Nicolas Sarkozy

Striking a French euro tinderbox

Either Sarkozy or Hollande will win France’s presidential elections, but the project of European cooperation and integration will surely lose. And the political uncertainty dominating the coming months will exacerbate the euro crisis. [...]

Why Merkozy is destined to fail

Whoever believed that the never-ending eurozone crisis had been solved during the holiday break would have been surprised by the difficult French bond auction last week, Italian yields once again shooting above the crucial 7 per cent mark, and renewed speculation about a Greek default. [...]

Merkozy’s palliative care pact

If newspaper reports over the weekend are to be believed, German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy are preparing a new eurozone stability treaty. Such news would almost be funny were it not for the seriousness of the euro crisis. [...]

Sarkozy’s Ides of March

For months, the French republic has been shaken by growing resistance to president Nicolas Sarkozy and his plan to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62 years. Whether the new pension system is eventually implemented or not, the tumultuous scenes in the streets of Paris, Marseille and other big cities leave only one conclusion: France is an unreformable country. [...]

Europe’s not-so common market

Despite repeated calls for greater unity, the European common market still does not work properly. Instead of opening their borders to the free movement of people, products, services and capital as required under various treaties, member states are still being caught in covert and sometimes open protectionism. This undermines their credibility about the future of the currency, too. [...]