France ends EU presidency

France's presidency has been much criticised

France's presidency of the European Union expires on Sunday, ready for Sweden to take over.

Its six months at the helm culminated in the heads of government conference in Nice, in December, a marathon summit that proved one of the most difficult ever.

However, it did broker a treaty which will pave the way for European expansion and dealt with the thorny issue of sharing power between large and small countries.

Diplomats agree that steering the summit would have been difficult for any country.

But the French presidency managed in turn to annoy its key EU ally, Germany, the union's smaller states and finally the candidate countries too.

Votes

France refused to countenance more votes for Germany in the EU's policy-making Council of Ministers.

Nice saw fighting both inside and outside the conference room

Germany retains the same number of votes as France, Britain and Italy, despite having 20 million more people.

France's leaders also told the small EU states they should have fewer votes in the Council and be ready to give up their representative on the European Commission.

This had the effect of uniting all 10 smaller EU states, against France.

Under the final Nice treaty, each country will retain a commissioner until the number of EU members reaches 27, raising the prospect of a cumbersome executive body.

Angered allies

France also antagonised several candidate countries, most notably Poland and Romania, by proposing they be given fewer votes than the size of their populations would warrant.

It took the intervention of small member states - like Sweden - to ensure the candidates did not fare too badly in the final division of votes.

Diplomats say France's over Nice point to its deep unease about the kind of EU that will emerge after eastern enlargement.

Three main issues

Sweden, which is assuming the rotating EU presidency for the first time since joining the union in 1995, has said it plans to focus on three main issues: the eastern expansion of the EU, new employment guidelines and environmental protection.

It has also promised to strengthen ties between the EU and Russia.

But Sweden will be left out of the biggest issue on the table, the arrival of the euro currency in cash.

Over the next 12 months, the EU must prepare for the release of euro banknotes and coins into circulation on New Year's Day 2002.

Sweden, along with Denmark and Britain, has opted to shun the single European currency for the time being.