Truth to tell, a United States of Europe makes a whole lot of sense, rather clearly this would entail a loss of power for individuals, but not for the individual nations, problem is this will take perhaps one or even two more generations, but it probably will eventually happen...

wpo, warsaw, n.y.

I hope Europeans have the wherewithall to keep Sarkozy on a tight leash. He's turned trade logic on its head. Make Poverty History was about giving the world's poor the means to work their way out of poverty. Now it's all backwards. The EU is the poor, beleaguered victim of the hungry, predatory masses.
Strangely, Mandelson is actually a lot like Sarkozy. He also wears his saintly victimhood rather comfortably.
Let's get these things into proportion. Take shoes as an example. The EU slapped duties on Chinese shoes after it investigated just 13 shoe factories and found that just one of these (ie fewer than 8%) had received a subsidised loan and that some of the 13 were receiving the exact same tax concessions enjoyed by every foreign company in China. How convincing is that as a claim for victim status?
Compare that with the billions upon billions the EU uses to subsidise its agricultural exports.

Tim Wilson, Shanghai, China

Sarkozy is no different from Blair. He would like to deliver France to big business as soon as he possibly can. The clause on competition was changed to hoodwink the socialists in France. Sarkozy knew that the change in the competition clause would be discovered and changed back to it's original terminology by others, that way he can claim that he tried to protect French interests but was over ruled by other nations.
The idea of EU is to deliver all the European nations to big business and financial interests just as America is run by big business and financial interests.
We are being turned into nations of surfs!

Vincente, Barcelona, Spain

Did anyone seriously expect Teflon Tony to stand firm?
A couple of headline grabbing "Red Lines" and cave in on everything else is simply a continuation of his 10 years of treeachery!

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

I do not trust Sarkosy, he needs watching, why has he been offering blair jobs?

mike, Paphos, Cyprus

It seems that Blair and his team were too focussed on red lines and, as a result, overlooked Sarkozy's canny alteration to one of the corner stones of EU policy. This lack of good judgement is so characteristic of the Blair years that I really can't understand why he should deserve high office elsewhere!

John Hambly, Tbilisi, Georgia

From the events as reported above, are we to understand the following:
1. France tried to dilute the rules and slip this through without anyone noticing;
2. Germany connived at this and neither of them told anyone of the changes;
3. it was left to Hungary and Spain to find the "error";
4. that the next draft of (any?) document is not distributed with the changes highlighted in some way?
Just what sort of games are these people playing - spot the difference?
And they wonder why people vote "No".....
Adrian Cobb
Moscow

Adrian Cobb, Moscow, Russia

A certain cunning evident in the actions of M. Sarkozy - note the way his father enlisted in the Foreign Legion to enter France and then had a Hungarian-born doctor collaborate to declare him unfit to serve (this is stated in the family annals). He should be watched very carefully.

Tony Gold, Bangkok, Thailand

What exactly is going on between Germany and France? The French ask the Germans to make a change, perhaps to help Sarkozy with his domestic issues, but possibly because France wants a different kind of EU. The Germans do it but tell no one else. Why? Surely at the least the printed drafts should highlight changes made, especially changes of significance. And the Germans should have told everyone, not kept the matter quiet. The devious and deceitful way this major change to the draft was slipped in does not augur well for the future of the EU and Mrs Merkel should take care to be less manipulative and more open in future. If I had been a PM and discovered this sort of trickery, frankly I would have walked out. The fact that Blair did not speaks volumes for his personal standards.

Colin , Shrewsbury, UK

I just hope the Europeans have the wherewithall to keep Sarkozy on a tight leash. He's turning trade logic on its head. Make Poverty History was all about giving the world's poor the means to work their way out of poverty. But now it's all backwards. Europe's now the poor, beleaguered victim of the evil, predatory masses.
The strange thing is that Mandelson is a lot like a paler version of Sarkozy. He also wears his saintly victimhood rather well.
Let's get these things back into proportion. As an example, just look at shoes. The EU slapped across-the-board import duties on Chinese shoes after an investigation of just 13 Chinese shoe factories found that just one of the factories (ie fewer than 8%) had received a subsidised loan and that some of the 13 were enjoying the exact same tax concessions given to every foreign company in China. How convincing an argument was that for victim status? Compare that with the billions upon billions the EU uses to subsidise its agricultural exports.

Tim Wilson, Shanghai, China

Good news! But for many reasons, Tony Blair is unfit to be the Permanent President, including that he is not a visionary, thinking creatively and strategically about the European Union. I bet Angela Merkel -- three cheers for "the Queen of Europe"! -- will win the post one day. Tony Blair also didn't force you Brits to decide once and for all whether you are in the European Union or out. One day we Europeans will decide for you Brits -- and expel Britain.

As for your UN Security Council permanent seat and veto, you Brits don't deserve them because of your small population and irresponsible voting record. Britain voted to impose genocide on Bosnia while China abstained. Britain invaded Iraq without permission from the UN Security Council -- in effect, you Brits obsoleted the council. I hope India, population 1.1 billion, takes your seat.

Shirley Jackson, Oliver, BC, Canada

As usual the latest EU agreement has been hatched with the sole intention of avoiding asking the People (who pay for the whole lot of it) what they think, and the leaders are more concerned about how issues can be fudged enough to pretend they are different/the same so as to avoid democratic scrutiny.

Deep down UK politicians of all parties know the UK electorate does not want an EU which is why we have never been asked about whether we want to belong to it, and why they are afraid to ask. The UK joined the Common Market and not the EU. Talk about a democratic deficit.

graham nixey, oxford, uk

Mark my words, after five or ten years in office French will have a different view of President Sarkozy! He will not be looked on as a savior but as a man who facilitated the decline of France as an economic and cultutral power. The man fails to understand the basic principlies of economics. I.e. one cannot build a strong economy without competitiveness and quality. The winds of change is here to stay. Either French change their mentality or lose. French have a lot to learn from us French Canadians and North Americans.

Seldan, California, USA

Sarkozy represents France's best chance in decades to extricate itself from the contraints of the outdated socialist model but at the sametime he has promised more than he can deliver and this sort of behind the scenes manouevering is no surprise. He will need some coaching from his European colleagues while giving the air of not losing any face.

Richard, Paris,

Will this one fly?

ben barr, north wilkesboro, usa/nc