Oh, I’m already feeling the love of Sarkozy’s pro-American policies

George Parker and Adam Jones explain in the Financial Times why my post title is drenched in sarcasm: Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, warned the world on Wednesday night that he expected Europe to take a much tougher stance in global trade talks and would not allow his country?s farmers to be sold ?at the lowest ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

George Parker and Adam Jones explain in the Financial Times why my post title is drenched in sarcasm: Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, warned the world on Wednesday night that he expected Europe to take a much tougher stance in global trade talks and would not allow his country?s farmers to be sold ?at the lowest possible price?. Mr Sarkozy, on his first presidential visit to Brussels, called on Europe to ?protect? its citizens, buying them time to adapt to the pressures of globalisation. His comments suggest he will pursue an assertive French agenda in Europe that could put him in conflict with free traders including Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and Gordon Brown, incoming UK prime minister. Mr Sarkozy?s passionate defence of French farmers will concern Europe?s trade partners who hoped he might be more flexible in his approach to cutting EU farm tariffs than Jacques Chirac, his predecessor. The French president has previously criticised the European Commission for offering too many concessions on agriculture during world trade talks. On Wednesday night he said: ?It is goodbye to naivety.? He said he would not allow cuts to support for European farmers while their US counterparts benefited from the same policies, adding: ?I?m not going to sell agriculture to get a better opening for services.?

George Parker and Adam Jones explain in the Financial Times why my post title is drenched in sarcasm:

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, warned the world on Wednesday night that he expected Europe to take a much tougher stance in global trade talks and would not allow his country?s farmers to be sold ?at the lowest possible price?. Mr Sarkozy, on his first presidential visit to Brussels, called on Europe to ?protect? its citizens, buying them time to adapt to the pressures of globalisation. His comments suggest he will pursue an assertive French agenda in Europe that could put him in conflict with free traders including Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and Gordon Brown, incoming UK prime minister. Mr Sarkozy?s passionate defence of French farmers will concern Europe?s trade partners who hoped he might be more flexible in his approach to cutting EU farm tariffs than Jacques Chirac, his predecessor. The French president has previously criticised the European Commission for offering too many concessions on agriculture during world trade talks. On Wednesday night he said: ?It is goodbye to naivety.? He said he would not allow cuts to support for European farmers while their US counterparts benefited from the same policies, adding: ?I?m not going to sell agriculture to get a better opening for services.?

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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