member. Though Merkel has behaved as an honest broker towards Ankara during Germany's presidency of the EU, her private opposition to Turkish membership is well known. By contrast, Britain is the leading supporter of Ankara's bid.

Meanwhile, diplomats have begun to ponder how the German chancellor, the newly elected French president and the incoming British prime minister will get along in personal terms. "Merkel's the only sane one of them," says one.

All change for British diplomats

The British ambassador to the EU, John Grant, does not appear keen to experience life under Brown. Grant, who managed complex negotiations over the constitution and the EU's spending plans, is quitting on 23rd June for a senior job with BHP Billiton, a large Australian mining group. He will have to take some time off before doing any lobbying in Brussels, and his departure will leave his post unfilled until the autumn. Anne Lambert, Britain's deputy permanent representative to the EU—who is also looking for a move—will deputise during several important council meetings in July. Used to a relatively free rein under Blair, British diplomats in Brussels are bracing themselves for a bumpy ride as they brush up against the control freakery that proved the hallmark of the Brown-led treasury. Meanwhile, Grant's designated successor Kim Darroch, currently Blair's EU policy adviser, is not keen to leave Downing Street until he has spent a few weeks at the beating heart of the Brown regime. Whether this proves enough to shed his reputation as a Blair loyalist remains to be seen.

Will Wallström woo the media?

It's only a year since Margot Wallström, a commission vice-president, produced a paper on how to improve the EU's media profile that was universally panned. Now she's back with another document and a strengthened team. Her new chef de cabinet is Christian Leffler, a fellow Swede who was deputy chef to Chris Patten when he held the external relations portfolio. Wallström has also brought in a well-regarded Brit, Patrick Costello, an adviser to Josep Borrell, the last president of the European parliament.

Will this revive her fortunes? Most doubt it. "She's supposed to be responsible for presentation and the future of Europe," says one diplomat, "but she hasn't done very much to help Europe out of its problems." Her "plan D for democracy" campaign flopped, and efforts to reinvigorate the commission's representations in member states have not borne fruit. The latest plan would mean creating a joint communications policy and budget for all three European institutions.

One hopes that the new team will at least improve on last year's performance. In 2006, leaks left many journalists with the impression that the commission planned to start its own news agency (an idea Wallström had already been forced to abandon). While the commissioner was trying to defend her policy to other commissioners, journalists who turned up for her set-piece press conference found it had been delayed. Worse, because of last-minute changes the document said different things in the different languages into which it had been translated.