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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned Europe against
falling into institutional paralysis in the wake of Ireland's
rejection of the Lisbon treaty and said he hopes to propose
a solution to the situation before the end of this year.
In a passionate speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg
last week, Mr Sarkozy said that nothing was worse for him
than "immobility" and stressed the EU should not let itself
be paralysed because of yet another "institutional psycho-drama".
"Europe has a duty to act now. We are not condemned to inaction"
- the French president said - adding that this would be the
main message of his country's EU presidency. He said that
he would go to Ireland on 21 July "to listen and talk and
try to find solutions".
"The French presidency is going to propose a method and I
hope for a solution in the month of October or in December"
- he told MEPs.
Irish voters rejected the EU's Lisbon treaty on 12 June.
While the document has been approved by parliaments in 20
other member states so far, it must be ratified by all 27
to enter into force. Mr Sarkozy said he did not want to put
pressure on "our Irish friends" - but said that, at the same
time, it must be clear whether the European Parliament elections
next June will be based on the current Nice Treaty or the
Lisbon Treaty. "We have [still] a little time, but not a lot"
- the president said, reiterating that negotiating a new treaty
is not an option.
The ambitious agenda of the French EU presidency - which
started on 1 July and will continue until the end of the year
- will not be affected by this "institutional problem" - Mr
Sarkozy said. Paris' "absolute priority" in the next six months
will be tackling climate change - notably by pushing for the
adoption of legislative proposals on how to reduce CO2
emissions by 20 percent by 2020 - a goal agreed by EU leaders
last year.
Harmonising the 27 member states' immigration policies and
strengthening the bloc's defence capacity are the other main
policy areas outlined by the president.
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