Phew - The Brief Sarkozy Visit
What is interesting is the timelines. It is something we are busy denying the existence of, but as has pointed out elsewhere, Sarkozy and the EU are readily implementing a number of ‘time horizons’ which are being looked at to resolve Lisbon. Either by EU Parliament elections in June next year or the Autumnal renewal of the Commission - oh what fun that will be - we will need to know the rules of the game. Nice II or Lisbon? That is the question we are being looked at to answer.
What was interesting in the flurry of handshakes, interpreters, blacked-out windows, Patricia McKenna, Coir and meetings was the lines coming from opposition. Any fracturing in the political consensus on Lisbon may well be terminal to any second vote, for such a splintering would ultimately legitimise the sort of European discourse where scepticism sits alongside pro-Europeanism. That fracturing could be successfully used for electoral purposes however, no doubt about it. So telling Sarkozy that we cannot simply rerun Lisbon, or ignore the important groups with EU problems, marks a brinksmanship which will drive government mad.
But I digress, for in his visit M. Sarkozy is the centre of attention at all times. Flying in and out he got his information and - most likely - shared his mind where he felt he needed to. Did he save Europe? (Again) Not tonight Maureen. His windows of opportunity - which would be delivered irrespective of the country at the head of Europe, will shape our political discourse for the next six months. Whether this yields the desired result is the big question.
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