Word: europeanizer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Since taking office on May 16, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's pace has wowed almost everyone. At home, he rammed through reform legislation aimed at encouraging work, cutting taxes, fighting crime and clamping down on immigration. Abroad, he helped break the logjam over the European Union's institutional setup, negotiated the freedom of six Bulgarian medics imprisoned in Libya and strengthened Franco-American relations over a vacation lunch with U.S. President George W. Bush...
That paradox is evident in foreign affairs. Sarkozy has declared European issues to be among his main diplomatic priorities, but he has approached them with nationalistic designs. Sarkozy played a central role in getting E.U. leaders to accept a simplified treaty in the place of a new constitution, for example, yet he has continually criticized the European Central Bank - and attacked its president, Jean-Claude Trichet - for not shaping policy to French economic considerations. Similarly, just how good a European was Sarkozy being when he preempted years of effort by Brussels to secure the freedom of Bulgarian medics held...
...stalled economic growth. For all his kinetics, Sarkozy has done nothing to reverse France's trade deficit or halt its growing debt; the small dip in the unemployment rate in recent months has masked the shrinking number of new jobs companies created. Sarkozy sends a terrible message to our European partners by refusing to undertake economic reform at home or to abide by the rules we expect all other euro-zone nations to respect. Sooner or later, Sarkozy will have to tighten the belt or pay heavy consequences...
...driving to the state. Let's have "national champions," such as the giant merger between two utilities, Gaz de France and its rival Suez - essentially a monopoly under government control. Sworn to competition, the E.U. won't like this. But Sarko has already attacked the independence of the European Central Bank, another pillar of the European construction...
...expanding economic influence of the Guard helps explain Washington's reported plan to name them a "specially designated global terrorist" organization. The designation would would enable the Bush Administration to press European corporations and banks to curb business activities in Iran, so as not to run afoul of U.S. banking regulations. Though European allies have been reluctant to accede to Washington's demands for sanctions, the limited measures adopted thus far have, nonetheless, made a dent in the Iranian economy, affecting both imports and domestic manufacturing, according to Iranian businessmen and analysts...