French EU Presidency

Today, Greens/EFA Co-president Daniel Cohn-Bendit commented on Nicolas Sarkozy's conclusions on the French Presidency of the EU, presented in the European parliament plenary session in Strasbourg:

"The French presidency is a weathervane that faces the right way one moment and a false direction the next. Nicolas Sarkozy was right when he told the European parliament in July last year that unanimity kills democracy, but today he was wrong to try and justify requiring unanimous agreement of member states for the climate package...

...The compromise on the table is one weakened by national selfishness. The triple 20% climate targets have been diluted to legitimise a 4X4 economy.

"The EU democratic process should allow the European Parliament to consider, react and then negotiate but the climate package was managed by blackmail. The Commission has been a lapdog secretariat for the Council over the last 6 months. Sarkozy should not expect the European Parliament to be the same, when its role is to act in the interest of Europe as a whole.

"When we needed more pressure on human rights before the Olympics, Nicolas Sarkozy told the European Parliament not to humiliate the Chinese. In the end, the Chinese humiliated him. Meanwhile the EU does nothing against Chinese authorities torturing or imprisoning its dissidents, and nothing against a Russian government that arrests peaceful protestors calling for social justice. I am proud at least that tomorrow the European Parliament will award the Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia, a Chinese dissident."

Press Service of the Greens/EFA Group
in the European Parliament

Chris Coakley,
Press Officer,
The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament
Tel: Brussels +32 2 2841667 / Strasburg +33 3 88174375
Mobile: +32-477-44-38-42
Fax: 0032 2 2844944
email: ccoakley@europarl.europa.eu