France and the European Union. Desperately seeking a policy

France no longer knows where it wants the European Union to go

SIX years ago, Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, gave a landmark speech on Europe at Berlin's Humboldt University. There was thus a certain symbolism in the decision by Dominique de Villepin, France's prime minister, to choose the same place for his first big speech on Europe, on January 18th. Compared with Mr Fischer, Mr de Villepin was short on institutional ambition. But that is not surprising: eight months after French voters rejected the European Union constitution, France is in disarray over Europe.

Mr de Villepin called for a revival of the Franco-German motor to get European integration moving again, in a way that responded to its citizens' fears. "France did not say no to Europe," he declared. "She said no to a Europe whose purpose she no longer understood." But on firm constitutional proposals he stayed mum.

Most French ideas on Europe nowadays touch on social and economic policy instead. President Jacques Chirac has called for "a Europe at once more competitive and more social". The French have proposed a common European energy policy, and more spending on research and innovation. Catherine Colonna, France's Europe minister, argued this week for a European civilian service and more student exchanges. Mr de Villepin suggested a Franco-German border police.

In one sense, this emphasis on things non-constitutional is natural. Europe is still in its "period of reflection", agreed by all EU leaders after the French and Dutch voted no last summer. Until nearer the June EU summit, at the end of the current Austrian presidency, nobody is putting concrete institutional suggestions on the table. French ideas are particularly delicate. "There's little chance that any French proposal will get support in Europe right now," argues Sylvie Goulard, a European specialist at Sciences Po, a university.

Yet the lack of a clear line also reflects something else: internal confusion about what France really wants. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president who chaired the convention that drafted the EU constitution, puts it trenchantly: "For the first time in 50 years, France no longer has a project for Europe."

This policy muddle has been on full display in recent weeks. Despite promising "ambitious proposals", Mr Chirac has so far stuck to vague declarations, including a renewed call for his old favourite, "pioneer groups" of those willing to integrate faster. Both he and his prime minister want a debate on enlargement, but whereas Mr Chirac favours Turkish entry, Mr de Villepin is far cooler. This week he said that "the purpose of the union today is not to spread out indefinitely." When Nicolas Sarkozy, interior minister and head of the ruling UMP party, declared last week that all future enlargements beyond Bulgaria and Romania should be suspended pending constitutional reform, the foreign ministry hastily stated that these were not the views of the French government.

The only area where there is agreement is one that dares not speak its name: a refusal to consider a second referendum or some other way of reviving the rejected constitution. Despite other countries' reluctance to renounce the text, the idea of consulting the French electorate again is considered absurd in Paris. Mr Chirac, whose popularity ratings have collapsed, knows he is in no position to persuade the French to have second thoughts.

France's difficulty is not just that its people are in a sour, rejectionist mood. It is also a pre-election year. The two keenest rivals on the right, Mr Sarkozy and Mr de Villepin, are engaged in a battle of attrition that guarantees recurrent disagreement, on Europe and much else. As for an enfeebled Mr Chirac, undermined by the French no, he is scarcely in a position to drive any European thinking. As the left-leaning Liberation newspaper commented recently, "it's a bit like a pyromaniac offering his services to firemen."

Article suggests that France no longer knows where it wants the European Union to go.