Sarkozy’s plans tempered

French President Nicolas Sarkozy begins a six-month term as leader of the European Union on Tuesday, providing a high-profile platform for a theme that helped him woo French voters just over a year ago - “France back in Europe.”

He spoke those words just hours after winning the French presidency on May 6, 2007.

With France taking over as leader of the 27-nation European Union, Mr. Sarkozy first faces a problematic deja vu as Europe seeks to evolve into a political unit to rival its economic clout.

Earlier this month, Irish voters rejected the latest attempt at political unification by voting down the Lisbon Treaty, just as French and Dutch voters did with a proposed European constitution in 2005.

The Irish veto had not been anticipated when Mr. Sarkozy first spelled out his agenda for the EU presidency.

“By the end of the EU presidency, I would like the EU to have a united immigration policy, a defense policy, an energy policy and an environment policy,” he said.

Instead, the next six months are more likely to involve negotiating and arbitrating delicate compromises than launching dramatic reforms, analysts say.

“There is less in the function [of the EU leader] than meets the eye,” said Justin Vaisse, a senior fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution.

Holding the EU presidency is a task “consisting primarily in organizing and chairing some 4,000 meetings and summits of the 27 countries and tirelessly trying to persuade them to adopt bold common positions on sensitive issues,” Mr. Vaisse recently wrote in a posting on the Brookings Web site, www.brookings.edu.

Sylvie Goulard, president of the pro-EU advocacy group European Movement, called Mr. Sarkozy’s EU leadership a stage in a longer relay race.

The French presidency of the European Union is likely to be eventually evaluated on one main issue: the extent to which the Lisbon Treaty, which originally was to come into force on Jan. 1, 2009, can be saved, Ms. Goulard said.

“France has to move forward with caution to sort out the crisis triggered by the Irish ‘no,’” she said. “We need to have constructive talks with Ireland.”

France also has the duty of enforcing the ambitious “2020 plan” to stop climate change, which was adopted under the German presidency in March 2007.

The plan includes targets for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions to combat global warming, diversification of sources of energy and greater security in energy supplies across Europe.

Another issue that falls into Mr. Sarkozy’s hands is agriculture. He will have to deal with the long-scheduled review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period running to 2013. French farmers are among the most highly subsidized in Europe.

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