EU: Jacques Chirac, blamed for the EU's mess, arrived in Brussels as damaged goods, writes Lara Marlowe in Brussels
In the 43 years since he entered politics, President Jacques Chirac has never known such crises: crisis at home, provoked by the French Non to the constitutional treaty; and crisis in Europe, provoked by the same phenomenon.
In just a few weeks, Chirac's popularity rating fell from 46 per cent to 28 per cent. Those who have met him recently describe an ageing president - he will be 73 in November - whose mind wanders and who doesn't seem to comprehend what has happened.
As the European Council meeting that started here late yesterday approached, mainstream newspapers and politicians began asking whether Chirac was up to representing France in Brussels. "Chirac, The Sick Man of Europe", said Libération newspaper's front-page headline. "Chirac, Serial-loser" another article was entitled.
The French are catching up with Chirac-bashing across Europe in the wake of the referendum. An editorial in the Suddeutsche Zeitung said: "There are a lot of losers, but the father of the defeat, the loser of all losers, is Jacques Chirac."
The Financial Times Deutschland announced in a headline that Chirac was dragging the EU down.
All signs point to a triple freeze at the council meeting: on the ratification process, on the 2007 to 2013 budget, and - if the French have their way - on further enlargement. Chirac wanted the ratification process to continue. but it was awkward for him to insist after France had rejected the treaty. His aides believe there is no possibility of asking the French to vote again.
Chirac threw budget negotiations into turmoil by reviving demands that Britain give up its €4.6 billion annual rebate. Attacking Britain usually goes down well in France but, despite unanimous support from 23 other member states, the rebate dispute was interpreted even in France as a pathetic diversion by a down- and-out politician.
"Europe is in danger," socialist deputy Jean-Marc Ayrault said. "Faced with this challenge, French and European leaders are writing the worst script - of shopkeepers haggling about individual contributions. Where is the life-breath? Where is the vision?"
It was probably foreseeable that Tony Blair would retaliate by demanding a re-examination of the Common Agricultural Policy. It accounts for 40 per cent of EU expenditure - €50 billion each year - of which 23 per cent goes to France.
In October 2002, Chirac threatened to block EU enlargement unless the CAP was "sanctuarised" until 2013. Ironically, polls showed that 70 per cent of French farmers voted against the constitutional treaty.
France says the 2002 agreement is a "red line" that cannot be violated in budget negotiations today. New minister for European affairs Catherine Colonna notes the CAP has decreased from 50 per cent of EU spending in the early 1990s, and will comprise "scarcely one-third" of the budget for the 2007 to 2013 period. French officials admit Blair's assertion that every Briton contributes 2.5 times what an average Frenchman pays into EU coffers "was true in the past".
Few in France expect a resolution to the budget crisis at this summit or during the British presidency starting on July 1st. It would be unrealistic to expect Britain to be a neutral leader when its interests are at stake. "And none of us are in the mood to give Tony Blair any presents," said an ambassador from an "old Europe" country.