Sarkozy to set out new French vision for EU

French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Brussels on Thursday for meetings with senior EU officials – several months after his chief rival.

Ségolène Royal, who is hoping to become the leading centre-left candidate in next year’s race to replace Jacques Chirac, has been a frequent visitor to the EU capital in recent months, mainly in her capacity as head of the Poitou Charentes regional government.

She has been garnering support among MEPs and commissioners for a campaign to persuade the French national government to allow the regional authorities greater control over EU funds.

Sarkozy, who as France’s interior minister is also responsible for regional planning, backs the current, centralised system.

Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt will be Sarkozy’s first point of call in Brussels on Thursday night, which will end with dinner with European commission president José Manuel Barroso.

On Friday he will meet Hans-Gert Pöttering, leader of the centre-right MEPs in the European parliament, as well as justice commissioner Franco Frattini.

He will end his trip with a speech on his vision for the future of Europe at a meeting organised by Friends of Europe, but questions are already being raised about his commitment to further EU integration.

Should he take over from Chirac in May next year, Sarkozy would have little more than a year in office before taking over the EU presidency in July 2008, during which time he would have to handle such sensitive issues as a review of EU budget spending and the EU constitution.

The French centre-right’s insistence on a referendum on Turkish EU membership, the continued distrust of the EU following the rejection of the constitution last year and the threat of a reduction in lucrative subsidies for France’s farmers are all likely to test Sarkozy’s mettle as president, if he is elected.

Sarkozy’s presidential aspirations have taken a knock this week following the furore surrounding his recent endorsement by controversial French rap star Doc Gyneco.

The interior minister is under fire for his uncompromising stance on immigration and had hoped that backing from the rapper – himself a product of France’s banlieus, suburban housing estates where many of the poorest immigrant families live – would help his standing among young voters. 

But Doc Gyneco’s appearance at a meeting of young centre-right voters,a t which Sarkozy was speaking last weekend, appears to have backfired.

Many critics are questioning the appropriateness of Sarkozy’s links with a rapper whose lyrics praise police killers, racial hatred and discrimination against women at a time when racial tension in France is running very high.

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