France's lonely EU presidency

The daily Eesti päevaleht criticises French President Nicolas Sarkozy for using his EU presidency to further above all his own interests, for example in the area of agricultural policy: "France is itself one of the main recipients of farming subsidies and therefore unwilling to liberalise agricultural policy. Although the EU president is basically supposed to act as a neutral mediator in all issues and seek compromises, the Paris authorities have broken with this course. But why? Normally an EU Council President seeks allies to support his stance and represent him to the rest of the world. But now it is becoming clear that France quite simply has no allies in a position or willing to show understanding for its viewpoint. And what does such a lonely president mean for Estonia, which has always defended liberalisation and the market economy? Particularly on the issues of energy and climate policy, a wayward France could unexpectedly turn into an ally."

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