AFFAIRS OF STATE

AFFAIRS OF STATE A LA FRANÇAISE

Julie Gayet, new First Lady?

During his televised New Year's wishes on December 31st, President Hollande had announced a Pacte de Responsabilité which he would elaborate on in an upcoming press conference set for January 14, 2014 in the Elysée Palace with 600 journalists in attendance, many of them representing foreign papers. It was to be an opportunity to roll out his economic recovery plan for the next three years. A couple of days before that date, however, the French gossip magazine Closer revealed a secret affair between Mr. Hollande and French actress Julie Gayet, backed up by seven pages of photos. The timing was bad for Hollande, as the press immediately shifted its attention from the economy to the alleged affair, and the first question asked at his press conference was: "Will Valérie Trierweiler remain First Lady of France, especially with respect to your state visit to Washington on February 11th?". The answer was short and final: "This is not the time or place to address this subject, but I will do so before the date you mentioned (2/11)".

Salle des Fêtes, Elysée Palace

The next two hours of the press conference were hugely disappointing to all those foreign correspondents who had come for "the affair" and left empty-handed. Not used to a compliant press at home, they had expected more aggressive questioning and judged the event "way too long for too little". Why, they wonder, is the French press so deferential? Is it the intimidating setting of the Salle des Fêtes in the Elysée Palace, with its excess of gold and glitter and its whiff of Gloire? Or is tough questioning just "not done" because the French president is perceived as a monarch without a crown but with all the trappings of royalty?

Although the Affair has gone viral and gotten a lot of attention worldwide, in France the reaction was initially rather muted, with man-in-the-street comments ranging from "It's an invasion of privacy" and "We have more important things to think about" to the opinion that celebrities (i.e. presidents) lose their right to privacy when they are constantly in public view, or as this French journalist in a televised debate saw it: "Hollande est un people comme les autres" (using the curious French interpretation of "people" - in the singular - as "celebrity").

Strong privacy laws have long protected presidents in France where having a mistress has been more rule than exception. Jacques Chirac earned the nickname "Monsieur 15 Minutes, shower included", and François Mittérand managed to keep his double life and secret daughter under wraps even after Paris Match magazine discovered the girl and published a photo of her with Mittérand. When faced with this evidence, Mittérand famously said: "So what?" and that was the end of the story, at least during his lifetime. Wife with sons and mistress with daughter all gathered at this funeral. So civilized, so French. 

And so impossible today, with the internet, Twitter, cell-phone cameras, a flourishing gutter press and fines that are no longer dissuasive. The French press may have reacted with more restraint than others, it nevertheless covered the matter extensively, if often in the manner of "This is what the foreign press is saying" and then repeating every salacious detail. Even if Le Scandale did not make the front pages of French newspapers (as it did abroad), the story of the affair and subsequent revelations quickly moved from the gossip magazines to the more serious papers, including Le Monde, and to television debates.

There may be a certain French pride in mousy Hollande's conquest of beautiful women (hear the Gallic rooster crowing?); and an element of soap opera in the jealousy fit of Valérie Trierweiler and her Twitter attack last year on Ségolène Royal (mother of Hollande's four children and his partner for nearly 30 years). There also was much mention again of Hollande's stated wish to be a "normal" president, and his promise of total transparency. Sidelined by his claim of privacy, journalists were only too happy to regurgitate all this while awaiting developments.

Valérie out?

But when current mistress and First Lady Valérie Trierweiler had a nervous breakdown following news of the affair and was hospitalized, the matter became more serious and more potentially damaging to the president.

Every day new revelations appeared in the papers: Prior to his press conference, Hollande had tried to have Trierweiler sign a joint statement announcing their separation (she refused); the Hollande-Gayet affair had been going on for at least 18 months (not denied); Gayet is pregnant (denied); Trierweiler had suspicions and left her apartment in June to move into the Elysée palace; Last summer Trierweiler vacationed in Greece with her sons, waiting in vain for Hollande who instead took Julie to the south of France; Gayet appointed to prestigious Villa Medici position; Gayet's appointment to Villa Medici cancelled by Ministry of Culture following scandal; Gayet sues Closer magazine; Closer withdraws article and photos from internet; Hollande has not yet visited Trierweiler in hospital (her doctors had not allowed it); Hollande finally visited Trierweiler on day six (with doctors' approval); Trierweiler to remain in hospital for ten days, then perhaps in rest home near Paris; Tryst apartment at 20 rue du Cirque belongs to convicted Corsican criminal (denied by alleged criminal who says he rented the apartment, then left it to his ex-wife who is a friend of Gayet); Bodyguard brings breakfast croissants to Hollande love nest;... and on and on. A trickle every day, until the "private" matter of the president's infidelity had grown into a firestorm that has singed his presidential image and, as some say, caricatured France abroad.

Disguised motorcyclist Hollande

On January 18th Hollande visited the small town of Tulle (pop. 1200) in the Corrèze department of central France where he used to be mayor and deputy, for the formal New Year's wishes to his old constituency. No less than 90 journalists awaited him there in hopes of some response to the growing scandal. In vain − but those from the foreign press (including BBC and The New York Times) now know where to find Tulle on the map.

Two days later, Hollande made his first solo State visit when he visited The Netherlands without Valérie Trierweiler. Accompanied by several of his ministers, he gave a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague where, inevitably, he was once again asked if Valérie Trierweiler remained the First Lady of France. His answer: "She is doing better and is currently resting at La Lanterne".  

Presidential retreat La Lanterne, Versailles

In France too the pressure is mounting. When Interior Minister Manuel Valls was questioned about his responsibility for the safety of Mr. Hollande who made repeated nightly visits to Ms. Gayet on a scooter with only one bodyguard, he said that at no time the president's security had been compromised. At the same time, Claude Bartolone, the powerful president of the French Parliament, expressed his hope that Mr. Hollande and Ms. Trierweiler will soon be able to find a way out of the impasse.

Valérie Trierweiler has asked Mr. Hollande for "urgent clarification" of her situation and, after eight days in La Pitié-Salpêtrière, has left the hospital for La Lanterne, the French presidential country house in Versailles for "further rest". As France's First Lady she has an office at the Elysée Palace with a personal staff of five including a chauffeur, paid for with public funds. She also lives at the Elysée and in an initial response has indicated that she has "no intention to move".

Her impetuous nature and jealous disposition have not won her many friends, but her "cold dismissal" in the glare of the media after seven years of cohabitation did not play well, even as a private matter. More publicly, Hollande has been criticized for questionable behavior unworthy of high office, disregard for his personal safety in his pursuit of amorous trysts, and the naiveté of his unrealistic claim to a right of privacy "accorded to all private citizens". As Le Figaro put it: He is no longer a private citizen and owes the French people the decorum attached to his office. Gérard Courtois in Le Monde went even further in speaking of the "inquiétante légèreté" of the president, his distraction from matters of state at a critical time, and "le ridicule de la situation", adding that the president has a professional duty to represent France at home and abroad in the best possible light.

During his January 14 press conference, Hollande promised to answer the First Lady question before February 11th. He is now under pressure to find a quick resolution of this private problem and present it to a panting press that is not likely to let him get away twice with a plea for privacy. 

Confronted with a low approval rating in the polls, severe economic problems, and a lack of confidence in his policies, Hollande has a lot of challenges. But perhaps the toughest one of all:  the woman scorned who awaits his decision.

Oh yes, as for that Responsibility Pact...  Naah, you don't really want to know about that. Not until the hottest show in town is over and some sort of normality has returned. Stay tuned ...

NEW YEAR, SNCM, RUMANIA-BULGARIA, LATVIA, WORKING SUNDAYS, MARSEILLE-MP13

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

The year may be new, but some things remain the same old same.

In the hot suburbs of Paris and Strasburg, the new year was welcomed with the usual fireworks of burning cars. However, when Interior Minister Manuel Valls announced that this time 1067 cars were burned, he sounded rather pleased when he compared it to last year's number of 1193. "This decrease of 10.6% is very encouraging", he said.
On the other hand, three people were killed on New Year's Eve; two were stabbed to death and one died in an accidental explosion of illegal fireworks.
Nothing to brag about.

President Hollande started 2014 with a televised address of New Year's wishes that contained nothing new and least of all a change of plans. He restated that reducing unemployment remained his first priority and feels he is on the right track. He promised to continue his efforts to bring down public spending and to reduce the tax burden on the French people "down the line". He also announced a Pacte de Responsabilité between the government and French companies: in exchange for a reduction of labor costs and an easing of certain regulations, the companies would commit to hiring new employees. This reminds us of last year's Choc de Simplification and the Pacte de Compétitivité which to date have had little or no effect on unemployment in France. Perhaps a new name for an old program looks like progress?

SNCM

SNCM ferries blocked

In Marseilles, the year 2014 started with a strike. The Marseilles-based maritime company SNCM (Société Nationale Corse Méditerranée), which has 2600 employees, was recently condemned by the European Commission to pay back €220 million in illegal subsidies for its restructuring and privatization in 2006 and another €220 million for unfair competition against its Corsica-based rival Corsica Ferries. The French State owns 25% of SNCM, Veolia Environnement as largest shareholder owns 66%, and SNCM employees hold 9%. While the Commission's decision is being appealed, Prime Minister Ayrault immediately offered €30 million to keep the company afloat, a drop in the bucket according to local unions who reminded the government of the recovery plan it signed last September which includes the purchase of four new ships. Unable to repay the €440 million required by Brussels, the SNCM is now facing bankruptcy unless it can convince the Commission to reverse its decision. In the meantime, various unions in Marseilles, including the powerful CGT-Marins, have called for a strike, which went into effect on January 1st and continues as of this writing.

Despite a number of cash infusions by the State over the years, the CGT-Marins union has called numerous strikes against the SNCM in the past, resulting in chronic losses of income, and of the company's market share that has dwindled from 82% in 2000 to 34% in 2011. Referring to this difficult working climate, majority shareholder Veolia has announced that it plans to pull out and sell its shares.

One potential scenario might be that the French government re-nationalize the company, but if the issue cannot be resolved and SNCM were to be closed down, its impact on Marseilles will be severe and it is feared that the city may see serious social unrest.

RUMANIA AND BULGARIA 

On January 1st 2014, the last restrictions were lifted to Rumania and Bulgaria's free access to the European Union's labor market, allowing its citizens to work anywhere within the European Union. These two poorest member states had been accepted into the EU in 2007 with restrictions amid concerns over widespread corruption. The last of those restrictions − free movement throughout the border-free Schengen area − has now been lifted.

Rumanians and Bulgarians had already been working in EU countries but had needed work permits to do so. Those are now no longer required. Some EU members, notably Great Britain and Germany, have expressed fears of a wave of new immigrants who may strain their welfare systems. David Cameron said in November that legislation was being prepared that would make it harder for new immigrants to receive social benefits in England.

Most experts, however, do not believe there will be a massive exodus from Bulgaria and Rumania, since most people who wanted to leave have already done so. Lazlo Andor, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said there were already three million people from Rumania and Bulgaria living in other EU countries, and that he did not expect any major increase now. He added that migrants were essential to economic recovery and must be protected from discrimination. "I firmly believe that restricting the free movement of European workers is not the answer to high unemployment" he said, and noted that the European Union provides contingency funds if migrant influxes strained the welfare system in certain host countries.

LATVIA

New currency in Riga

Latvia began the new year by joining the Eurozone as the 18th member of the EU states that use the Euro as its currency. This former Soviet republic on the Baltic Sea replaced its former currency, the Lats, by the Euro on January 1, 2014 in hopes of reducing its dependency on Russia and attracting foreign investors. EU Commissioner Olli Rehn said that joining the Eurozone marked the completion of Latvia's return to the economic and political heart of our continent. Although government and business leaders were generally in favor of joining the single currency, some opinion polls indicated that nearly 60% of the population was against it.

WORKING ON SUNDAYS?

The issue of allowing home improvement stores
to open on Sundays is back on the table. As you may remember, Sunday is considered a day of rest in France and only by government decree are certain areas of business exempted, such as hospitals, food, security, tourist venues, and the hospitality industry. In recent months, gardening centers, furniture stores, and home improvement stores have asked for government approval to open on Sundays, and this was granted on certain Sundays in certain specific locations and for a limited time only. Some shops outside these approved sectors that opened nevertheless were fined.

Given that more and more people in France like to shop on Sundays, that unemployment among the young is very high, that many students who can only work on Sundays want to do so, that Sunday work must be paid at no less than twice the weekday rate, and that no employee in France can be required to work on Sunday against his will, pro-Open-Sunday voices have been growing louder. So Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault last fall charged Jean-Paul Bailly, former head of the Postal Service, to write a report and make recommendations to the government. Based on the Bailly Report, the government has now announced that effective immediately home improvement stores may open on Sundays until July 2015, by which time it will have reached a decision on all other areas of business and proposed a new, clearer law on the subject.

On January 2nd, two unions, Force Ouvrière and the CGT, announced that they would not sign this agreement that they were no party to. If and when an agreement is finally reached between unions, workers and the government, the new law, born by forceps, should finally settle the issue once and for all. We hope.

MARSEILLES - MP13 

Marseilles Cultural Capital of Europe 2013 ended the year in spectacular fashion with a gorgeous show of light, music, and pyrotechnics produced by the incredible Groupe F, famous for Olympic Games opening ceremonies and other world events. To see some of their work, click here:


More than 150,000 spectators gathered in the Vieux Port to attend this final event of the rich MP13 calendar, which in the course of the year drew 1.2 million visitors to Marseilles.

Take a look at these images - click here
WOW, right?!

HOLLANDE-SARKOZY, BURALISTES, PISA SURVEY, SCHOOL REFORM

HOLLANDE-SARKOZY

Both former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who met Nelson Mandela in 2008, and current president François Hollande were invited to attend the funeral service for Mandela in Johannesburg where nearly one hundred other heads of state were expected. When Hollande then invited Sarkozy to accompany him on the presidential plane, this was seen as a courtesy of one president to another, possibly inspired by Mandela's example of forgiveness and reconciliation. If reconciliation was indeed the motive, it did not last a day.

Quickly, the old mutual dislike resurfaced and the two men ended up traveling to South Africa in two separate planes. The ostensible reason was an economic and practical one (the use of two Falcon jets being less costly than the presidential Airbus), but the Sarkozy camp hinted at the complications of flying two presidents on the presidential plane that has only one bedroom and shower. For the 13-hour flight, the bedroom suite would go to Hollande and his partner Valérie Trierweiler, and Sarkozy would have to do with a mere business class seat. Pas possible.

Hollande and Sarkozy arrive in Johannesburg

There is no love lost between Sarkozy and Hollande who have barely spoken to each other since the turnover of the presidency in 2012 when, after the official parting handshake on the steps of the Elysée Palace, a boorish Hollande failed to accompany Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni to their car, as is the custom, and let them find their own way. The humiliating treatment left its mark and was generally disapproved of. Almost two years later, Mandela's spirit of forgiveness was notably absent in Paris.

At the same time, President and Mrs. Obama also traveled to Johannesburg for the Mandela funeral, with on board the presidential Air Force One former president George W. Bush and his wife, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a potential future presidential candidate. Air Force One also has only one bedroom, but accommodations were made to everyone's satisfaction. Where there's a will...

BURALISTES AND ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES  

A commercial court in Toulouse has just rendered an unexpected verdict when it ruled against the owner of a shop that sells electronic cigarettes that are meant to help smokers overcome their addiction to tobacco. A buraliste (tobacconist) in Toulouse who runs a Tabac (the government-sanctioned shops where cigarettes and lottery tickets are sold in France) had filed suit against the owner of a nearby e-cigarette shop for "unfair competition". The court agreed with the plaintiff that one smokes an e-cigarette and that as such this substitute cigarette is governed by the State's tobacco monopoly and the health laws that prohibit the advertising of any such product and limits their sale to the licensed buralistes and their 27,000 Tabac shops.

The defendant, who had received official approval to launch his e-cigarette business just months ago, called the ruling absurd and will appeal. His lawyer reminded the court that e-cigarettes have no particular statute in France and should therefore not be governed by the State's tobacco monopoly, all the more so because there is no tobacco in e-cigarettes.

Statistics reveal that 34% of the French still smoke, more than half of them young adults, and that 60,000 people die every year from tobacco-related disease at a cost to the government of 3% of its PIB. E-cigarettes would therefore seem a welcome additional tool in fighting tobacco dependency, especially for a government whose national health system pays smokers €150 per year for substitute products (patches) and reimburses the cost of anti-tabagisme treatments in hospitals. In a further effort to dissuade smokers, it regularly increases the price of cigarettes and will do so again in January 2014, when the cost per pack will reach €7.00. The most visible result so far, however, has been that smokers increasingly stock up across the border, in Belgium or Spain, where cigarettes are cheaper. 

The Toulouse ruling may not directly affect the existing anti-smoking programs, but it does not help in the health department's fight to break tobacco dependency.

PISA SURVEY

In early December, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris published its latest PISA study (Program for International Student Assessment) that compares math, reading and science skills in 15-year-old students in 65 countries. Shanghai students came in first, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, while France dropped to 25th place in math (a 16-point drop since 2003). In addition, France showed a growing gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds, said Eric Chardonnier of the OECD. He did, however, praise some of the reforms that French education minister Vincent Peillon is trying to implement, including the controversial elementary school hours.

That battle is not yet won, however, and to date 55 French mayors still refuse to implement the new 4-1/2 day class schedule in their municipalities, unless and until they receive financial help from the government. The main sticking point seems to be the cost of auxiliary personnel needed to keep the children occupied on Wednesday afternoons after class and before they go home. Minister Peillon reminded the mayors of their civic duty, saying that they represented only a small minority of the 4000 municipalities in France and that he would not allow them to stand in the way of the vast majority. "We will not go back to the old system".

Last week, a strike by prep school teachers ended in a temporary truce and a call for new discussions in January 2014. Dissatisfied middle- and high school teachers are awaiting the outcome of these discussions before deciding what action they will take. There is no smooth sailing in sight for Mr. Peillon's educational reforms.

Fortunately, Christmas is just around the corner and thoughts are turning to school vacations, holiday travel, and food, the great unifier in France. Everybody celebrates Christmas with a grand meal, rich and poor alike. Specialty food shops, patisseries, chocolatiers, and liquor stores do their biggest business of the year, and on this occasion "se faire plaisir" displaces all thoughts of school reform, strikes, or economic crisis. That will have to wait until January.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

(*) For more about local Christmas traditions, see my book Taking Root in Provence by clicking here:

ZWARTE PIET IN HOLLAND, BERLUSCONI FINAL CALL, BACK IN FRANCE...

ZWARTE PIET IN HOLLAND

After the rather somber news from France in my last blog, let's see how other countries are faring. Here's recent headline news from Holland: "Dutch Santa Claus tradition called racist."
Wow! There goes part of my youth.

On December 5th St. Nicholas, bishop of Madrid, and his Moorish helper Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), arrive by steamboat from Spain to bring gifts to all Dutch children who have been good. As they walk on the rooftops that night, Sinterklaas takes gifts from the big sack that Zwarte Piet carries and drops them down the chimney. They have been doing this for over 200 years to the delight of many thousands of little children. How simple life was then...

St. Nicholas and Black Pete

Today, a movement is afoot to declare Black Pete a racist stereotype. The issue was launched in 2011 by a Caribbean immigrant and has bloomed into a heated debate on social networks and in the press. The Netherlands have a large immigrant population from former Dutch colonies, Morocco, Turkey and eastern Europe, who may find Black Pete offensive. Dutch traditionalists were quick to gather more than 2 million signatures on Facebook defending their Sinterklaas tradition, and Prime Minister Mark Rutte called it harmless folklore. The debate is becoming politicized and has already resulted in the cancellation of the traditional Sinterklaas parade in several communities. The "politically correct" thinking seems to be gaining ground, threatening to abolish Black Pete and leaving Dutch parents wondering how to explain this to their baffled children. Goodbye innocence.

Can a rewrite of the brothers Grimm's fairytales be far off?

BERLUSCONI, FINAL CALL?

As a final gesture before being expelled from the Senate on November 27th over his conviction for tax fraud, Silvio Berlusconi and his renamed Forza Italia party have refused to give the coalition government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta their vote of confidence. Nevertheless, the government won the vote of confidence and passed the 2014 budget.

A defiant Berlusconi, who still has considerable backing, called his expulsion "a day of mourning for democracy" and vowed to continue fighting from the sidelines. Sentenced to one year of community service (instead of jail time) and two years of ineligibility for public office, he now has to face several pending trials and investigations without the immunity he enjoyed as a senator.

A court in Milan investigating his notorious bunga-bunga parties has just added to Berlusconi's legal headaches by accusing him of paying about a dozen women who attended these parties €2,500 per month for giving false testimony. In its ruling the court said that all the women who had received this monthly stipend had given "perfectly overlapping" testimony, even in their use of language, that contradicted testimony given by other participants. Two of his lawyers involved in arranging the payments were charged with evidence tampering, and three former Berlusconi associates were convicted of procuring girls to prostitute themselves at the parties.

Silvio Berlusconi and Francesca Pascale

Standing firmly by her man, Berlusconi's 28-year old girlfriend Francesca Pascale is calling on Pope Francis for help. "I have requested an audience with the pope so he can hear Silvio's story", she told the press.

Who said "Everything is lived twice; first as tragedy, then as farce"?

BACK IN FRANCE...

Good News, Maybe

France's economy is under stress, with few prospects for improvement anytime soon. But a spark of hope was lit when the just-released labor figures for the month of October indicated a slight decrease in unemployment (-0.6%) for the first time in 30 months. "It is good news," said a cautious President Hollande without, however, calling this the beginning of the unemployment downturn he had promised by the end of this year. "This battle can be won, but it will take the necessary time to reduce unemployment month by month in France," he said, carefully avoiding the mention of any deadline.

Yesss!  Brazil next year!

One battle that was already won, though in the nick of time, was the football match against Ukraine that would allow France to qualify for the FIFA world cup in Brazil next year. After losing a first match in Ukraine, France had one last chance to qualify if it could beat Ukraine by at least three points in a return match. It did so on November 19th, on home soil, with a 3-0 victory that set the country alight with joy and chased the bad economic news from the front pages, at least for a day.

Prostitution − Client Fined

In a first reading on November 29th that was poorly attended, the French Parliament passed an anti-prostitution bill that would make paying for sex a crime. A prostitute's client would be fined €1,500 for a first offense, double that amount thereafter. The bill will now be submitted to a final vote next Wednesday where the socialists, with their large parliamentary majority, are expected to vote it into law.

The bill is squarely aimed at the foreign pimping networks that employ close to 90 percent of the 20,000 to 40,000 prostitutes working in France, often in conditions of slavery. Nine out of ten prostitutes are of foreign origin, many from Eastern Europe, and last year alone French police broke up 52 pimping networks, three quarters of them foreign.

Opponents fear that the new law will drive prostitutes underground and make them more vulnerable, while humorist Nicolas Bedos commented: "To want to abolish prostitution is like wanting to abolish rain". But Maud Olivier, the Socialist MP presenting the bill said: "To say women have the right to sell themselves is to disguise the fact that men have the right to buy them. So just because one prostitute says she is free, does that make the enslavement of all others acceptable?" Supporters of the bill maintain that the vast majority of people working as prostitutes do so under duress, at risk of violence and disease.

Most of the 20 articles in the bill are aimed at disrupting the foreign pimping gangs that have proliferated in France in the past ten years, and to help the prostitutes stop. Those women who do want to get out would be given a six-month residency permit and a small monthly allowance, while several associations would assist them in seeking other means of support.

Sweden introduced a similar law in 1999 and claims that prostitution has gone down sharply since then.

Condoms

The Value Added Tax in France will go up come January 1, 2014. Most goods and services are currently taxed at 19.6% and will go up to 20%, others that were taxed at 7% will go up to 10%, but those of "première nécessité" such as food items that were taxed at 5.5% will come down to 5%. Of note: among those products of première nécessité are condoms, whose tax will be reduced from 7% to 5.5%. The Minister of Health explained its place among life's essentials as "a vital tool in our fight against AIDS".