month spell at the European Union's helm has played to his strengths as a pragmatist who thrives in a crisis, consolidating his position as a key player on the global stage. With less than three weeks to go before France hands over the EU's rotating presidency to the Czech Republic, Sarkozy clinched a deal on Friday among the bloc's 27 member states to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020, completing the toughest of the goals he gave himself at the outset. Sarkozy's half-year was dominated by unexpected events such as the war between Russia and Georgia and then the global financial crisis, which he used to strengthen his statesman's credentials and further the causes of the EU and France. “The presidency was globally positive,” said Dominique Moisi, special adviser to foreign policy think-tank IFRI. “Europe gave the impression that it existed on the international level with the crisis in the Caucasus, on the financial level with the Brown plan applied broadly by Sarkozy, and on the economic level with a Keynesian stimulus,” he said. Sarkozy's diplomatic activity has also helped bolster his image at home. His approval ratings have improved significantly since the start of the EU presidency, when voters were disillusioned with his confrontational manner, celebrity lifestyle, and inability to tackle the rising cost of living. Just weeks after he had started his new European job, Sarkozy flew to Russia and Georgia to broker a ceasefire. Russian forces that were approaching the Georgian capital soon turned around and largely withdrew to within Georgia's two pro-Russian separatist regions, over which Moscow and Tbilisi are holding a series of talks that look set to last a long time. Never before had the EU been alone in resolving a major international crisis and the peace deal was the first of several diplomatic triumphs for Sarkozy. But here, as in the crises that followed, his exact legacy remains to be seen. “It is too early to say. We will see in six months, at the end of the Czech presidency, if Sarkozy's presidency was enough to put Europe back on the right track or simply an illusion that lasted a few months and solved no major problems,” Moisi said. Weaknesses As the shockwaves from the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers spread to Europe in the autumn, Sarkozy again turned a crisis into an opportunity, calling the first ever summit of leaders from the 15 countries in the euro zone. France had been pushing before its presidency for such a summit to promote bolder coordinated action but it abandoned the idea in the face of stiff resistance from Germany. At the Paris summit also attended by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose own bank rescue plan formed the backbone of the European package, heads of state and government agreed on coordinated measures to shore up their financial sectors. “It was absolutely critical in stopping an extraordinarily dangerous spiral of market collapse, and from that point of view I think it will remain a historic moment,” said Nicolas Veron, research fellow at think-tank Bruegel. France's outgoing minister for European affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, said: “Nothing will ever be the same again.” A taboo had been broken and euro zone leaders will now meet whenever economic conditions demand, he said. There, too, the lasting impact will not be clear for months at least, but France's failure to convince all its partners, and Germany in particular, of the need for an EU bank rescue fund or a large economic stimulus show there were limits to its success. Sarkozy's directness won him praise in tortuous EU talks but it can border on reckless improvisation, as when he announced his plan for a Mediterranean Union without consulting Germany. The project was set up at a summit in Paris in July but only after it was heavily watered down at an angry Germany's behest. “Sarkozy, in the context of Franco-German relations in any case, is no visionary. He is a pragmatist who thinks from one situation to the next,” said Martin Koopmann, coordinator for European policy at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Sarkozy angered Berlin again last month when he complained that it was not pulling its weight in an EU-wide economic stimulus plan, lamenting publicly that “while France is acting, Germany is thinking”, but Koopmann said the damage was limited. “It (the presidency) went significantly better than was initially feared on the German side,” he said. China was another weak point. Analysts said Sarkozy's inconsistent approach was to blame for Beijing's cancellation of a summit with the EU after he met the Dalai Lama. The question is now how he will handle the loss of his EU mantle and the arrival of US President-elect Barack Obama. “He is no longer the king of the world,” Moisi said.
