French President’s Vision for EU Treaty Represents a Failing Europe of Regressive Protectionism and Market-Meddling

President Sarkozy’s recently accepted move in the EU Treaty negotiations towards removing the proposal for the single market "where competition is free and undistorted" demonstrates the scale of tragedy that the European Union is prepared to endure, to have its “Reform Treaty”.

It has been reported that the French President’s request for anti-competition rules in the Treaty – despite the key feature of the European Union being its free competition policy for the internal market – has been met with consensus at the EU Summit. It represents nothing short of a vision of a failing Europe characterised by regressive protectionist economic policy, the backing of a socialist legal charter of “fundamental” rights and state efforts to save and create jobs through market-meddling.


Jim McConalogue, Editor of The European Journal said
“This is an outrage. What EU official could have accepted such a deal? And how could a President with responsibility for an entire nation give up the rules of free competition because he thinks that good old-fashioned protectionism is the best way of saving jobs in France? The UK government should, at the very least, be vetoing all proposals – and at the very most, getting on the 5pm Eurostar back to Waterloo.”


Bill Cash MP, Chairman of the European Foundation, said:
“This is an astonishing proposal. Of course, the French President has already promised to restrict free competition. Sarkozy has made clear during his election campaign that he would resort to protectionism. The EU is in big enough trouble already – look at the failed Lisbon agenda. What Europe should be doing is reinforcing free trade globally and rejecting this proposal. If the EU Member States agree with Sarkozy on removing the proposal, then the future for the EU is bleak indeed.”