French President Nicolas Sarkozy was on Thursday forced to back down from an ambitious plan to launch a Paris-led "Mediterranean Union" linking the EU's southern states in a political club with Turkey and the Maghreb and Middle Eastern countries, including Israel.
Sarkozy had planned to launch the bold new union when France took over the presidency of the EU in July, but climbed down after fierce opposition from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
At an EU summit in Brussels last night, Sarkozy and Merkel jointly proposed a much looser grouping, to be initiated at a summit of EU and Mediterranean countries in Paris in July.
FOOTING THE BILL
Worried that Sarkozy's plan would split the EU, while leaving the wealthier countries of Germany and Scandinavia footing the bill for an exercise in French aggrandizement, Merkel was said to have threatened to boycott the Paris summit unless Sarkozy scaled back his plans.
"She was very firm," EU diplomats said. "They had quite a fight about this."
German sources described the compromise last night as a face saving deal for Sarkozy that gutted the scheme of much of its substance. The new organization would still be called a Mediterranean Union, but bore faint resemblance to the original French blueprint.
PERSONAL CHEMISTRY
The collision over Sarkozy's project was the latest in a series of clashes between Europe's two key leaders. Diplomats say the fundamental problem is one of personal chemistry, with Merkel's self-effacing sobriety jarring with Sarkozy's attention-seeking theatricality.
The Mediterranean Union was conceived by Sarkozy's adviser Henri Guaino, who hoped it would put Paris in a dominating position in the Mediterranean while restoring its leadership credentials. It would have linked the southern countries of the EU with 11 countries in north Africa and the Middle East.
Sarkozy called for "a political, economic, and cultural union of which our children would be proud" in a speech in Tangiers last year.
Britain also opposed the plan, suspecting it was designed to wreck any chance of Turkey joining the EU. Britain is Turkey's biggest supporter in the EU, while Sarkozy is outspokenly opposed to Ankara joining.
SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
Merkel warned Sarkozy that his idea would have divided the EU into traditional spheres of influence. Last night's deal was preceded by 10 days of difficult negotiations between Paris and Berlin.
The result is that all 27 EU countries will be "equally" involved in the new association and that Sarkozy has scrapped planning for a summit of Mediterranean countries in Paris in July.
While backtracking, however, Sarkozy has succeeded in pushing the Mediterranean issue up the EU agenda and establishing new structures and positions to bolster his ideas, diplomats said.
There are to be Mediterranean summits every two years and two co-presidents to head the new union.
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