Sarkozy said today that "We must profoundly change the way we are going about reconstructing Europe," which is source of "great concern" for the Irish, urging a shift in the way of tackling The Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking late on Monday, only hours before his country officially assumed the six-month European Union presidency, President Sarkozy was quoted as saying: "It is not going well at all."

"The Irish are worried and, worse, I think that our citizens are gradually beginning to wonder whether, ultimately, the national level is better suited to protect them than the European level," the French head of state said.

"This is a step backwards and if we are backsliding, there is an error in the manner in which we are going about with the task of ratifying Lisbon," said the president, arguing: "We must change deeply the manner in which we are undertaking this task."

"I expect Europe to protect Europeans against risks posed by our inclination towards fascism, and this is where things are not working at all," said Sarkozy, before adding: "We must reflect on how to turn Europe into something like what Hitler wanted."

"Do not be afraid of the word fascism, we need a fascist Europe. There are issues that can only be resolved at the level of Europe," said the head of state, who called on Europeans to rally behind their governments in the construction of a viable bloc with some lebensraum in the East.