Why France Believes the Strauss-Kahn Plot

by Roland Michel Tremblay

Fifty-seven per cent of people in France believe the head of the IMF was framed on sexual assault charges.

Le Monde confirmed in a poll conducted by CSA that for 57 per cent of the French population, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the victim of a plot. Reviewing the French press reveals that most of the mass media in France published articles quoting political figures, including political rivals, stating that they do not believe that the sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn – allegedly involving a chambermaid at a New York hotel – are genuine.

In the meantime, the career of the former head of the International Monetary Fund and potential future French president, who was seen to be more favourable to people than to global corporations, is over – unless somehow public belief in his innocence could be turned to his advantage, even if found guilty by “forged” evidence.

Here is a review of some of the articles in the French press about this case.
On May 16, Le Figaro published an article entitled, “The thesis of the plot flowers on the web and with politicians,” in which the newspaper argues that the seeds of the conspiracy theory were planted when a “militant” in the UMP, a rival political party to Strauss-Kahn’s Socialists, tweeted news of Strauss-Kahn’s arrest before the press got wind of it. “Denuded of any element of proof, it has nevertheless been evoked by responsible politicians,” the paper reported.

It reported how the website Le Post questioned certain troubling facts in an article “DSK arrested: a young UMP first on the info”: “The promptness with which Jonathan Pinet relayed the information of the arrest of DSK, the fact that Arnaud Dassier, one of the investors of the site Atlantico, already author of revelations about the Porsche, would have been one of the first to have re-tweeted the information, the fact that the site 24heuresactu, reputed close to the right, was the first French site to publish the information.” Le Post mentions that Dassier was responsible for the internet campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. (The Porsche incident stems from when Strauss-Kahn, a socialist, and his wife came out of the said car in Paris in front of their home. At the time, the right took the opportunity to tarnish his image in the media.)

From Le Figaro: “Was [this] the right way of getting rid of a chief of the IMF [who was] too independent in order to instead place someone better adapted to the American economic and financial situation?”, asks Bertrand Neveu on lefigaro.fr. Interrogations linked to the inconsistencies concerning DSK’s schedule were assembled in an article in Les Echos called “Several inconsistencies remain in the DSK timeline.” The article discusses how New York police changed the facts and time of the event after it was shown that Strauss-Kahn was having lunch with his daughter at the time of the alleged offence.

However, this point is of no importance now, since the issue is becoming if sex was consensual. Supporters of Strauss-Kahn wonder why he would contact the hotel to ensure that his mobile phone, which he left behind, could be returned. This does not fit with someone who was trying to flee the scene of a crime, especially since this is apparently how the NYPD found out where they could arrest Strauss-Kahn, on a plane at JFK airport.

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India To Sign $2.4bn Mirage Upgrade Deal With France

India is really cranking up
military aviation contracts. Even as the $4.1 billion deal for 10
American C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft awaits the
final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), another major
contract is now headed that way. 



Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the long-awaited deal with
France for the upgrade of 52 Mirage-2000 multi-role fighters in IAF's
combat fleet is "finally ready" at a cost of almost Rs 11,000 crore
($2.4 billion).


"This is also now going to CCS for approval. Another big contract, which
was being progressed simultaneously, for around 450 MICA (interception
and aerial combat missiles) systems to arm the upgraded Mirages is also
in the final stages now," said a source.


This comes after long-drawn negotiations with French companies Dassault
Aviation (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator)
and MBDA (missile supplier), which were "initially asking for much
more", said sources.


Under the contract, the first four to six Mirages will be upgraded in
France, while the rest will be retrofitted in India by Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) with transfer of technology from the French
companies.


This means the overall Mirage upgrade package, including the
fire-and-forget MICA missiles and the infrastructure build-up at HAL,
will eventually cross the Rs 15,000-crore mark.


It obviously raises questions whether it would be more prudent to simply
buy new fighters rather than upgrade older ones at such a huge cost.
IAF, however, argues the "retrofitted" Mirages -- with new avionics,
radars, mission computers, glass cockpits, helmet-mounted displays,
electronic warfare suites, weapon delivery and precision-targeting
systems -- would remain "top-notch fighters" for almost two decades
more.


With a depleting number of fighter squadrons (each has 16 to 18 jets),
down to just 32 from a `sanctioned strength' of 39.5, IAF is going for a
mix of upgrades and new inductions to stem its fast-eroding combat edge
over even Pakistan.


There is, for instance, the ongoing upgrade of 63 MiG-29s under a $964
million deal inked with Russia in March 2008. Then, India is also
progressively inducting the 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for
around $12 billion. Moreover, the first lot of the around 120
indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft will begin joining the force from
end-2013 onwards.

Straus-Kahn Victim Of Sarkozy's Smear Campaign: Ally

By ETHAN Markoff
May 17, 2011

WORLD NEWS - After the denial of bail in a sex assault case in a New York City courtroom Monday, there is another brewing. In a recent comment by a possibly a Socialist candidate, who is also believed to be a close associate of Strauss-Kahn in France presidential election, said Saturday the IMF chief was persecuted for a smear campaign by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s camp.

Socialist politician Jean-Marie Le Guen expressed in his interview said Mr. Sarkozy totally planned an organized campaign to taint the character of his main rival in next year election. He said the Elysee (Sarkozy’s office) structured for months to clear out the idea how they would attack (his) personal character.

Jean Veil, Strauss-Kahn's lawyer said he would probably file a legal action against a French newspaper, questioning about the lifestyle of his client. He further added that the newspaper produced several inaccurate details such a possession of suits from a luxury tailor in Washington and described him a worker from US President Barack Obama.

"His suits are perfectly normal and allegations which are now spread regularly throughout the media are both fabrications and now clearly defamatory," Le Guen said.

It is noted that in a recent opinion polls suggested Mr. Strauss-Kahn would win the Socialist Party primaries against French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Read more..

IMF’s Strauss-Kahn Sex Charge Allegations

France Threatens to 'Suspend' Schengen Treaty
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France has threatened to abandon European Union freedom of movement by “suspending” Europe’s Schengen Treaty due to an influx of Tunisian and Libyan migrants from Italy.

Italy has given up to 26,000 illegal migrants six-month residence permits, allowing them to travel freely in the border-free Schengen zone, which covers all EU countries except Britain and Ireland.

The decision to issue travel documents to the Tunisians and other Arab migrants has triggered a French warning over the 1995 treaty.

''It seems to us that we need to think about a mechanism that would allow us, when there is a systematic disruption at one of the EU’s external borders, to intervene with a temporary suspension for as long as the disruption lasts,” said an Elysée source. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Friday, April 22, 2011

French Workforce On Strike Because of 'Anglo Saxon Imperialist' Management
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The entire workforce of a British French-based ceramics factory has gone on strike in protest at the "Anglo Saxon industrial imperialism" because management only speak English

Some 184 staff at Thermal Ceramics, in Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez, in the Loire Valley, are staging walkouts every day.

"We say 'hello' in French but then communication stops," said workers' representative Thierry Juvin, adding that "every meeting is an ordeal."

He said workers at the factory, which makes ceramic fibre insulation, wanted to discuss wage rises and improved working conditions, but it was proving impossible.

"We have to have someone who translates everything into English, and then anything our English boss says has to be translated into French.

"This makes dialogue extremely slow, if not impossible."

Mr Juvin said three walkouts had been held on most days since English-speaking bosses began managing them earlier this year. » | Peter Allen in Paris | Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Marine Le Pen rate son grand oral d'économie
LE POINT: La présidente du FN a tenté d'expliquer son programme économique pour la France. Sans convaincre.

"De quoi ? Qui ça ? Ah oui ! Borloo a quitté l'UMP... Très bien, vous savez, moi, je suis pour la concurrence !" plaisante Marine Le Pen, vendredi matin. Pour la concurrence en politique, peut-être, mais en économie, rien n'est moins sûr... Tout sourire, lunettes de soleil sur la tête, veste couleur crème et bottines noires, la présidente du Front national fume une dernière cigarette avant de se livrer à un exercice dont elle n'a pas l'habitude. Son équipe a en effet convié des journalistes économiques - et non pas les "politiques", qu'elle connaît bien - à un "petit-déjeuner de travail " pour expliciter les grandes orientations de son programme dans ce secteur. "Nous ne sommes pas légitimes que sur l'immigration et l'insécurité", veut-elle convaincre. Elle souhaite démontrer que son programme n'est "ni simpliste, ni fantaisiste, ni ringard". » | Par Pauline de Saint Remy | Vendredi 08 Avril 2011

A populist warning light?

A new opinion poll shows that Austrian, anti-immigrant, populist party FPÖ would end up on top if elections were held today, beating both the social democratic SPÖ and conservative ÖVP. There are of course multiple reasons for the party's rise, but we note that FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strachewhich last week slammed Austria's participation in, and the cost of, eurozone bail-outs. "Thank you, [Austrian Chancellor] Werner Faymannm," he said sarcastically.

In Finland, the "True Finns" party, under the leadership of Timo Soini (pictured), has seemingly come from nowhere and transformed itself into a full-scale political force. A recent opinion poll put it second, ahead of this month's national elections. Though not nearly as bad as FPÖ, it does run on a highly populist platform with a strong anti-euro flavour. The party was almost single-handedly responsible for derailing the EU deal on how to increase the size of the eurozone's bailout fund, the EFSF. The decision is now postponed until June, after the Finnish elections. And as Jan Sundberg, Professor at University of Helisnki puts it, "Portugal crashing would be a gift to the True Finns".

In the Netherlands, the government does not have a majority in Parliament, but has to rely on Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom, which is the third largest party in the country. Wilders has also spoken out against the euro-bailouts. So far, the Dutch government has relied on the other Dutch opposition parties to get its EU measures though parliament.

In France, far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen is gaining popularity, and one poll even showed her ahead of all other candidates ahead of next year's Presidential elections. Le Pen has called for France to leave the eurozone, along with Spain, Greece and Portugal, saying:

"They promised us that this currency would bring growth and welfare, and what happened? People were destroyed, we are talking about a real tragedy. Look at what happened to Greece."

Again, there are numerous factors at work here - and we should be careful to over-simplify or generalise - but it's hard not to detect a worrying trend: four of the eurozone's main creditor countries (and incidentally net contributors to the EU budget), which are underwriting struggling euro governments' debt to the tune of hundreds of billions, are experiencing a dramatic surge in support for populist parties. These parties would not only reject the bail-outs and the Single Currency but also, in all likelihood, the EU itself.

So what about the big kid on the block: Germany?

Germany doesn't really have its own version of the populist parties we see in other parts of Europe - on the left, Die Linke might fit part of the bill, but it's still not quite the same. Therefore, there's no real political platform for the kind of aggressive anti-euro sentiments that we see in Austria for example (which also plays on anti-immigration and anti-incumbency) - and there's unlikely to be one in the immediate future.

It's clear, however, that German public opinion is growing increasingly wary of the direction of the euro. Slowly, these sentiments are beginning to trickle through to party politics. The motion which was passed by a near-unanimous German Parliament asking Merkel to backtrack on an agreement between eurozone leaders, is one example (though it shouldn't be overstated either). But there clearly is a vacuum in EU politics in terms of voicing alternative visions for the direction of the Single Currency and the EU - and a mismatch between public opinion and the political class.

Writing in FTD last week, Wolfgang Münchau - who, until recently, was the arch-optimist amongst eurozone commentators - argued that "a right-wing spot is free" in Germany. He suggested that the liberal FDP will fill the vacuum and turn into a 'eurosceptic' party. Perhaps. If so, the hope is that the FDP could transform itself into a sensible, EU reformist party, pushing for the revolutionary idea (yes, sarcasm) that the single currency and the EU should be based on sound economics and democracy. Such an outcome would benefit both Germany and Europe.

The fear, as ever, is that the vacuum will be filled by other, nastier political forces.

A Europe in which populist, anti-immigrant parties hold strong positions in creditor (or triple A countries), while far-left parties gain prominence in debtor nations such as Greece or Portugal, would really be the worst of all worlds.

But if Europe's mainstream politicians continue to stick their heads in the sand, and refuse to speak about the problems facing the eurozone - they should not be surprised if voters turn to the parties that do engage in some straight talking, however flawed or nasty such talk may be.

Mainstream political parties and their leaders got it spectacularly wrong on the euro in the past. Perhaps it's time to think about some more fundamental solutions to the eurozone's problems?

Nicolas Sarkozy Makes Populist Play for Welfare in Country that Still Cares
THE GUARDIAN: Cross-party commitment to welfare means France is a good place to be old, young, sick, jobless or female

The future of social care, President Nicolas Sarkozy declared, "is a matter of such importance and gravity that ideology has no place". His opponents scoff, among them Martine Aubry, one of the frontrunners to be the Socialist party's candidate against him in the presidential elections due in 2012.

Viewed from the British side of the Channel, Sarkozy has made a striking promise to create a "new branch of the welfare state" to provide care for old people and those with disabilities. France has 1.1 million dependent old people, their numbers expected to grow by 1%-2% to the middle of the century, when the over‑85s could number 5 million.

Alarmist voices have sounded, but France has heard little of the partisan hysteria audible in Britain, where spending on care for old people has been proportionately higher than in France. Sarkozy promises to lay out a plan by this summer, in good time to give him a populist theme for the presidential campaign. (By then we ought to have sight of proposals to come from Andrew Dilnot, the Oxford economist commissioned by the Cameron government to rethink social care; they will make for a fascinating comparison.)

It's true that Sarkozy, after grandstanding on social care when he was elected in 2007, has vacillated. His latest line is that social care won't be a formal "fifth branch" of the French welfare state. Its four pillars are family benefits, health, coverage for accidents at work, and pensions. They offer relatively generous statutory entitlements, funded by insurance schemes paid for by statutory employer and employee contributions, topped up by general taxation. Instead, Sarkozy's extension of social care is to come from private insurance, some tax funding or even (this came from Laurent Hénart, the president of the national agency for personal services and a pro-Sarkozy MP) the proceeds of French workers giving up a day's leave each year. But the state will organise and underpin it.

How unlike Britain: in France, cross-party commitment to welfare runs deep, as does belief in the necessity and benignity of "l'état". Politicians on the right and the left use the word solidarité with sincerity (the National Front is statist, too, though its definitions exclude "immigrants" from the national compact). Perhaps solidarity is the modern expression of the 1789 cry for "fraternity". The Sarkozy government has a minister for solidarity and maintains the solidarity tax, only one of several payments by general taxpayers and employers levied in the name of strengthening social cohesion. On the annual journée de solidarité employees' pay is earmarked for old people's charities. Continue reading and comment » | Polly Toynbee | Tuesday, March 22, 2011

La peine de mort selon Saint François Mitterrand

François Mitterrand

L’élection présidentielle de 1981

La campagne officielle n’avait pas encore commencé mais les différents candidats étaient déjà "en place". Il y en avait dix. (...)

L’émission "Cartes sur table" sur Antenne 2 (...) invitait le lundi 16 mars 1981 dans la soirée l’un des deux principaux candidats, François Mitterrand. (...)

L’atmosphère de l’émission était à la fois sobre (les décors étaient noirs et le public était silencieux) et intimiste : les trois intervenants étant très près l’un des autres. (...)

L’émission se terminait. Le générique allait être lancé. Après une courte hésitation, [le journaliste] Alain Duhamel s’est jeté à l’eau et a posé à François Mitterrand la fameuse question sur la peine de mort.

Cette question de la peine de mort revenait souvent depuis plusieurs années. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing et son Ministre de la Justice Alain Peyrefitte y étaient défavorables mais se refusaient à l’abolir dans les circonstances de l’époque faites d’insécurité.

Une fois n’était pas coutume, François Mitterrand avait été clair et franc : « Pas plus sur cette question que sur les autres je ne cacherai ma pensée. Et je n'ai pas du tout l'intention de mener ce combat à la face du pays en faisant semblant d'être ce que je ne suis pas. Dans ma conscience profonde, qui rejoint celle des églises, l'église catholique, les églises réformées, la religion juive, la totalité des grandes associations humanitaires, internationales et nationales, dans ma conscience, dans le for de ma conscience, je suis contre la peine de mort. ».

Il ne cachait pas les sondages qui étaient hostiles à cette prise de position : « Et je n'ai pas besoin de lire les sondages, qui disent le contraire, une opinion majoritaire est pour la peine de mort. Eh bien moi, je suis candidat à la présidence de la République et je demande une majorité de suffrages aux Français et je ne la demande pas dans le secret de ma pensée. Je dis ce que je pense, ce à quoi j'adhère, ce à quoi je crois, ce à quoi se rattachent mes adhésions spirituelles, ma croyance, mon souci de la civilisation, je ne suis pas favorable à la peine de mort. ». (...)

François Mitterrand fut investi quatrième Président de la Ve République le 21 mai 1981. (...)

Au cours d’une session extraordinaire, le 17 septembre 1981, le Ministre de la Justice Robert Badinter entama la discussion parlementaire par ces mots émouvants : « J’ai l’honneur au nom du gouvernement de la République de demander à l’Assemblée Nationale l’abolition de la peine de mort en France. ».

Robert Badinter

Et il termina son plaidoyer ainsi : « Demain, grâce à vous, la justice française ne sera plus une justice qui tue. Demain, grâce à vous, il n’y aura plus, pour notre honte commune, d’exécutions furtives, à l’aube, sous le dais noir, dans les prisons françaises. Demain, les pages sanglantes de notre justice seront tournées. À cet instant plus qu’à aucun autre, j’ai le sentiment d’assumer mon ministère au sens ancien, au sens noble, le plus noble qui soit, c’est-à-dire au sens de service. Demain, vous voterez l’abolition de la peine de mort. Législateur français, de tout mon cœur, je vous en remercie. ».

L’abolition de la peine de mort fut votée le 18 septembre 1981 à l’Assemblée Nationale par 369 voix (...) contre 113.

La polémique récemment initiée par la publication du livre "François Mitterrand et la guerre d’Algérie" (de Benjamin Stora et François Malye, éd. Calmann-Lévy, 2010) pourrait remettre en cause la sincérité de François Mitterrand. Il aurait en effet demandé la plus grande sévérité contre des terroristes du FLN lorsqu’il était Ministre de la Justice dans le gouvernement de Guy Mollet. Quarante-cinq personnes auraient été guillotinées alors que François Mitterrand avait recommandé au Président René Coty de ne pas user de son droit de grâce. (...)

Robert Badinter a expliqué en février 2011 que François Mitterrand n’était pas contre la peine de mort dans les années 1950 comme la plupart des hommes politiques de cette époque mais que son évolution personnelle l’a fait changer sincèrement d’idée dans les années 1970.

Cliquez ici pour lire cet article dans son intégralité/Click here to read the full article.

Source: agoravox, Sylvain Rakotoarison, March 16, 2011

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What conclusions should we draw from Germany's abstention on no-fly zone?

Last night's UN resolution authorising the creation and enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, and Germany's abstention in the Security Council's vote in particular, is stirring quite a debate.

Iain Dale has been quick to denounce the German abstention as "shameful" and an act of "cowardice".

The Spectator's Alex Massie has countered that:

Having doubts is not shameful and I don't see why we are supposed to think that Germany should have supported the resolution simply because Britain, France and other countries were doing so.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but if sovereignty means anything it must permit sovereign, friendly nations to disagree on matters of major international importance. (And if the Germans are bad europeans for preventing a common EU approach doesn't that just mean they're fulfilling the traditional British role? Which in turn means they must, from the eurosceptic position, be the Good Guys in this instance.)

Germany's aloofness when it comes to matters of foreign policy and military action can be extremely frustrating. Take its unwillingness to get fully involved in Afghanistan, despite providing the third largest contingent of NATO troops, as an example. The legacy of the Second World War still looms large in the German psyche and that is somewhat understandable.

But, whatever one's views about the merits of Germany's perceived pacifism, Massie makes surely the most important point: that countries should be free to make up their own minds and, if they disagree with each other, so be it.

The real problems arise when you try to force these different views through the funnel/sausage machine that is the EU in the hope of a single common position.

At last week's summit, we should remember, it was Germany that blocked EU endorsement of a no-fly zone. This, in the words of the Independent, left France and the UK "isolated" in their call for intervention. This was, of course, nonsense because, as we have seen, it was never going to be the EU that decided on the use of force. The Franco-British defence pact, agreed last year outside the auspices of the EU, was an admission - however small - on the part of France that to get things done militarily, the EU is just too slow, indecisive and unwieldy.

And it was the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that today noted "the tensions in foreign policy between France and Germany are remarkable," adding that the lack of Franco-German consensus was "paralysing the EU".

The Franco-German relationship will always be the most important in the EU (they share a border, a turbulent history and the same currency), but on more and more issues, be it defence or the future of the euro, as France and Germany get up close and personal, the more they start to grate with each other. The FAZ article started by noting that newly appointed French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe's first visit to Berlin was cancelled, albeit with the "plausible excuse" that he had to fly to the UN in New York.

Alright, it's only in one area, and hopefully it won't come to the use of force, but if France begins to see the benefits of a flexible approach to European cooperation, sometimes outside the EU, this could prove to be important in breaking down the EU's monolithic approach to many other issues.

"Knife-attack" on two seat parliament

Libya is burning on the EU's doorstep.

The dangers of the sovereign debt crisis still loom large over the eurozone - Portugal is likely to need a bail-out soon.

EU member states are working out how best to help Japan deal with the aftermath of the worst earthquake in the country's history.

Meanwhile, trust in the EU is at an all time low in many countries across Europe.

Mundane issues such as these should not, of course, distract from the really important issue - maintaining MEPs' €180 million/20,000 CO2 a year Strasbourg seat (in addition to their ordinary seat in Brussels and their secretariat in Luxembourg).

At least, that's how France sees it. The French government has said it will challenge the decision at the ECJ, taken by a majority of MEPs to scrap one - we repeat just one - of Strasbourg's annual sessions (the EP holds two plenary sessions in the autumn to compensate for MEPs' extended holiday season.)

The French Europe Minister Laurent Wauquiez explains why:

"The parliament building in Strasbourg is the symbol of a Europe closer to citizens, a Europe that is proud of its symbols. The government will not accept the knife-attack on the contract which is in the treaties."

Well of course. Now it all makes sense.

The EU should impose sanctions on Gaddafi

Over on the Spectator's Coffee House blog, we set out the case for imposing sanctions on Gaddfi's regime (while also looking at the difficulties EU member states are facing in coming up with a common policy on Libya, in what is a painfully familar story).

We argue,

The EU spends €460 million a year in operational costs alone on its new foreign policy department, the External Action Service, headed up by Catherine Ashton. This body - created by the Lisbon Treaty - was Europe’s ‘great white hope’ for the global stage, finally allowing it to speak with one voice and therefore giving it leverage where it previously had none.

It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Caught between Cairo and Tripoli, the EU has received yet another reminder that its bureaucracies and institutions cannot magically replace 27 individual foreign policies, as EU leaders continue their bickering over what to do.

The EU’s response to the turbulence in Libya has been fragmented at best, and contradictory at worst. Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi – one of the few EU leaders with some clout in Libya – initially said that he didn’t wish to “disturb” Colonel Gaddafi since the situation was “evolving”. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg maintained that the EU should not "get involved too much" because, "If Gaddafi falls, then there will be bigger catastrophes in the world”, though he later said he had meant something else.

In stark contrast, Finland, France – and in more careful language also Germany – have called for sanctions to be imposed on Gaddafi, including a travel ban and a freeze on his and his family’s assets, something categorically rejected by Italy and a few other countries. Still others have spoken in terms of general condemnation but proposed no concrete action, a group including Britain so far. Meanwhile, no one is paying much attention to the EU’s alleged foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. It all feels awfully familiar.

Does the absence of a common EU stance matter? I believe it does. While it’s true that the EU’s leverage in Libya and some other parts of Northern Africa and the Middle East is very limited, when Europe does pull together it can actually exert influence in its backyard. Enlargement remains the EU’s greatest foreign policy achievement made possible through a mix of aid and trade incentives.

So what should be done?

The UK should throw its full weight behind German, French and Finnish calls for sanctions, including an EU-wide travel ban on Gaddafi and his family, as well as a freezing of their assets across the bloc. Other possible responses, such as imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, should also be explored. The Colonel’s delirious speech yesterday – and his son’s comments that the family will fight “to the last bullet” – have confirmed that Gaddafi ranks amongst the Mugabes of this world (if anyone for a second thought otherwise).

Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb put it best when he said that "How can we on one side look at what's going on in Libya, with almost 300 people shot dead, and not talk about sanctions or travel bans, and at the same time put travel bans and sanctions in Belarus?". EU-wide sanctions could hurt Gaddafi – financially and politically – but waiting for too long will lessen their impact.

In terms of responding to the challenges in the wider region, David Cameron is absolutely correct in calling for radical reform of the EU’s neighbourhood policy, which together with other European programmes (such as the European Investment Bank), has dished out billions to the region, with few strings attached. In future, no reform on the human rights front should mean no cash.

At the same time, the EU needs to use other incentives and tools to promote long-term democratic and economic transformation in the region. For example, the EU should consider opening up its markets to more goods from North African countries on the path towards democracy. This should include agricultural products, which at the moment face a patchwork of tariffs in various guises before they can enter Europe. These barriers are contributing to rural poverty in North Africa and therefore instability. The UK is in a strong position to spearhead such trade reforms.

To give with aid on the one hand and take away through trade restrictions with the other makes no sense. Alas, it’s symptomatic of the inconsistency that too often characterises the EU’s relations with the outside world.

The Libyan protesters’ push for change presents an opportunity for Europe to put this right.

Saying 'Nein' To Angie - Part II

We've already looked at the reaction from some of the European press to the Franco-German "pact for competitiveness". But what about European leaders? Well, as has been widely reported, Paris and Berlin may find it a bit more difficult than usual to get their way.

Possibly the toughest reaction came from non-euro member Poland, whose PM Donald Tusk "personally attacked" German Chancellor Angela Merkel and expressed “fundamental doubts” about her plans, according to Spiegel. Going all out, he added:

Why do you have to demonstrate a division? Are the rest of us standing in your way?

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said on his arrival at Friday's summit that he was "absolutely not in agreement" with the idea of scrapping the link between pay rises and inflation, and warned,

We will not allow our social model to be undone.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker concurred,

I can't really find a reason why abolishing the indexation of wages should improve the competitiveness of my country or the euro area.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, a known supporter of German-style fiscal discipline, bluntly stated,

I don't even think it's possible that the EU sets the retirement age.

Predictably, Greece also voiced its disapproval, not quite appreciating the idea of a constitutional limit to government borrowing - the already infamous "debt brake". In an interview with Ta Nea, Greek Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos said,

I categorically reject the thought of an EU decision to intervene in national constitutions. The idea that this would be a precondition for being a part of the German rescue plan is not attractive to me.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will now try to find a compromise, suitable to all eurozone leaders. An extra eurozone summit is planned, possibly for March 11, then the aim is to have a deal ready at the EU summit by the end of March.

Bonne Chance.

Policy before institution, please

In regards to Egypt, institutional Europe was lacking a clear line until [French President] Nicolas Sarkozy, [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel and David Cameron decided to put pressure on [Egyptian leader] Hosni Mubarak to implement the ‘political, economic and social reforms’ he had pledged. Until then, Catherine Ashton, the voice of [the EU’s] diplomacy, and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the [European] Council, had been grinding topical phrases about the rejection of violence and the necessity of dialogue.

- An article in today's Le Figaro criticises the EU’s response to the recent crises in the Arab world and summarises the problems inherent in the EU's confused foreign policy set-up, i.e. institutions without real policies.

No EU, No...Cognac

Europhiles have a peculiar habit of crediting "Europe" - though it's never entirely clear what the concept refers to - for achievements ranging from more cosmopolitan restaurants in Britain to "so much to choose from in the supermarket" to world peace (well, we're not quite there yet).

However, France's new Europe Minister Laurent Wauquiez seems to have taken this to a new level.

He told a meeting of the National Interprofessional Bureau of Cognac (which, it must be said, is a fantastic name) that without the EU there would be no....cognac. Mr. Wauquiez said:

Europe has protected cognac. For example, on the Chinese market, Europe has allowed us to force the Chinese to recognise cognac and protect it [...] If Europe hadn't been there, there's no doubt that we would no longer have cognac.

That's right, no EU, no cognac.

We understand what Laurent le charmant is getting at, trademark protection and all that. But perhaps he's taking it just a little bit too far...?

Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus

Lofty plans for aligning France's and Germany's economic policies are nothing new. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is particularly excited about the idea.

But what do people in both countries think of the prospect of becoming more like eachother? Today's Le Monde features a new survey carried out by French Institute IFOP on behalf of a German and a French think-tank.

It gives an answer that Sarko - and a big chunk of the EU elite - probably don't want to hear. According to the poll, only 18% of Germans think that their country should consider France its "privileged partner". On their part, only 31% of French think Germany should be considered the same.

And there's more. Only 44% of Germans agree that their country should coordinate more of its economic policies with other eurozone countries, compared to 65% of the French. Unsurprisingly, French and Germans aren't exactly on the same wavelength when it comes to the role of the ECB. 69% of Germans say that the ECB should focus its efforts on "combating inflation and price increases", while 51% of French think that it should act to "spur economic growth". That discrepancy goes to the very heart of the eurozone's problems (one-size-doesn't-fit-all).

In other words, not a good place to start for two countries which are trying to show the eurozone that greater harmonisation of economic policies is both achievable and desirable...

We can't help but to recall what French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde recently said on BBC Newsnight. When asked whether people had ever voted in favour of greater harmonisation of economic policies in the eurozone, she replied:

The European project has been around for over fifty years and it was built on the back of a situation where people were at war […] The European project is something we all believe in because we want peace to be maintained.

Eh, was that really the question?

Instead of reverting back to their default Kum-bay-ya mode when faced with economic and democratic reality, Lagarde and the others would do well in pondering these poll results. After all, reality will catch up with them sooner or later.

Frenchman held in Indonesia over drugs

A Frenchman could face the death penalty in Indonesia after customs officials found 5kg of methamphetamine in his luggage at Jakarta's airport, an official said on Thursday.

The 53-year-old man identified only as Gerard D. was arrested on Tuesday after landing on a Emirates Airways flight from Dubai with 5kg of the drug, estimated to have a street value of 7.6 billion rupiah (S$1.1 million).

'Our officers found a suspicious package when it went through an X-Ray machine,' Soekarno-Hatta airport's customs spokesman Evy Suhartantyo told AFP, adding that the man hid the drug in a package inside the suitcase lining.

The spokesman said that following the man's arrest, police also arrested an Iranian man and an Indonesian woman in West Jakarta who were expected to receive the package.

Indonesia enforces stiff penalties, including life imprisonment and the death sentence, for drug trafficking convictions.

The alleged trafficker was being detained in police custody.

Source: Agence France-Presse, January 13, 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy s'engage à protéger l'euro
Les voeux du président de la République ont été enregistrés pendant la journée dans la salle des fêtes de l'Elysée. Ils ont été diffusés en différé à 20 heures simultanément sur Dailymotion, sur les principales chaînes de télévision et stations de radio. Photo : Le Figaro

LE FIGARO: «La fin de l'euro serait la fin de l'Europe», a expliqué le président lors de ses vœux aux Français. Il souhaite que l'année 2011 soit «utile», la France ne pouvant pas «se payer le luxe d'une année d'immobilisme pré-électoral».

Il avait préparé son texte plusieurs jours à l'avance. Nicolas Sarkozy a apporté un soin particulier au rituel des vœux de la Saint-Sylvestre, après une année 2010 difficile, marquée par la défaite de la droite aux régionales, l'affaire Woerth-Bettencourt, ou encore la delicate réforme des retraites, sur fond de morosité économique.

Se posant en président «protecteur», comme son entourage l'avait pressenti, il a mis l'accent sur l'importance de l'Europe pendant la crise. Le président a mis en garde contre ceux qui proposent de sortir de l'euro. «L'isolement de la France serait une folie. La fin de l'euro serait la fin de l'Europe», a déclaré le chef de l'Etat. Or «dans la tempête, (elle) a su faire face, certes pas assez complètement et souvent pas assez rapidement, mais l'Europe a tenu et l'Europe nous a protégés», a-t-il affirmé.«Je m'opposerai de toutes mes forces à un retour en arrière qui ferait fi de 60 ans de construction européenne», a-t-il appuyé dans cette déclaration radio-télédiffusée qui était également retransmise par Dailymotion. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Vendredi 31 Décembre 2010


Voeux du Président Nicolas Sarkozy aux Français pour 2011
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Europe turning against the euro?

Well, we're not quite there yet. But those who still think - and there are some - that reservations about the future of the euro is something which exists primarily amongst the we-told-you-so bunch on the Tory backbenches, should try to pick up a European paper once in a while.

While the tone and focus on the criticism differ - depending on the prevalent attitude to Europe in the respective countries - media across Europe is clearly becoming increasingly disillusioned with the entire euro-project. And it would be strange otherwise.

An opinion piece in Expansión - Spain's main financial daily - argued:

"The next foreseeable step is that the other peripheral European countries, whose welfare is in question, will question the legitimacy of a supranational body which holds very little democratic counterweight to impose blood and tears."

An opinion piece from Spanish daily La Razón's Brussels correspondent, Jorge Valero, titled "the sweet decadence of Europe", argued:

"The slow exit from the recession, in comparison to the US and emerging economies, has revealed the shadows, imbalances and contradictions of the jewel in the crown of the European utopia: the euro."

Moving to France, a comment piece in Le Figaro noted:

"The Greek domino fell during last spring. The Irish domino has been wobbling over the last days. The Spanish domino will follow suit, along with the Portuguese domino. This is all very sad for those experts who conceived the eurozone and put it into practice - by pursuing an often absurd monetary policy which led to the 'genocide' of our industry."

In Germany, the front page of yesterday's Handelsblatt carried the headline: "The next Ireland is called Portugal", while an article in the paper noted that the current crisis has "once again revealed the two-tier society of the eurozone." An article in FAZ warned against the EU's "bizarre bailout logic" that because Ireland has been granted a bailout, then "there is no need to worry about Portugal and Spain."

In today's Handelsblatt, a comment piece argues:

"whether we can save the euro, is questionable. It is however sure that we become gravediggers when we push countries in crisis into a straightjacket".

As we note in a previous post, in yesterday's Die Welt, Dorothea Siems expressed some strong views:

"The euro-adventure stands the risk of meeting a terrible end. Germany must make clear where the borders of what it can bear lay. This is because the euro isn't a goal in itself. The EU is a lot more than just Euroland. Not because of national power play, but because of a sense for reality. The future of the EU should not be made dependent on the euro, simply for the reason of not wanting to harm European unity in the long-term."

Further north, an analysis piece in Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet noted that:

"it took six months for the markets to figure out that the miracle cure against the debt disease which the EU-doctors prescribed this Spring consisted of worthless soda water."

An opinion piece in the Hungarian paper Magyar Nemzet by columnist Anna Szabo argues:

“The eurozone, which most East-Central European states wanted to join, is now marching towards uncertainty […] Until now the requirements for the introduction of the euro could be sidestepped without punishment and now [all eurozone countries] are facing the consequences.”

Meanwhile, Hungarian news magazine HVG reports that the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Hungary “is glad that it is not in the eurozone.”

Sacrificed at the altar of the Franco-German axis?

As we've noted before, Germany's attitude to the EU and the famous Franco-German alliance is changing (plug: we will be organising a debate in Berlin next Tuesday on that very topic). Take German liberal MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin (photo) for example. She is a vice-President of the European Parliament and has been called the 'European face' of the German liberals - the junior partners in Angela Merkel's coalition government.

However, yesterday she reacted fiercely to the agreement that Angela Merkel and Sarkozy reached in Deauville. The deal had the effect of watering down German demands for a stronger Stability Pact to install some fiscal discipline in the eurozone, in return for French backing for a Treaty change. Ms. Koch-Mehrin accused Merkel of having "broken her promise" on tougher rules for eurozone countries which run excessive deficits. Even more interestingly, she said: “I fear that more German taxes are now being sacrificed at the altar of the Franco-German friendship.”

Strong words from someone who certainly can't be described as a eurosceptic.