From July 1st and for six months, France will be head of the rotating presidency of the EU, after Slovenia and just before the Czech Republic. There is a €180million budget for this (summits, cocktail parties, travel, conferences, logos, freebies etc) and Sarkozy is determined to make the French presidency count, concentrating on four main themes : energy and the environment, the reform of the common agricultural policy, migration and defense.
Of course poor Sarkozy's responsabilities could not come at a worse time : while hideously unpopular at home and just as the unspeakable Irish voted against the Lisbon treaty, thus guaranteeing that the EU will remain stuck in its usual ruts for the next few years (NB I cannot bring myself to describe my disappointment at the Lisbon treaty being rejected. The bloody Irish of all people!). Anyway Sarko is going to have a tough time as the mood is bleak amongst the Eurofficials and little can be done, at a significant level at least, until the institutions are reformed.
Anyway, at lunchtime I popped to the Gare du Nord to have a rant, parisienne style*, at the Thalys train people about €244 they owe us. Impossible to get near the station, thee cops descended on me, telling me to take a new route. To get to the station I had to go round police lines and crawl up a side street. "What is this for then?" I asked the hot and bothered looking policeman who was busy diverting two bus lanes and six taxis away from the official looking cars that lined the front of the station. "Le sommet euopéen" he said rolling his eyes and shooing away a group of tourists who had wandered across his zone, trying to get to their coach.
European stuff? Hurray! I naturally went behind the metal fence, a first row eurogroupie and got out my mobile phone to set it on 'apparreil photo'. Quite a few other people were there, about seventy I'd say, mainly bodyguards, photographers and passers by with nothing better to do.
There were three large coaches, each with European Commission posted in the window and a dozen or so sleek black cars, complete with little French and European flags flapping at the front. One couldn't help noticing that despite the encouraging noises made by the EU and France about the environment, that all the engines were running or the twenty or so minutes it took the Euro people to arrive (presumably for the air conditioning).
They finally emerged from the station, led by José Manuel Barroso, President of the Commission; a couple of cameramen danced around them. They got in to their relevant cars and coaches. Barroso's car was right in front of me so I waited to catch his eye and gave him a little wave. I am happy to say he smiled cheerfully and waved back! My eurofan soul swooned.
The best bit however was just a ew moments before, when a little couple of Japanese tourists fought to the front, cameras out and chirping happily. As Barroso walked past they cheered "Jean Reno! Jean Reno!!".
* Parisienne style (à la parisienne), a brief definition : see following post.
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