New Leadership Trio Could Put Europe Back on Political Map

Merkel, Sarkozy and Brown Seen Reenergizing Region

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France both took over from predecessors who were considered national and international liabilities. They have found common ground on the E.U. constitution. (By Andreas Rentz -- Getty Images)

PARIS -- Europe is undergoing its most dramatic changing of the guard in more than a decade. New leaders in the European Union's three preeminent countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- not only may transform their nations individually but also have the collective clout to blast Europe out of its lethargy and revitalize it as a global and diplomatic powerhouse.

"They could get the European heart beating again," said François Heisbourg, a foreign policy analyst at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris.

All three new European leaders are replacing predecessors who had become national and international liabilities. Nicolas Sarkozy, 52, took over the presidency of France on Wednesday from septuagenarian Jacques Chirac, who served 12 years. Gordon Brown, 56, will become prime minister of Britain on June 27 when Tony Blair leaves after 10 years. And Angela Merkel, 53, was named chancellor of Germany in 2005, after Gerhard Schroeder's seven years in power.

The new axis of leaders is expected to moderate Europe's relationship with the United States, striking a more evenhanded tone than the emotionalism of Blair's perceived subservience or Chirac's hostility, many analysts here say.

In this view, a new U.S. president in less than two years could work with a more united, engaged Europe to leverage Middle East peace efforts, persuade Iran to curtail its nuclear ambitions and negotiate with Russia over contentious energy issues.

In recent years, the divided capitals of Europe and the go-it-alone foreign policy of the Bush administration aggravated rather than quelled some of the globe's most dangerous conflicts and disputes, many Europeans believe.

European officials and analysts also anticipate the new leadership trio will try to curb -- at least initially -- the intramural bickering of their predecessors that paralyzed the 27-member European Union as a cohesive, influential player on the international diplomatic stage.

"There will be new energy," said Markus Loening, a member of the German Parliament from the opposition Free Democratic Party. "The momentum is here in Europe."

But to achieve a new dynamism, Europe must first resolve its internal disputes. The defeat of the E.U. constitution two years ago in France and the Netherlands and both weariness and wariness over the rapid expansion from 15 to 27 countries in less than three years prompted European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to call for a "pause" to reassess the union's future.

The pause morphed into a standstill until Germany took over the rotating E.U. presidency and used it as an opportunity to try to jump-start the moribund constitution, the document meant to bind 27 disparate countries into a powerful bloc with the potential to address a globalized world in a single voice.

"Above all, we need to safeguard Europe's capacity to act," E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday in a speech in Germany. "Our world is changing very rapidly."

He added, "Just when we should be at our most alert, just when the world's demand for Europe is at its highest, the union has turned inwards, immersed in a sterile institutional crisis. We cannot go on like this. This must be resolved as soon as possible, in 2007."