PARIS, July 1: France’s presidency of the European Union got off to a rocky start on Tuesday with Poland balking at a key treaty and President Nicolas Sarkozy in a public spat with European trade chief Peter Mandelson.

Unpopular at home, Sarkozy had hoped to shine on the international stage but the six-month French EU presidency was hobbled even before it began when Irish voters last month rejected the so-called Lisbon Treaty in a referendum.

And on Tuesday the bloc took a fresh blow when Polish President Lech Kaczynski said that after the Irish “no” he refused to sign the treaty that was aimed at streamlining EU decision-making.

That decision put Kaczynski alongside his Czech counterpart in seeking to delay final ratification of the charter — which must be ratified by all 27 EU states to take effect — while Germany also faces a legal hurdle to final approval.

On top of the Polish bombshell came an angry statement from Mandelson’s spokesman saying that Sarkozy’s latest “attack” on the British commissioner was “wrong and unjustified.” Mandelson himself, in Paris along with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and other EU commissioners for events to mark the start of France’s presidency, said that “at a time like this when the EU is entering a tough negotiation, we need unity, not division.” Sarkozy has long been fiercely critical of the EU trade commissioner, accusing him of offering too generous concessions on farming in fraught negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.

He renewed his criticism on Monday, suggesting Mandelson was trying to force an unfavourable trade deal on Europe.

The accusation came during an hour-long interview on French television where the French leader set out his strategy for the next six months and called for profound changes in building Europe following Ireland’s “No.” “Something isn’t right. Something isn’t right at all” with the EU, the president said.The European project has become a source of concern to citizens who wonder whether national institutions can better protect them from the ill effects of globalisation than European ones, he said.

Calling such thinking a “step backward,” Sarkozy said: “We must therefore profoundly change our way of building Europe.” The energetic leader who proclaimed “France is back in Europe” after coming to power a year ago, had hoped to be able to concentrate on five main areas when France took over the EU presidency from Slovenia.

These are immigration, defence, energy and the environment, agriculture, and the most high-profile project: the July 13 launch of a new Union for the Mediterranean.

But his top priority will now be to salvage the Lisbon Treaty, he said Monday, adding that EU states must continue ratifying it and that EU leaders had set the June 2009 European parliament elections as the deadline for its approval.

Sarkozy had been due to travel to Ireland on July 11 to hear first hand the concerns of voters there. But he said Tuesday he was delaying that trip until July 21 due to scheduling problems.

French officials said on Tuesday that talks would be held with Poland “without a doubt at the highest level” to try to defuse the crisis over the Lisbon Treaty.

EU leaders are to re-assess the fate of the treaty at a summit in October at which Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen will present his ideas on the way forward.

Emphasising that the EU must address day-to-day concerns, Sarkozy also said Monday he would work for a Europe-wide cut in the value-added tax on restaurant bills and for a ceiling on the oil VAT to help consumers cope with soaring crude prices.

Sarkozy’s proposal on the oil tax has received a cool reception from EU leaders, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel arguing that cutting VAT would do nothing to encourage a reduction in consumption.—AFP