You did not make much of an effort to join the jubilatory Elysée, EP or (French) press crowds, but in the long run the most lasting legacy of Sarkozy’s personal and France’s nominal Council Presidency will probably be the shift towards an even more overbearing role for the European Council in general and brittle alliances between a few national leaders of (great) member states in particular.

Your criticism concerning the lack of political or institutional reform was further underlined when Sarkozy for all practical purposes declared himself an enemy of EU level democracy.

Pöttering of the European Parliament wisely reminded Sarkozy of the importance of men, but the necessity of institutions.