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Sarkozy blames Mandelson for Irish 'No' vote in EU summit outburst
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by Amy Judd | June 21, 2008 at 02:22 pm
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Nicolas Sarkozy has blamed the Irish voting 'no' in the EU treaty vote on Peter Mandelson, the current British Commissioner of the European Union for Trade. Sarkozy also blamed the world's starving children on him.
These accusastions actually made Gordon Brown support Mr. Mandelson, something that has not happened before between these two men.
EU leaders stayed up late arguing over how much pressure to put on Dublin to vote again, amid fears that the constitutional project could collapse.
Asked who should take responsibility for the outpouring of public hostility to the EU in Ireland, Mr Sarkozy said just one word: 'Mandelson'.
It was meant as a joke, but the French president has clashed repeatedly with the Labour spindoctor turned EU trade commissioner who is a figure of hate in France and Ireland for his tough talk against food subsidies during world trade negotiations.
Mr Sarkozy said issues which fuelled Irish concerns included euthanasia, abortion and the world trade talks - adding bluntly: 'A child dies of starvation every 30 seconds and the Commission wanted to reduce European agriculture production by 21 per cent during World Trade Organisation talks.
'This was really counterproductive.'
The EU is still reeling from last week's referendum, when the Irish voted by 54pc against the Lisbon Treaty, which was agreed last year to replace the proposed constitution.
Without the approval of all 27 member states it cannot go ahead next year as planned, prompting Brussels and EU superpowers France and Germany to try to force Ireland to think again.
Warm words in public about giving Ireland 'time and space' to consider its position could not disguise bitterness behind the scenes after it emerged that Mr Sarkozy had branded the Irish 'bloody fools'.
The French president, who takes over the EU presidency next month, threatened to prevent new countries - notably Croatia - from joining if Ireland refuses to come on board.
Mr Brown said Ireland should not be 'bullied' into a second referendum but has been reluctant to declare the Lisbon Treaty dead.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 15:04 on June 21st, 2008
The report is fairly accurate and I can assure that the gentleman in question is certainly very much disliked by Irish farmers. The belief here is that the British Government is willing to ignore the interest of EU farmers (including their own) in their attempt to further a narrow British agenda. They claim that Mandelson has gone his brief during the WTO talks.
Around 10,000 Irish farmers marched in Dublin in April against Mandelson's plans to cut import tariffs on beef, dairy and other farm products as part of the EU's offer at the WTO.
The leaders of Irish farming groups dropped their threat to call for a 'no' against the Lisbon Treaty before last week's referendum after the Irish government promised it would not accept a WTO deal that was against Ireland's interests.
Here is a quote from the IFA site
"Speaking at the opening of Farmfest ’08 in Athenry today, IFA President Padraig Walshe welcomed President Sarkozy’s blunt rebuttal of Peter Mandelson’s negotiating tactics on behalf of the European Union.
He said the French President was also correct in pinpointing the damage that Commissioner Mandelson had done to farmer opinion in the run-up to the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
Today’s statement from President Sarkozy proved the IFA’s demand for the veto was the correct strategy. If Mandelson had not been reined in, then he would have sold out European agriculture and food production for no gain other than to enhance his political reputation."
at 16:27 on June 21st, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.