French diplomacy - is it an oxymoron? Preparations for the Nice summit in 10 days, already complicated by the controversial French presidency's handling of treaty reform, have taken another turn for the worse with the rejection by 12 ambassadors and the Commission of the draft social policy agenda.
"I have never seen a document so badly received," said one bewildered Irish official. The Commissioner for Social Affairs, Ms Anna Diamantopoulou, took the unusual step of criticising the presidency text publicly in an interview with the Financial Times.
And it is not just a question of objections from the usual suspects. The EU's more socially right-wing states, Ireland, Britain, and Spain, are expected to fight a rearguard action to keep EU fingers off their laissez-faire social models. But they have been joined by Portugal, Sweden and others in opposing the first draft produced by the French of what was supposed to be one of their presidency priorities.
The French, in taking soundings in capitals, seem to have seriously misjudged the mood. Or they assumed, wrongly, that they could bounce ("bully" was a word being used here) their partners into accepting what one diplomat described as "1970s language".
Even the Germans, France's closest allies, have demurred, and the Portuguese have been incensed by a document that seemed to ignore their successful e-summit in Lisbon in the spring.
The French paper, first submitted to ambassadors two weeks ago, comes in two parts. The first, essentially a statement of guiding principles, has now been substantially rewritten by its author and is likely to pose few problems. The second, a list of "actions" to be undertaken in the next five years, has incensed because of its apparent emphasis on legislative measures.
As Ireland's former Commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, was only too willing to remind us, the days for legislating in Brussels for social policy have more or less come to an end, now that the buzz words are "benchmarking", "voluntary guidelines", "peer pressure" and "structural reform".
Social policy is couched in the Blairite language of seizing the opportunities of the information age - modernisation, flexibility - and not the defensive language of entrenching workers' security and rights.
The Commissioner contrasts the Commission's own paper, produced in June, with that of the French. "The focus of our approach was not regulation but on skills and quality," she said.
And she is understood to complain that the French are usurping the Commission function as policy initiator in drafting such a detailed agenda, a concern shared by smaller states such as Ireland.
The second draft of the French paper now goes to social affairs Ministers on Monday and then to the Nice summit, starting on Thursday week. Unless it is substantially amended, however, diplomats predict a major embarrassment for the French at the summit.
On Monday Ministers will also again discuss the directive on Information and Consultation of Workers. It would require firms of all kinds employing more than 50 people to consult their workforces ahead of important restructuring decisions.
Bitterly opposed by the UK and Ireland, the measure is unlikely to pass if they manage to keep Germany and Denmark in their camp.
