France votes: Europe intrudes

Whatever next? Politicians talking about Europe during an election campaign, and not just in a eurosceptic bidding war, but arguing about European policies. In previous French elections, Europe and all its works were castigated by the LePen family, and by sundry hard left candidates, but the mainstream skirted around the inconvenient subject. But what is happening now, in France, is that European questions have become some of the key fault lines in the campaigns of the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy and the socialist challenger, Francois Hollande.

At first, the President played defence- the generally successful French Presidency of 2008, Merkhozy and the ‘saving’ of the euro, illustrated by the joint television interview with the German chancellor, who made clear her support for her ideological soulmate. Then Hollande comes to the attack, calling for the renegotiation of the fiscal pact of the 25 signatory member states, to make it less draconian, more accountable and balanced with measures to promote jobs and growth.

In turn, this led to feigned shock and outrage in the Sarkozy camp- calling into question an agreed Treaty, albeit one that has yet to be ratified. To jaundiced British eyes, the word ‘renegotiation’ has unhappy associations with the Wilson/Callaghan exercise of 1974 which was little more than an elaborate charade to maintain some semblance of unity in the Labour Party. Nonetheless the perceived affront to ‘Brussels’ by the challenger led, according to German media, to a diplomatic riposte from the other centre-right governments. Mr Hollande would not be received by conservative heads of EU governments during the campaign.