Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, sends his regrets — but he is unable to meet Gordon Brown in Downing Street today as planned because of a longstanding engagement. With the President of Benin.
Mr Sarkozy promised Mr Brown that he would visit London to calm fears that the City is about to be saddled with French-style regulation. But amid his gloating over the appointment of a Frenchmen to the key Brussels job overseeing financial reforms, his visit today has been abandoned.
A spokesman for Mr Sarkozy cited “longstanding” engagements, including a meeting with President Dr Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin, West Africa, as the reason for his inability to meet the Prime Minister.
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Whitehall sources insisted that it had been officials in London, not Paris, who cancelled the visit.
Mr Sarkozy caused fury in No 10 when he described the British as “the big losers” in the recent European Commission reshuffle, in which Michel Barnier, a former French agriculture minister, was installed as the new EU Single Market Commissioner.
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The French President smugly suggested that the City was in line for a hefty increase in regulation from Brussels. “I want the world to see the victory of the European model, which has nothing to do with the excesses of financial capitalism,” he said.
Mr Sarkozy suggested he visit after a “forthright” discussion with Mr Brown at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad last weekend, according to a senior government figure. “He offered to come to London and we said ‘Thanks, but no thanks’.”
Publicly, both sides denied snubbing the other. In addition to his key meeting with the Benin President, Mr Sarkozy is also planning to have lunch with Herman Van Rompuy, the former Belgian Prime Minister who is now the EU President. Although a rearranged trip to London before Christmas is possible, Mr Sarkozy will stress France’s relative economic success over “the Anglo-Saxons” in coming speeches.He knows it is a vote-winner in approaching regional elections.
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A leading article in Le Monde yesterday mocked British reaction to Mr Barnier’s appointment and backed the French President’s critique of previous failure to regulate the City.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, however, said that Britain’s financial services could only benefit from an assault from across the Channel. “Yippee! The best way to boost the City of London is for top French politicians to attack us,” he said.
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Mr Barnier himself tried to reassure the City that he had no intention of ushering in sweeping reforms. “There is no reason for this controversy as the rules of the game are clear,” Mr Barnier said. He said he planned to meet Alistair Darling before Christmas.
Last night the French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, told Channel 4 News: “There is huge understanding between the British and the French.
“They are due to see each other at the European Council in a week’s time, so I’m not surprised that they do not want to multiply visits.” She insisted the French “respect and value” the City, but said: “We need a City that plays by different rules.”