EU-Digest: European Unity the big winner at EU Summit: Kudos to Merkel and Sarkozy for a job well done

Merkel and Sarkozy, Europe's political dream team working hard at Summit

An EU-Digest special news update on the EU Summit

European Unity the big winner at EU Summit: Kudos to Merkel and Sarkozy for a job well done

French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Mrs. Angela Merkel emerged the top negotiators of the EU summit and deserve lots of praise. When pressure needed to be applied on the Poland’s recalcitrant Kaczynski twins, it was Mr. Sarkozy who took charge, personally telephoning Warsaw and even offering to travel to the Polish parliament, the Diet, to explain the new treaty.

All the constitution’s main elements, in particular the permanent EU president and its foreign minister now renamed a “high representative” - have been resurrected. The new EU foreign policy Czar to be called High Representative for European Union Foreign and Security Policy, will chair meetings of EU foreign ministers as well as becoming a vice-president of the European commission. There will also be a universally elected President of the EU. The final deal is consistent with the history of the EU. Europe took another federalist step forward, with governments for the common good giving up some of their sovereignty. The driving force of the EU, the French-German axis, remains not only intact but also very effective, with Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy now at the helm. An impressive first time performance for Mr. Sarkozy at an EU Summit, and another demonstration of Mrs. Merkels's unique negotiating skills.