EU 'in average shape' as France takes over[fr][de] 

The official handover ceremony took place in the Slovenian town of Nova Gorica, where Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel symbolically presented his successor, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, with a relay baton and an EU flag. 

"Today Slovenians hand over the European Union to the French. I have to say that the EU, at the moment when I hand it over to you, is in good shape," Rupel told Kouchner. But the Frenchman retorted: "You say it's in good shape... well, yes, let's rather say it is in average shape." 

Speaking to the French television just ahead of the takeover, Nicolas Sarkozy echoed his foreign minister's sentiment after the Irish 'no' vote to the EU Treaty, saying: "Something isn't right. Something isn't right at all." 

"Europe worries people and, worse than that, I find, little by little our fellow citizens are asking themselves if after all the national level isn't better equipped to protect them than the European level," he explained. 

While calling such thinking a "step backward", he also justified it, saying "there have been errors in the way that Europe has been built". 

He concluded: "We must therefore profoundly change our way of building Europe." 

The French EU Presidency's "first priority" will be "to find a way to contain the problem to the Irish," said Sarkozy, insisting that other EU countries must continue ratifying the treaty. 

"We musn't rush, but at the same time, we don't have much time," he said, recalling that EU leaders had set the June 2009 European parliament elections as the deadline for approval of the Lisbon Treaty. 

But the mood does not look good across the bloc, with announcements from both the Polish and German Presidents yesterday (30 June) that they would not ratify the Treaty as yet. 

More protection

According to Sarkozy, "the European idea will be in danger as long as we don't protect Europeans [...] We must not be afraid of this word - 'protection'," he said. 

"This is what I want to contribute to doing," he said. Among the ideas he is putting forward to help "protect" European citizens is a Europe-wide cut in value-added tax on restaurant bills and oil to help consumers cope with the current explosion in food and energy prices. But his call has received little support from other member states so far. 

During the handover ceremony, Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said: "The European Union that you are to preside over now is a healthy institution. It was created with a view to preventing Europeans from fighting a third world war and laying waste to the old continent. It has done a great job." 

He nevertheless stressed: "The outcome of the Irish referendum was a sign for all of us that we have been unable to sufficiently convey to the population our endeavours regarding a common future; we must take it seriously." 

Speaking to EurActiv, Sylvie Goulard, who presides over the European Movement in France, said those to blame for the current upset "are rather in the national capitals". 

"We had a prime minister who said he had not read the treaty, an Irish European commissioner who said the same. There was a failure by those leaders that were favourable to a 'yes' to give citizens the guarantees they were waiting for on certain issues and to deliver a message of responsibility to the population," she said. 

It would be a "grave error" to ignore the Irish message, she said, as this would give a negative image of Europe – one of "coercion" that does not listen to the opinions of its citizens. 

There has truly been a "divorce between citizens and Europe," said French State Secretary responsbile for EU affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet. "It is not new but has been brought out into the light by the Irish referendum." 

The French Presidency will attempt to simplify the methods used to take decisions at European level – notably within the European Council – to make them more understandable to citizens. It will also look to take concrete, visible measures to reassure its citizens. "Europe must not worry but reassure. She must fight against climate [change], promote acceptable energy tariffs with competitive operators, offer a more secure circulation area, guarantee sanitary and environmental safety...Progress is also necessary in terms of defence. Europe must not be purely economic and commercial," he stressed.