Conservative frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy brings the campaign for next year's French presidential election to Brussels on Thursday, seeking to establish his credentials on the divisive issue of Europe, according to Reuters. It is the first time a presidential contender has chosen to come to the headquarters of the European Union, often treated as a scapegoat for unpopular free market economic policies in French domestic politics. But Brussels has become a compulsory stop in the campaign marathon since French voters stunned Europe last year by rejecting the 25-nation bloc's draft constitution. Sarkozy's prospective Socialist rival, Segolene Royal, will visit the Belgian capital on Sept. 13. Each is due to meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, whose aides say he is being careful to avoid any hint of an endorsement, although he comes from the same centre-right political family as Sarkozy. "France is an indispensable country for building Europe and it is a good sign that its political leaders are engaging in the European debate," Barroso's spokesman, Johannes Laitenberger, said with studied neutrality. Sarkozy, France's interior minister, will also meet Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini and set out his vision of the EU's future in a speech to pro-integration think-tanks Friends of Europe and the Robert Schuman Foundation on Friday. Both Sarkozy and Royal campaigned for a "Yes" vote in last year's constitutional referendum but they appear to have divergent views of the EU's future. Sarkozy has tended to favour an informal directorate of the biggest EU member states and irked smaller countries by holding regular meetings of Europe's big six interior ministers on issues such as terrorism and migration. Royal's European views, to the extent that they are known, seem to be more traditionally integrationist with a strong emphasis on campaigning for common labour standards. But with the Socialist Party deeply divided between supporters and opponents of the constitution, she has prudently chosen not to give a speech in Brussels.
