The French presidency is starting today, and will last six months during which France will decide of the order of the day of political meetings. With the idea of a protective Europe against the impact of globalization, as preached by Nicolas Sarkozy the day before the beginning of the presidency, social priorities are gaining more ground, in theory, than the priorities displayed at first (environment, immigration and defense). In practice, the French presidency should tackle a number of controversial issues, such as working time, the revision of the EWC directive and patients’ mobility. (Ref. 080551)
Working
time and temporary work. The political agreements signed
by the Council of Ministers on June 9 (see our dispatch No. 080482) about the
working time and temporary work draft directives, free the French presidency
from this compromise exercise with other Member States. This doesn’t make the
task any easier though. Indeed, those two texts are on the European
Parliament’s agenda for September, as they require a second reading and should
lead to a joint position with the Council of Ministers
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