Nicolas Sarkozy Calls For Anglo-French Brotherhood

By Francis Elliott and Greg Hurst
The Times, March 27, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

The Nicolas Sarkozy lavished praise on the courage and dynamism of the British people yesterday but urged them to play a fuller part in Europe.

The French President made an impassioned plea that Britain and France "write a new page in our common history" as he addressed both Houses of Parliament. Calling for greater cooperation over the issues of energy, immigration, security and defence he called for a new Franco-British "brotherhood" to drive through reform.

His most powerful rhetoric was used to express gratitude for Britain's help for a free France. President Sarkozy insisted France would "never forget" and was not "entitled to forget" the sacrifice the British had made during the Second World War.

President Sarkozy said that while he knew Europe was a sensitive issue the Continent but "if we want to change Europe, we need you inside Europe to help us do so, not standing on the outside."

Gordon Brown will discuss a joint energy initiative with President Sarkozy under which British and French nuclear industry regulators would work more closely together. France has a much bigger nuclear energy sector, while Britain is seeking private sector bids to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.
 

The British tabloids had a field day with this photo of Carla

"Un idéal humain"

By Simon Hoggart
The Guardian, March 27, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

Nicolas Sarkozy could not thank us enough. "France will never forget because it has no right to forget!"

The setting for this gush of gratitude was the Royal Gallery in the Lords. And we had the vast battle pictures on either side of the room - Waterloo and Trafalgar.

Carla entered, cool, calm and poised, as if nude pictures in the tabloids hadn't greeted her arrival on our shores. She sat at the back of the stage and her audience seemed transfixed.

For her husband, the thanks for the war were mere throat clearing. He also loves our parliament. He loves the whole country. Over the years our nation had become "aux yeux de beaucoup d'hommes, un idéal humain et un idéal politique". It wasn't just him - the whole world thought we were brilliant!
 

Nicolas Sarkozy's Speech to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster

March 26, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

Madame Speaker of the House of Lords, Mr Speaker of the House of Commons, Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, members of parliament.

For the president of the French Republic, it is an exceptional honour to address members of both houses of the British parliament.

It is indeed here, within these walls, that modern political life was born. ... This parliament has become what it is through the fight for the protection of essential individual freedoms and the principle of the consent to taxation. ... It is here that parliamentarians have gradually developed what is a party, an electoral programme and finally a majority.

It is through these institutions that the United Kingdom's greatness has emerged. ... The strength of the British people has always been that of a free people who take their own decisions and are ready for the greatest sacrifices to defend their freedom.

How many invincible armadas has your nation defeated? How many battles has it won which everyone thought lost? Your nation has succeeded in taking up so many challenges which seemed out of reach precisely because it quite simply was convinced that its cause was right, because it had faith in itself, in its values, because in all circumstances it has demonstrated an unfailing determination and courage. In this respect, the Battle of Britain was a magnificent achievement.

In the hearts and minds, even of those who fought against it, your nation has stood out through its respect of the Other, its tolerance, its way of life, its freedom of spirit which has been forged throughout a long history full of sound and fury. ...

Our two countries' destinies have been closely intertwined for nearly 1,000 years. Since William the Conqueror set off from Normandy to seize hold of the throne of Edward the Confessor, to the reverse journey made by hundreds of thousands of young Britons to participate in the liberation of Europe, our destinies have constantly intersected. ...

Our nations fought one another for a long time, until the day they understood that what brought them together was more important than what divided them, that they had interests to defend and, even more important still, common values to defend together.

This alliance had a name: the entente cordiale. ...

As the last century's wars have shown: like two brothers, what the French people and the British people can accomplish together is far greater than what they can achieve separately.

This brotherhood has gradually grown stronger as France and the United Kingdom have let their similarities take precedence over their differences. ...

France and the United Kingdom have never been so close, had such close ties with each other. ...

Perhaps what we most admire is this ability your country has always had to change to embrace and often steal a march on world progress, while remaining true to itself. ...

The United Kingdom has shown that in the global economy, there was a path to achieve strong growth, full employment and solidarity. This path is that of reforms to restore the value of effort, encourage innovation, the spirit of enterprise and sense of personal responsibility. ...

I say yes both to globalisation and to protection for the workers, yes both to free trade and to defending European interests, yes both to the market and to a judicious policy to help strategic sectors, and yes, finally, both to the single European market and to common policies. ...

On behalf of the French people, I have come to invite the British people to write with us a new page of our common history, that of a new Franco-British brotherhood. A brotherhood for the twenty-first century.

What France wants is simple: ever more harmony, ever more cooperation and ever more solidarity.

Let's discuss together, decide together, and act together. Everything justifies it: our common status as permanent members of the security council, our responsibilities as nuclear powers, the influence we each exert in a part of the world, our common membership of the European Union and our passionate commitment to democracy and freedom.

Our countries have comparable influence and strengths. France and the United Kingdom have the same population size, a virtually identical GNP and the same defence priorities. ... In short, our two countries can, if they so wish, perfectly complement each other.

To forestall the danger of the clash of civilisations, the world needs our two old nations who are aware of the depth of history and know the importance of the long term when it comes to understanding the feelings of the peoples. ...

The European Union is our common achievement, one of peace, prosperity and democracy. ...

No one will ever forget that the first great voice which rose up after the war to call on Europe's peoples to unite was that of the statesman who had alone embodied the passionate resistance of the British nation. No one will ever forget that the name of Europe's first father was Winston Churchill. ...

The European Union is our nations' most remarkable achievement of the past half century. Europe ... has become a model of peace and cooperation. Europe ... is now one of the most prosperous and dynamic regions of the world. ...

The United Kingdom wants a Europe setting the example in the fight against climate change and in environmental protection. France wants this too. We know that this is the most essential objective, the most serious challenge confronting mankind. ...

The United Kingdom wants a Europe which is capable of controlling immigration. France wants this too. It would be totally illusory to believe that we can still have 27 national immigration policies in the era of the great European market. ...

The United Kingdom wants the agricultural policy to be reformed. France is ready for this. We will see the first stage in the reform between now and the end of the year. ...

France and the United Kingdom are together confronting the threats against peace and international security. Our armed forces are engaged together in the Balkans and Afghanistan. In Europe, our two countries have an irreplaceable role: France and the United Kingdom account for two thirds of the defence spending of our 25 European partners ...

This new Franco-British brotherhood which I am calling for is essential in a Europe that is taking action.

Of course, for we French, Franco-German friendship is one of the cornerstones of European reconciliation. I am convinced that in today's Europe the Franco-German engine is still essential. But it is no longer enough to enable Europe to act and bring its full weight to bear. ...

Our two countries have an important place in the institutions that emerged after World War II: the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. These institutions must be reformed to make them fairer, stronger and more legitimate. ... I subscribe to everything my friend, Gordon Brown, said in the visionary speech he gave in New Delhi.

Together, our two countries are determined to remain engaged, side-by-side, with all our allies in Afghanistan where a vital struggle is being played out. ...

Together, our two countries can make a major contribution to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. ...

Together, our two countries are determined, with the whole international community, to put a stop to Iran's nuclear ambitions. ...

Together, our two countries are resolved to do everything possible to end the tragedy in Darfur. ...

France and the United Kingdom are more closely linked today than they have ever been. ...

More than ever, the time has come, I believe, for the French and British peoples to carry out a profoundly political act: to put behind us our old rivalries so as to build a future in which we will be stronger because we are together. ...

Long live Franco-British friendship!

Long live the United Kingdom!

Vive la France!
 

Carla sits in Parliament listening raptly to her husband
 

A personal view

Stephen Glover
Daily Mail, March 26, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

Mr Sarkozy, despite his brief and unpopular stint as President, is accorded the rare privilege for a foreign leader of addressing both Houses of Parliament.

Carla Bruni, his recently acquired wife and a former model, is of course a joy to behold. But we should not allow an infatuation with Ms Bruni - who, by the by, is not even French, but Italian - to dictate our feelings about the advantages of an ever closer liaison with France.

France has rarely been a reliable or trustworthy ally. She was driven into the Entente Cordiale after centuries of war and rivalry with Britain because of her fear of Germany, and it is a preoccupation with her still richer and more populous neighbour that continues to dominate her foreign policy thinking.

Like other European leaders, Mr Sarkozy bangs on about a European defence force without offering any sign that the French Government is prepared to make the necessary financial sacrifice. For all its talk, the French government is unwilling or unable to make a substantial commitment to match the fighting words of its President.

Britain's security relationship with France and the rest of Europe should not be built up at the expense of a proven alliance with the United States.

I very much hope that he enjoys his two-day official visit, and his various banquets and feasts. In his favour it can be said that he has brought the delightful Carla Bruni to our shores.
 

Prime Minister gets lost on the way to the State Banquet

Daily Mail, March 27, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

Palace officials organising last night's state banquet have been left red-faced after sending Gordon Brown to sit down when he should have been standing with the Queen and French president.

Perhaps keen to over-compensate for his perceived faux-pas at the banquet, Mr Brown gave Carla a particularly warm welcome when she and the President arrived in Downing Street today.

The Prime Minister positively lunged in to give her a big kiss on the cheek. If it was not so uncharacteristic for him, you would almost say he was flirting with the new first lady of France.
 

Carla looks quite regal on her way to the state banquet.

Carla is seated between Prince Charles and Prince Philip.

Carla seems to like Prince Philip. The Queen looks just like my old mum.

Carla gets a big wet kiss from Gordon Brown. Ah, envy!

Carla seems to like Gordon too. Maybe it's just her friendly manner.
 

Sarkozy and Brown Promise Entente Formidable

By Allegra Stratton and agencies
The Guardian, March 27, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown brought their two-day summit to a close with a flourish today. They pledged the "entente cordiale" Sarkozy had already upgraded to an "entente amicale" in yesterday's speech to parliament, would in future be more like an "entente formidable".

Sarkozy also took the opportunity to say how proud he was of his wife's conduct on the trip, praising her "great humanity".

Asked about the UK's decision to remain outside the eurozone Sarkozy said: "There are opt-out clauses that you [the British] tend to negotiate. If you are inside Europe you are more likely to shape it. We need Britain to get Europe moving."

It is thought the two leaders discussed Britain's new generation of nuclear power plants. Sarkozy is keen to strike a deal with Britain for a joint nuclear power programme that aims to replace ageing power plants in the UK and to export technology to non-nuclear states across the world.

Brown said he would host a conference later this year for non-nuclear countries which want to develop civilian atomic power programmes.
 

Psycho Sarko tamed

By Charles Bremner
The Times, March 27, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

Everyone in France knows what is going through the head of Nicolas Sarkozy as he basks in the glory of a British royal welcome. For Super-Sarko, the supreme honours from the ancestral foe are delicious vindication. It is another shot in the eye for Jacques Chirac and the other elders who tried so long to thwart the ambition of the bumptious boy from Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The Windsor visit has helped Mr Sarkozy at the start of a long climb back to favour. The President is said to be in grim mood because the world economic slowdown threatens his efforts to jolt France out of its old habits. Yet it seems that Sarko really has calmed down. According to a report yesterday, François Fillon, the Prime Minister, gives credit to his new wife. Mr Fillon is supposed to have said: "We have entered a sort of routine. God bless Carla."
 

Carla stole the show

By Rebecca Hardy
Daily Mail, March 28, 2008

Carla Sarkozy last night showed Britain the physique that made her a supermodel. At a banquet thrown by the Lord Mayor of London to mark the end of the state visit, she stole the show.
 

Carla: How Britain Fell for the French First Lady

The Guardian, March 28, 2008

Carla Bruni could have been quite a liability for her husband on his first state visit to Britain.

From the moment that she stepped on to British turf this week, though, it became clear that it would go deliciously right: Bruni may have had her wild moments but she has this French first lady business sewn up.

What couldn't be predicted was just how crazy everyone would go for her. The general mood was summed up in the image of Prince Charles leaning down to kiss her hand.

Bruni is pretty, of course, but is the current obsession simply because of her looks, or is there more to it than that?

The background

The new Mrs Sarkozy was born 40 years ago, in Turin, to Marysa Borini, a concert pianist, and Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, heir to Ceat, the second most-important Italian rubber company after Pirelli, until Pirelli bought it. In 1973 the family, fearing kidnap by the Red Brigades, moved to France. She went to a Swiss finishing school, and was planning to study architecture in Paris when, at 19, she was deflected into modelling instead.

As a model she did well, and was once listed among the 20 richest supermodels. She was 22 when Eric Clapton took her to a Rolling Stones party: days later, she began an affair with Mick Jagger.

She has been linked to Donald Trump, Kevin Costner, and the former French Socialist prime minister, Laurent Fabius. She was living with the publisher Jean-Paul Enthoven when she fell in love with his son, philosopher Raphael Enthoven, who was nearly a decade her junior. By the time they separated, they had a son, Aurélien, and she a second career as a musician.

She saw Sarkozy on TV in May 2007 and said to a friend sitting next to her: "I want to have a man who has nuclear power." Sarkozy in turn noticed her at an event for the French music industry and asked a friend to organise an intimate dinner at which she would be present. After dessert, he offered her a ride home. She invited him up for a coffee.
Aida Edemariam

The fashion

Until this week, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has refrained from placing her high-quality sartorial cards on the table.

Not everyone loved the demure dove-grey tailoring. Critics said it was too district nurse, too vintage air hostess, too prissy schoolgirl. But, in terms of style, dressing in a uniform way can indicate strictness, consistency and a great understanding of clothes.

Bruni has already shown that she can role-play with her wardrobe masterfully. Consider her singer-songwriter look: leather jacket, vintage jeans, worn-in cotton shirts, often barefoot. It is 'le rock and roll' by numbers.

Bruni is also playing out the role of the Parisian rather well through her clothes. She has shown a preference for perennially stylish classics: crisp white shirts, V-neck cashmere jumpers, understated black coats.

Bruni has proved herself to be brilliantly consistent with the colour palette of her wardrobe. So far, she hasn't really strayed beyond the confines of midnight blue, grey, black, white and denim with the odd jolt of regal purple. And it's working.
Imogen Fox

The predecessors

In the past few days, Carla Bruni has been compared to countless women, including Princess Diana, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Anne Boleyn.

The most common comparison has been with Jackie Kennedy. Some people commented that Bruni fell short of the Jackie Kennedy mark, and looked more like an air hostess. If one comparison doesn't quite work, reaching for a hoary old stereotype triumphs every time.

Nicolas Sarkozy is supposedly most fond of the Princess Diana comparison, and Bruni seems happy to pursue this too, speaking excitedly of humanitarian ambitions. Writing in the Daily Mail, Amanda Platell felt that Bruni had mastered Diana's early deference, but that ultimately she has more in common with Camilla, because neither woman's past "bears too close a scrutiny when it comes to fidelity".
Kira Cochrane

The music

For some, the sound of a sultry French accent trickling alongside an acoustic guitar is infinitely sexy, whatever the words or sentiment. Carla Bruni's 2003 debut album, Quelqu'un m'a dit (Someone Told Me), sold more than 2m worldwide, including 1.2m in France, where it went to number five.

Last year, No Promises, her languid collection of musical arrangements of poems by Emily Dickinson, Dorothy Parker, W.H. Auden and W.B. Yeats, was released to wild reviews. The Observer gave it four stars, claiming Bruni was "lovelier than Kate Moss - and better read", while The Word printed a photo of her in denim short-shorts with the headline, "All This And Talent Too!"

Listening to her versions of Dickinson, Parker and Yeats, the first thought is that, surely, this is poetry for the unbeautiful. It's the stuff of loneliness, and rejection. The second thought is that actually, it's quite nice.
Eva Wiseman

The gaze

Just look at the man-trapping stare that Carla Bruni has triumphantly brought to Britain. Show us how it's done, Carla.

The Gaze tells an unlikely story, which men fall for every time. Witness Prince Philip in his gilded coach yesterday, as Carla turned on the 10,000-watt radiance. He sits back, as if hit by a stun gun. The Gaze says, "You, my darling desiccated duke, you, you could make me happy. Everything you say and do absorbs me. Look, I am smiling. And why? Because you are so witty, so handsome, so debonair in your overcoat. So what, you are married? Wives are easily disposed of."

Try practising the Gaze in front of a mirror, or on your pets.
Linda Grant

The politics

Four inches and 13 years aren't the only differences between Carla and her new husband. While the president is proud of his rightwing credentials, she has long been known as a member of France's "gauche caviar" - a Left Bank champagne socialist.

Before their whirlwind romance turned her into a perfectly dressed first lady, the Italian heiress was dismissive of Sarkozy's presidential bid. "I would never vote on the right."

Carla also opposed Sarkozy's immigration policies. With her concert-pianist mother and tyre-magnate stepfather, she arrived in France aged five, after fleeing a wave of kidnappings and killings of businessmen in Turin.

Carla is not a member of a political party. She is leaving politics to her husband. "For the moment I am listening to what people tell me."
Homa Khaleeli

The French view

If you want to know what the French think of Carla Bruni - sorry, Madame Nicolas Sarkozy - don't read the celebrity press. She has recently cut her hair shorter and featured in spread after spread, invariably demure and oh-so-modest in white shirts and grey cardigans. The woman who said only a few months ago that she was a polygamous kitten has now embraced monogamy and respectability with the passion of the newly converted, or so they say.

Carla won over the French in the early '90s, first as a model but more recently as an artist. The French like her freedom and many long for the time when she tires of the pomp and goes back home to write her first lady's experience into an album.
Agnès Poirier

The Quotes

On monogamy: "I am a tamer of men, a cat, an Italian ... Monogamy bores me terribly ... I am monogamous from time to time but I prefer polygamy and polyandry."
Le Figaro, 2007

On modelling: "Even when I was having my hair and makeup done backstage at a fashion show, I would sneak in a copy of Dostoevsky and read it inside a copy of Elle or Vogue."
Independent, 2007

On Sarkozy: "I wanted to marry him straight away."
L'Express, 2008

On passion: "Love lasts a long time, but burning desire - two to three weeks."
Le Figaro, 2007

On herself: "I am proud and happy to be first lady of France."
L'Express, 2008

On marriage: "I am of Italian culture and I would not like to divorce. I am therefore first lady until the end of my husband's term of office and his wife until death."
L'Express, 2008

On men: "I'm interested in accomplished people ... Intelligence attracts me ... I like intense people ... people who don't want to be normal."
Daily Mail, 2007
 

Germans Sceptical

Kate Connolly in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, March 28 2008

The German government will be closely watching future cooperation between Paris and London. But commentators have cautioned against taking the love-in too seriously and say at its heart is Sarkozy's ambitious desire to persuade the British to be more European.

"Europe needs Britain and vice versa," said today's Süddeutsche Zeitung. "But the appeal to the British to become more engaged with Europe is likely to meet with reservation in Britain."

The general view from Berlin is that it will take until the end of the French presidency of the EU at the turn of the year to determine whether or not it is valid to talk of a Paris-London axis.

The inimitable Die Welt correspondent Thomas Kielinger put its most succinctly, writing: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as the Brits say."

The London meeting emphasised France and Britain's shared commitment to nuclear power, a field in which Germany, with its green ideals, could find itself being increasingly isolated, the Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) said: "Berlin is not only risking its credibility with regard to its ambitious climate protection goals but also its scientific and economic links to this kind of technology."

A further reason for France to pull away from Germany is its desire to develop its military strategy, for which "France is reliant on an alliance with Britain", the Berliner Zeitung said.

The German government's response has been relaxed, pointing out that close contacts between the French and British governments are nothing new.
 

Conclusion of France-UK Summit

By Francis Elliott
The Times, March 28, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

At the conclusion of yesterday's France-UK summit, the French president vowed to continue his charm offensive designed to draw Britain into deeper engagement in the EU. He said that every EU leader had reason to be grateful for Mr Brown's "courage and loyalty" in ensuring that the EU treaty, which replaced the failed EU constitution, would be ratified in the UK.

For his part Mr Brown upgraded to formidable the entente that Mr Sarkozy had previously improved from cordiale to amicale.

A 36-page communiqué agreed to deepen cooperation on issues including the reform of international financial regulations and institutions, defence and immigration. New arrangements were made to "combat nuclear terrorism" by screening cross-Channel traffic and the creation of a British civilian rapid reaction force to help to stabilise failing states. But the leaders' agreement to "take forward a new migration pact under the French presidency of the EU" may prove controversial. French ministers have said they want a "common definition of the right of asylum" and have backed European Commission proposals that could see asylum seekers shared between EU states.
 

A New Era

By Angelique Chrisafis
The Guardian, March 29, 2008

Edited by Andy Ross

On his state visit, the French president heralded a new era of France-UK love and understanding. But, true to his own style of charm, Sarkozy wanted to add a heartfelt personal dimension.

Here was Sarkozy now suddenly claiming: "I was so often inspired in my youthful days by the greatness of Britain" - a detail hitherto missing from all his biographies and personal accounts - and talking about enjoying shared British culture and music. Perhaps it was the influence of his wife Carla Bruni, who loves Auden and recently studied Shakespeare's sonnets with her friend Marianne Faithfull.

France needs British backing on many issues, not least to push forward with its plan for European defence - the UK and France account for 40% of the defence budget of the entire 27 EU states. But Sarkozy had worked out that to win over the British, you must appeal to them direct, get a special, pally, exclusive one-on-one relationship going, and above all avoid scaring them off by suggesting bigger talks on a European scale.

French ministers and Sarkozy's entourage lauded Her Majesty's hospitality.
 

AR  What a splendid bash. Carla reminds me of my first serious girlfriend 40 years ago.