Memorable presidencies of the EU, it has to be said, have less to do with the energy or vision of incumbents than accidents of history. The steamroller of integration rumbles on at its own pace, periodically, more or less by chance casting a presidency in the role of master of ceremonies, little more, of new treaties or projects by which they will be remembered. Rome, Maastricht, Amsterdam, the single currency, a European defence dimension. . .
And there is always potential for a good stage manager to pick up a few domestic political brownie points by basking in the reflected aura of such great moments. It also does the legitimacy of the Union the power of good back home.
For France, a founder member with a vocation to be seen as the driving force of European integration, it matters more than most. And this time round the ball is bouncing nicely - one could say "Nicely".
Last time, in 1995, there was little to crow about in a presidency which essentially saw the EU marking time, even, as I recall, allowing the French to appear to take a month off in the middle for elections. This time things are very different. The agenda is crowded and the summit in Nice in December should provide plenty of opportunities, including a new treaty, the Treaty of Nice, for French showmanship. And no better man that President Chirac.
The summit will see the end of the InterGovernmental Conference process and a treaty to put the Union in a state to receive its largest yet wave of accession. It will also see approval of a major declaration on human rights, the fruit of the 62-member convention established by heads of government to give a citizenship flavour to the Union.
It should also see approval of a French package aimed at supplementing the Lisbon e-summit's economic conclusions with a social dimension. And the summit will approve new structures for the EU's burgeoning defence and security role.
It all has great domestic potential in the run-up to French elections.
The perception in Brussels is that Paris has its eye firmly on the prize. Crucially, it is believed here that the French will do anything to make sure that the IGC ends on time, a key priority for the Commission in keeping to its accession timetable.
A senior Commission official says that the intense Jospin/Chirac rivalry is already manifesting itself in a cautious approach to the agenda - no point in grand gestures which fall flat on their face - and a determination not to drop the ball.
Chirac's warm personal relationship with the Commission president, Mr Romano Prodi, should also help and Commission sources are adamant that the talk of frosty relations between Paris and Brussels a few months ago were exaggerated. Inevitably, however, like any other major member state, France will not be shy in taking on the Commission when it sees its interests are threatened. But that's par for the course. The agenda is heavy but not too controversial. The French are letting it be known that they have put on hold their traditional ambitions to give the EU a much deeper defence dimension based on mutual defence commitments.
And they have come round in the IGC context to the idea of easing the treaty's flexibility provisions. French traditional hostility to the idea of maintaining at least one commissioner per country is expected to be negotiable in the context of a deal that gives them a few extra votes at Council meetings.
On social policy, an area where the British in particular are extremely sensitive and the Commission enthusiastic, the French are understood to be willing to eschew legislation in favour of much less controversial benchmarking, the setting out of best practice as targets for member states, an approach championed at the Lisbon summit for issues like access to the Internet.
The French have also rubbed the British up the wrong way with their talk of enhancing the role of the euro-11 group in economic co-ordination. The British insist that the agreement reached at Luxembourg two years ago that recognises the full Ecofin as the only decision-making forum must stand and is non-negotiable.
Diplomats expect, however, that the French will confine themselves to using their chairing role and possibilities of press briefings after meetings to enhance the visibility and standing of euro-11.
Most concerns have been evinced over the French lack of enthusiasm for the enlargement process. But although they will preside over the opening of the final and most controversial chapters in the negotiations with the leading accession states, such as the free movement of labour, Commission sources say the talks have their own dynamic whose speed is unlikely to be affected by a new Presidency. The summit is likely to see target dates set for the completion of the negotiations with individual states. Although the accession countries want it, there will be no commitment to a date for accession.
The most difficult challenge the French face is likely to be the vexed issue of the savings tax directive, the diplomatic equivalent of the "hospital pass" from the Portuguese who were supposed to resolve it.
But Chirac should have plenty of good news to swamp out the bad when he heads down to the Cote D'Azur in December.
