Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

The French take over the rolling six-month presidency of the European Union today, and the Eiffel Tower has been lit up to mark the occasion.

The French presidency has so many "priorities" that it almost seems indecent: new proposals on defence, immigration, energy, the environment and agriculture among them.

It rather reminds me of when David Miliband first became UK foreign secretary and found that the Foreign Office had something like 14 priorities. He rightly remarked that if there were 14 of them they couldn't be priorities.

The priorities of a new presidency rarely seem to have much to do with what they actually achieve during their time in the hot seat.

Of course President Sarkozy's real priority will be dealing with the aftermath of the Irish No.

But just as high on his list seems to be undermining the . Following his remark at the recent summit he has now called a special foreign ministers' meeting on 18 July. Mr Mandelson will have to report to that meeting and the old deep divide between protectionists and free traders will be on display. Mr Mandelson may boast of "broad shoulders and a thick skin", but this hardly rings true to those who know him. But even a politician less sensitive to criticism might be rather cross that in the middle of delicate negotiations a key player is rubbishing his agreed approach.

Now an apology: 1OUTAT27 is quite right to point out a mistake in "Irish no under scrutiny": I misread a table and wrote that 52% voted No because they didn't understand the treaty. It was in fact 22%. The 52% refers to the number of those who DIDN'T vote, and their reason. Sorry.

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