THAT may sound so cliché but the French are indeed vanguards of the world. French President Nicholas Sarkozy, fresh from his honey4moon with the new first lady of the country Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is now back at the helm in his old usual self – forceful but very diplomatic. For starters, President Sarkozy has signified willingness to ratify the Lisbon Treaty by February 7 or about two days from now. The very relevant Lisbon Treaty calls for reforms in the European Union to take an active role in global affairs from competitors such as the United States. After all, the markets in Europe are the strongest as proven with the fall of both the United States and the Asian markets some two weeks ago. The Central Bank of the European Union has really done a good job in maintaining the economic stability of our continent.

One of the changes to a more vigorous European Union as envisioned in the Lisbon Treaty which was carved just last December is to ratify the continent-wide Charter of Fundamental Rights. Adopting the Charter of Fundamental Rights is very significant and can impact major issues affecting the globe. For example, there has been wide clamor from human rights groups all over that the CIA operates secret torture camps in Europe. They arrest Americans suspected of terrorism in their own country and bring them to the torture camps here in Europe. That is called rendition or the exact opposite of extradition. With the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the European Union has now teeth to examine whether these claims made by the human rights groups are true. Intelligence agencies such as the French’s DGSE are now compelled to cooperate with these continental investigators.

Another drastic change in the Lisbon Treaty is to extend the power of the European Union ambassador-at-large which is currently held by Javier Solana. This is necessary for the ambassador to make a lasting influence on other countries for the good of Europe and that includes France of course.

But the most important change for the European Union as drafted in the Lisbon Treaty is to make the body a single legal entity to represent the whole continent in signing very important treaties.

We have been dealing with international treaties earlier. Now, let’s discuss about international flights. There’s now a new daily flight from Paris to Shannon in Ireland and back courtesy of Air France. Air France, which has ditched its Concorde fleet a few years back, is now revitalized with lots of flights worldwide. The Paris-Shannon route is one testament to this. With this, more Irish tourists are expected to come to Paris any time of the year. Paris is called the City of Lights and the place is illuminated not just during the holiday season but all year long. The Eiffel Tower is a romantic sight even at the peak of summer. You can have a romantic rooftop dinner across the Eiffel Tower with your Irish fiancée. That is one memorable honeymoon she’ll cherish for life from you.