(BRUSSELS) - True to his image as a whirlwind of activity, new French president Nicolas Sarkozy sought to take his first EU summit by storm -- and stirred up controversy in the process.

Eager to jumpt into a starring role on the EU stage, Sarkozy was a flurry of activity, proposing a compromise over dinner, giving an impromptu news conference, but also making partners uneasy by pushing French interests hard.

Within hours of the summit's start on Thursday, he was quick to try his hand at resolving the meeting's central dilemma of how to soften Poland's resistance to signing on to a package of proposed EU institutional reforms.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, chairing the summit, had the tough task of winning unanimous support for an outline of a new EU treaty that is supposed to update EU rules, but which Warsaw fears will dilute its power.

Ready to lend Merkel a hand, Sarkozy proposed overnight Thursday a compromise solution aimed at persuading Poland to drop its opposition to voting procedures in a new EU treaty.

But with Poland dug in deep, the proposal found little success.

Sarkozy has vowed to bring France back into the heart of European politics after French voters rejected a proposed EU constitution two years ago, plunging the bloc into its worst crises ever.

However, Sarkozy discovered quickly that it can be a delicate balancing act pushing French national interests while also playing the honest broker among other EU member states.

Sarkozy roused deep unease among some of his EU partners on Friday after convincing the bloc's German presidency to dump a commitment to "free and undistorted competition" in a new treaty.

The issue is highly contentious, with member states such as Britain and the Netherlands deeply attached to the idea that Europe's markets should be open to competition and free from state meddling.

"Clearly, there is a need for clarification on this issue and we hopefully will get clarification," British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told journalists on the sidelines of the summit.

"There are many countries in Europe -- not least the accession countries -- that share our particular view on competition matters."

French fears that the European Union fuels unrestrained, free-market competition boosted opposition to the bloc's draft constitution, which French voters rejected in a referendum two years ago.

Although successive EU treaties have stated free competition as one of the main objectives, French opponents seized on a reference in the charter to help mobilise voter opposition.

Sakorzy's spokesman David Martinon said France "is not against competition, but just not as an objective. The objective is prosperity, growth."

But Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany was also vocal in his opposition to the move, saying that dumping the commitment to competition "could not be the right message" and that "it would clearly be a setback."

"That is why Hungary requires, in recent modification requests, the former text, which means that no limitation should be imposed in internal market on free competition," he added.

Text and Picture Copyright 2007 AFP. All other Copyright 2007 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.