John Monks's hour
These days it is rare for a trade unionist to find himself on the right side of a political row, let alone two of them. So John Monks, former head of Britain's TUC and now boss of the European Trades Union Confederation (ETUC), has reason to feel pleased with himself. True, Monks is neither polyglot nor what the Italians call a rabble-rousing "piazza" politico. But his grasp of politics—learnt in the smoke-filled rooms of Congress House in Bloomsbury—did not desert him in Europe as he navigated two tricky issues. The most sensitive was the directive to deregulate Europe's massive market in services, a measure which became a symbol of neoliberalism in the 2005 French referendum campaign. After the successful "no" campaign in France had terrified electors with the prospect of an invasion of Polish plumbers, the services directive was prematurely pronounced dead. Its revival provoked some soul-searching on the left: should they try merely to blunt the proposed new law or to drive a stake through its heart? Monks chose the first strategy, targeting the most radical element of the legislation: the "country of origin" principle, which would have allowed companies to operate in member states using the labour laws of their home countries. Behind the scenes Monks worked with Euro MPs on amendments; in public he sponsored a massive demonstration in Strasbourg. By attacking fears of a "race to the bottom" in social and employment standards, Monks found the centre of gravity on the left. And when the country of origin principle was excised from the draft text by MEPs in February, he declared victory. The stance may not have been popular in the EU's new member states, countries which stood to benefit from the country of origin principle. But Monks's credit there was high for other reasons. He has urged the 13 member states that still operate immigration restrictions on workers from the eight ex-communist countries to scrap them. The main effect, he argued, would be to bring workers from the black economy into a regulated labour market. Although most countries—including Germany, France and Austria—are certain to maintain restrictions, Spain and Finland plan to follow the Irish and British example and open up. Meanwhile, Monks's stewardship of the ETUC has been recognised at the European commission; its president, José Manuel Barroso, is said to take him seriously. There has also been private praise from Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner. Whether such endorsement is helpful is another matter.
Barnier is back…
Catapulted from the role of European commissioner to the Quai d'Orsay in 2004, Michel Barnier lasted only a year as French foreign minister. As the man who, while in Brussels, helped to draft the constitution, he paid the political price for the "no" vote in the referendum and was sacked by Chirac to be replaced by Philippe Douste-Blazy, a miscast former heart surgeon. But Barnier is back. In January, Barroso appointed him adviser on the EU's crisis management capacity; he is to prepare a paper on this subject for the June summit. The decision came as a surprise—not least to the EU's foreign policy chef, Javier Solana, who likes to think that crisis management is his area of competence. Never a man to take any potential encroachment on his territory lightly, Solana has been emphasising the issue in all his recent speeches.
…but what of Colonna?
Meanwhile, back at the Quai d'Orsay the question exercising many is the future of Catherine Colonna, France's able Europe minister, so long a feature of Chiracian life. For nine years she served at the side of the president as his press secretary. With more nous than her superior, Douste-Blazy, her influence is considerable. Were prime minister Dominique de Villepin to triumph as candidate of the right-wing UMP in the 2007 presidential elections, Colonna's future would be bright. But were the UMP to plump instead for Nicolas Sarkozy, he could hardly be relied on to reward such a loyal servant of his arch-enemy, Chirac. Indeed, there is speculation that Colonna might be better off with a socialist president. One fonctionnaire with a long memory recalls that there was some surprise when Colonna began working for Chirac as press secretary in 1995, as she had always been assumed to lean to the left. And if you can change sides once, why not twice?
Holding on to Tony
At home Tony Blair may be seen as an increasingly lame duck premier, but from Paris things look different. Despite the scars of the Iraq war and the antipathy between Blair and Chirac, the message is: Tony, please stay as long as possible. The row over the EU budget for 2007-13 now resolved, there is hope that things can be patched up. But it is more a case of holding on to nurse for fear of something worse. As one official put it with understatement: "The deal on the budget was made possible by Blair, who does have a vision of Europe. It is not obvious that Gordon Brown would have done the same." Indeed, the European commission's criticism of Britain's budget deficit seems to have hardened Brown's Euroscepticism. In March, Brown notched up a rare and impressive hat-trick by staying away from his third consecutive meeting of EU finance ministers.
These days it is rare for a trade unionist to find himself on the right side of a political row, let alone two of them. So John Monks, former head of Britain's TUC and now boss of the European Trades Union Confederation (ETUC), has reason to feel pleased with himself. True, Monks is neither polyglot nor what the Italians call a rabble-rousing "piazza" politico. But his grasp of politics—learnt in the smoke-filled rooms of Congress House in Bloomsbury—did not desert him in Europe as he navigated two tricky issues. The most sensitive was the directive to deregulate Europe's massive market in services, a measure which became a symbol of neoliberalism in the 2005 French referendum campaign. After the successful "no" campaign in France had terrified electors with the prospect of an invasion of Polish plumbers, the services directive was prematurely pronounced dead. Its revival provoked some soul-searching on the left: should they try merely to blunt the proposed new law or to drive a stake through its heart? Monks chose the first strategy, targeting the most radical element of the legislation: the "country of origin" principle, which would have allowed companies to operate in member states using the labour laws of their home countries. Behind the scenes Monks worked with Euro MPs on amendments; in public he sponsored a massive demonstration in Strasbourg. By attacking fears of a "race to the bottom" in social and employment standards, Monks found the centre of gravity on the left. And when the country of origin principle was excised from the draft text by MEPs in February, he declared victory. The stance may not have been popular in the EU's new member states, countries which stood to benefit from the country of origin principle. But Monks's credit there was high for other reasons. He has urged the 13 member states that still operate immigration restrictions on workers from the eight ex-communist countries to scrap them. The main effect, he argued, would be to bring workers from the black economy into a regulated labour market. Although most countries—including Germany, France and Austria—are certain to maintain restrictions, Spain and Finland plan to follow the Irish and British example and open up. Meanwhile, Monks's stewardship of the ETUC has been recognised at the European commission; its president, José Manuel Barroso, is said to take him seriously. There has also been private praise from Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner. Whether such endorsement is helpful is another matter.
Barnier is back…
Catapulted from the role of European commissioner to the Quai d'Orsay in 2004, Michel Barnier lasted only a year as French foreign minister. As the man who, while in Brussels, helped to draft the constitution, he paid the political price for the "no" vote in the referendum and was sacked by Chirac to be replaced by Philippe Douste-Blazy, a miscast former heart surgeon. But Barnier is back. In January, Barroso appointed him adviser on the EU's crisis management capacity; he is to prepare a paper on this subject for the June summit. The decision came as a surprise—not least to the EU's foreign policy chef, Javier Solana, who likes to think that crisis management is his area of competence. Never a man to take any potential encroachment on his territory lightly, Solana has been emphasising the issue in all his recent speeches.
…but what of Colonna?
Meanwhile, back at the Quai d'Orsay the question exercising many is the future of Catherine Colonna, France's able Europe minister, so long a feature of Chiracian life. For nine years she served at the side of the president as his press secretary. With more nous than her superior, Douste-Blazy, her influence is considerable. Were prime minister Dominique de Villepin to triumph as candidate of the right-wing UMP in the 2007 presidential elections, Colonna's future would be bright. But were the UMP to plump instead for Nicolas Sarkozy, he could hardly be relied on to reward such a loyal servant of his arch-enemy, Chirac. Indeed, there is speculation that Colonna might be better off with a socialist president. One fonctionnaire with a long memory recalls that there was some surprise when Colonna began working for Chirac as press secretary in 1995, as she had always been assumed to lean to the left. And if you can change sides once, why not twice?
Holding on to Tony
At home Tony Blair may be seen as an increasingly lame duck premier, but from Paris things look different. Despite the scars of the Iraq war and the antipathy between Blair and Chirac, the message is: Tony, please stay as long as possible. The row over the EU budget for 2007-13 now resolved, there is hope that things can be patched up. But it is more a case of holding on to nurse for fear of something worse. As one official put it with understatement: "The deal on the budget was made possible by Blair, who does have a vision of Europe. It is not obvious that Gordon Brown would have done the same." Indeed, the European commission's criticism of Britain's budget deficit seems to have hardened Brown's Euroscepticism. In March, Brown notched up a rare and impressive hat-trick by staying away from his third consecutive meeting of EU finance ministers.
