Send page Print

Democracy promotion / Comment

Sarkozy's foreign policy: where do European interests and values stand?

12/02/2008 By José Ignacio Torreblanca

France’s long-awaited, albeit abrupt, return to the European and international scene is two-sided: on the one hand, it is positively beneficial, and should not only be welcomed by all European partners, but also harnessed to the maximum in order to promote the European project; on the other, it is quite problematic, and will undoubtedly raise (in fact, it already has) considerable tensions that should not be ignored.

These stress points originate primarily in the lack of attention to European interests (and, in tandem, to member states’ interests), but also emanate from that marginal place where the principles and values relating to democracy and human rights seem to have been relegated.

As Pierre Hassner points out, we are seeing a systematic effort to completely rethink the bases of the last fifty years of French foreign policy – probably an attempt to once and for all reinterpret and adapt Gaullism to the 21st century.

France's return is a fact, but there are two questions whose answers remain unclear: First, which France is returning? And, second, how will Europe react? That is, what kind of synergy or friction can be expected, and how should it be faced? This Comment from FRIDE aims at an initial approach to these questions – if not to provide answers, at the very least to sketch an outline for debate about these issues.

Download the full version of this publication, available in English (60 kB)
Spanish (65 kB)

Keywords

EU EU Foreign Policy Europe France Mediterranean Dialogue

Related publications

• Sarkozy's clean slate: a new French commitment to democracy and human rights?

Bio author: José Ignacio Torreblanca

José Ignacio Torreblanca joined the European Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Madrid Office in September 2007.