Die europäische Vision Ségolène Royals[en][fr] 

Royal, currently ahead in the polls to lead the Socialists for the upcoming Presidential elections, was responding to centre-right rival Nicolas Sarkozy who gave his own vision of Europe in Brussels a month ago (EurActiv 8 Sept. 2006).

"A new method" is needed to pull the EU out of limbo and France out of its "isolation", said Royal at a news conference on Europe staged at the National Assembly on 10 October.

In a 40-minute speech , the Socialist frontrunner for 2007 hit out at "governments who use Europe as a scapegoat for policies they refuse to be accountable for". Her remarks bring to mind the Bolkestein directive, which was hastily withdrawn and reworded at the request of Jacques Chirac after French voters rejected the EU Constitution in 2005.

Royal rejected Sarkozy's idea of a "Mini-Treaty" that would pull out the essential elements of the Constitution, saying that this would not be understood by the French people. Instead, she proposed to give more time for debate, and suggested that another Convention be convened to draft a new Treaty under the French Presidency in the second half of 2008.

On Turkey's EU membership bid, Royal followed the line of President Chirac and rival Nicolas Sarkozy, saying that she would follow the opinion of French voters in a referendum to be held prior to accession.

Royal highlighted a seven-point programme if she is chosen to represent the Socialists in an internal ballot to be held in November. Her seven-point proposals for Europe are:

• A Europe of peace
• • Restart aid to the Palestinian Authority;
  • international peace conference on the Middle East;
  • improve judicial cooperation on terrorism and creation of a European prosecutors' office
• Renewable energies
• • Putting in place fiscal incentives for renewables and energy savings
• Research and innovation
• • Take out investments on innovation and research from the stability and growth pact and raise expenses in R&D
• Environment and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
• • Redirect the CAP;
  • move CAP management to regional level
• Clean transportation
• • Putting in place a specific financing mechanism for trans-European transportation networks
• Workers' protection 
• • On delocalisation: withdrawing EU aid to companies that move from one European country to another; at national level, forcing companies to reimburse public funds when moving outside the EU; promote social and environmental criteria at WTO level;
  • putting in place minimum social criteria at European level together with a timetable for their adoption
• Youth policy
• • Provide the opportunity to study in another European country for all young people (student, apprentice, …)