French News - 9 February
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 9:06PM Further cancellations as airline strike enters last day
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Air France cancelled 65% of its long-haul flights and 75% of its medium- and short-haul flights on Thursday, the final day of a strike over the airline's striking policies. The airline claims the stoppage is costing EUR8-10mn per day.
AFP - French flag-carrier Air France cancelled more than a third of its long-haul flights and a quarter of shorter journeys Thursday as a four-day strike by aviation workers entered its final day.
The strike by pilots, flight attendants and ground staff was costing Air France eight to 10 million euros ($11-$13 million) per day, the company said.
Air France said it was operating 65 percent of its long-haul flights and 75 percent of medium- and short-haul flights, including by regional subsidiaries.
About the same proportion of flights had been cancelled on the third day of the strike on Wednesday.
Air France, the firm the worst hit by the industrial action, urged customers to postpone travel and sent out tens of thousands of emails and text messages to clients warning them their flights had been cancelled or delayed.
The strike hit services at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, a global aviation hub, as well as several French regional airports.
Unions called the strike to protest against a draft law that would require aviation workers to individually give 48 hours notice prior to striking, saying this limits labour rights.
The bill was approved by France's lower house last month and is due to be debated in the Senate.
The head of the SNPL pilots' union, Yves Deshayes, said the union was to meet transport ministry officials on Friday and then decide whether to pursue further action against the bill.
"Depending on the proposals made we will decide whether to continue the strike or not," he said, adding that industrial action could take place during France's February school holidays.
But Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said the government would not drop the bill, which he said was aimed at protecting passengers' rights.
"It is out of the question that we move on this text because it is not only useful but indispensable," he told AFP. "French policy is decided in parliament and not in a union headquarters."
Unions said more than 60 percent of pilots were participating in the strike but Air France said only 30 percent of pilots and 15 percent of flight attendants were taking part.
Cold spell will continue until Sunday
The very cold air mass now present in Eastern Europe is linked to a Siberian anticyclone.
Until the end of the weekend, the average daytime temperatures will often be 10 ° C lower than seasonal norms.
This cold continental air will be accompanied by a strengthening wind which accentuates the cold chill.
This morning it's especially cold on an axis running from southwest to northeast and the Alps.
Temperatures are below -10 ° C.
Last night temperatures fell to
-17 ° C in Romorantin (41),
-16 ° C in Bergerac (24) where a new record low for the month of February was brocken,
-15 ° C in Aurillac (15),
-14 ° C in Vichy (03) and Luxeuil (70),
-12 ° C in Strasbourg and even -11 ° C to Toulouse.
Frosts are also widespread from the tip of Brittany to Nice.
OUTLOOK
The cold snap will last at least until Sunday in the east and central-east with night temperatures generally strongly negative between -10 ° C and -15 ° C and maximum values between -3 ° C and -5 ° C during the day.
In other regions, there will be frost at dawn, usually between -5 and -10 ° C, but in some places down to -15 ° C.
Daytime temperatures will rise by 1 to 3 degrees today and will be generally between 0 and -2 ° C.
They fall again by 1 or 2 degrees tomorrow and Saturday .
A more widespread thaw is expected Sunday afternoon in most regions.
Next week could be warmer, but more snow is expected.
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French power levels soar as big freeze bites
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Most of France remained on high alert on Wednesday as Arctic conditions continued to bite a day after electricity consumption in the country hit record levels as residents battled the bitter cold. Freezing temperatures are set to continue.
France remained in the tight grip of the big freeze on Wednesday with over two thirds of the country still on high alert because of treacherous conditions.
On Tuesday evening electricity consumption hit record levels in the country despite warnings being issued to save power during the cold snap.
National weather service Météo France predicted minimum temperatures could drop as low as -12°C on Wednesday.
People are also being advised to take care when travelling on the country’s icy roads.
The weather has affected flights at the country’s airports, including Paris’s Charles de Gaulle, which has already been crippled by an Air France strike.
Threat of power blackouts
There were concerns on Tuesday that parts of France would be hit by power blackouts as the levels of electricity consumption soared as people turned up their heating to battle the big chill.
At the peak time of 7pm on Tuesday, electricity consumption hit a total of 100.500 megawatts (MW) beating the previous record of 96.71 megawatts set in 2010.
RTE, the company that runs the national grid, has assured the public that they would be able to cope with the soaring levels of power and stated that there will not be power cuts.
But in Brittany, a region vulnerable to power outages, residents have been advised to reduce the amount of electricity used.
In the southwest of France, thousands of homes in Toulouse, as well as several schools and a retirement home were left without heating during the freezing conditions after a heating system failed.
France on ‘orange alert’
In all, 55 departments across France were placed on ‘vigilance orange’ – the second highest alert on Wednesday because of the “exceptional” conditions.
From the Alsace and the Auvergne to the Dordogne and Charente residents have been advised to take precaution and ‘keep up to date with the changing situation’.
The Arctic spell which has claimed more than 400 lives across Europe will continue to bite over the coming days, forecasters say.
The freezing conditions continue to claim the lives of several people in France.
A retired couple were reportedly found dead in their flat in Villetaneuse, Seine-Saint-Denis after being poisoned by carbon monoxide gas from a faulty heater. A farmer in Vaucluse was also killed trying to clear ice from the roofs of his greenhouses.
Deficit falls as Bank of France forecasts zero growth
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France’s budget ministry announced on Wednesday that the central budget deficit had fallen at the end of 2011, and was hailed as a sign that the country was making financial progress. The Bank of France, however, predicted economic stagnation for the first part of 2012.
The country's deficit fell to 90.8 billion euros from a record 148.8 billion euros the previous year.
France’s Economy Minister Francois Baroin told RTL radio on Wednesday that France is “a serious country, which is modernising itself and will be ahead of schedule on the plan to reduce its deficit, whereas six months ago we were told it was unattainable."
Meanwhile, The Bank of France predicted on Wednesday that France, the eurozone’s second largest economy, would stagnate in the first three months of 2012.
It said that France’s industrial activity only progressed slightly during the month of January, with added slowdowns in the service sector.
The bank blamed fewer temporary work contracts and weak activity in the information technology sector as reasons for the January slowdown.
Also on Wednesday, France increased its public debt forecasts for 2012 and 2013, acknowledging the 6.6 billion euros it must pay into the eurozone permanent rescue fund.
Forecasts showed that public debt would be 89.1 percent of gross domestic product instead of 88.3 percent, originally predicated for this year.
France’s stocks remained close to desired levels, with prices continuing to increase slightly.
A380 fleet to be checked for further wing cracks
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The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered Airbus to check all
superjumbo A380 planes for wing cracks Wednesday following cracks found during "an unscheduled internal inspection". Airbus claims there is no safety risk.
AFP - The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered Wednesday that all Airbus A380 superjumbo planes be checked for wing cracks, even as the aircraft manufacturer insisted there was nothing to worry about.
The cracks had been found "following an unscheduled internal inspection of an A380 wing," EASA said in a statement.
Further to the finding, inspections were carried out on a number of other aeroplanes during which a new form of cracking was identified which, "if not detected and corrected, may lead to reduction of the structural integrity of the aeroplane," the statement said.
EASA, which had already said last month ordered that 20 such jets be inspected following the discovery of cracks in the wings of Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air France planes, has expanded the checks to all 67 A380s currently in operation, a spokesman said.
The announcement came after Australia's Qantas removed one of its A380 from service after discovering "minor cracks" in its wings, but said that there was no risk to flight safety.
When the first checks were announced last month, Airbus's vice president Tom Williams insisted the tiny wing cracks could be easily repaired and did not pose any danger.
"This is not a fatigue cracking problem," Williams said, blaming the cracks on design and manufacturing issues instead.
"The cracks do not compromise the airworthiness of the aircraft," he insisted.
Airbus reiterated that stance again on Wednesday.
The EASA spokesman said the checks comprised both a "detailed visual inspection", but also more intense testing that would be able to detect potential faults invisible to the naked eye.
There was no urgency to the inspections and those aircraft that had already flown more than 1,800 flights would be checked first, he said.
Earlier, Qantas took one of its A380s out of service Wednesday after discovering "minor cracks" in its wings.
The Australian airline stressed that it was not the "type two" cracking found across the global A380 fleet last month which was "now the subject of a European airworthiness directive."
"To date, type two cracking has not been found on Qantas aircraft," a Qantas spokeswoman told AFP.
The small cracking, on "some wing rib feet", was discovered during an extra round of precautionary checks requested by Airbus on the Qantas superjumbo after it hit severe turbulence over India in January.
Seven passengers were injured and four required hospital treatment in Singapore following the incident.
"This cracking is not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas, but is traced back to a manufacturing issue," the Qantas spokeswoman said.
"Airbus has confirmed that it has no effect on flight safety."
Qantas, which has 12 A380s in its fleet, said an "inspection and repair regime has been developed" in conjunction with Airbus and it expected the jet in question to return to service within a week.
"We will follow Airbus instructions on any further action that may be required," the spokeswoman said.
It is the second Qantas A380 to be found with wing rib cracks, with a superjumbo involved in a dramatic mid-air engine explosion over Indonesia in November 2010 also suffering cracking.
The A380 is the world's biggest passenger jet and a key product in Airbus's line-up as it battles its main rival, US giant Boeing, for the top spot in the world civil airliner industry.
The double-decker plane entered service in 2007 after years of technical delays. There are now 67 in service around the world and, while they have never had a fatal accident, there have been teething problems.
Former French minister questioned in Bettencourt affair
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A former French minister headed to a Bordeaux court on Wednesday to testify before investigating judges, over his role in an illegal financing campaign by L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Eric Woerth could be charged with illegally raising campaign funds and taking advantage of Bettencourt.
Woerth, France’s former labour minister, is accused of having used illegal funds from Bettencourt to help finance President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign.
Bettencourt’s former accountant, Claire Thibout, has testified that she was asked to provide batches of 150,000 euros to Woerth numerous times in 2007, while he was treasurer of Sarkozy’s UMP party.
After leaving the government in 2010, police lead several searches of Woerth’s home, as well as the UMP office implicated in the case.
Sarkozy has always denied taking illegal sums during his presidential campaign.
Heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics empire, Bettencourt is France’s wealthiest woman at 88, and is estimated to be worth over 16 billion euros.
Paris commemorates deadly Algerian War protest
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France's left-wing parties commemorated the 50-year anniversary of the Feb. 8, 1962 killing by French police of nine demonstrators protesting the war in Algeria at the Paris Charonne metro station. The state's role in the killings remains divisive.
AFP - Fifty years on, France remains divided over how to mark the Algerian war, a bitter conflict which ended 132 years of colonial rule in the north African territory while very nearly tearing French society apart.
For years, rival factions have commemorated their own victims while drawing a veil over past responsibilities for a war marked on all sides by torture and massacres, and the final exile of French-born settlers.
French communists have long commemorated the February 8, 1962 killing by police of nine demonstrators at the Paris Charonne metro station.
On Wednesday, left-leaning demonstrators will once again mark the event by rallying at the metro station which witnessed the violent police assault on a peaceful, but outlawed demonstration which had seen some 30,000 people rally to call for peace in Algeria.
"We knew the demonstration had been declared illegal, but we went with the idea we'd just be beaten up as usual rather than killed," said sociologist Maryse Tripier, who took part in the rally as a schoolgirl.
Fifty years on, trade unions and left-leaning political parties continue to demand that the French state fully account for its role in the killings.
Others however claim that by highlighting the Charonne massacre the Left helped bury another less well known police massacre of some 200 pro-independence Algerian demonstrators in Paris on October 17, 1961.
The death toll has never officially been made public, and may never be known, as many of the bodies were simply thrown into the river Seine.
For French historian Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, "France has still not acknowledged its responsibility for this state crime".
It was only last year that Francois Hollande, the socialist presidential candidate, and Bertrand Delanoe, the socialist mayor of Paris, paid tribute to the 200 dead.
French-born Algerian settlers, over a million of whom resettled in France as a result of Algerian independence, have their own memorial date -- July 5, 1962.
On that day hundreds of them were massacred in the Algerian coastal city of Oran by pro-independence forces, despite the fact that a ceasefire to end the war had been signed in Geneva three and a half months previously.
Algerians who served as auxiliaries in the French army, the "Harkis", many of whom also sought refuge in France, for their part remember the systematic killings they were subjected to by pro-independence forces when French forces withdrew from Algeria.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, whose father fought in Algeria, last month called for France to honor the Harkis and the former settlers, while rejecting the idea of a commemoration to mark March 19, 1962 when the Geneva peace accords were signed.
"It's as if no one is able to acknowledge the suffering of others," said French historian Benjamin Stora.
"Everyone has his own date. His own dead. At a time when everyone should be able to jointly honour all the victims, be they Communists, Algerians, pieds-noirs (the name given to the French settlers) or Harkis," he said.
For French historian Gilles Manceron, a former deputy president of the human rights' league, most French people "just want to turn the page" on the whole drama.
Long-term campers win right to stay
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guidedumobilhome.com
By Alison Hird
Around 70,000 people in France live on camp-sites all year round, either through choice or necessity.
A draft bill, passed by the national assembly late last year, sought to limit the time people could stay there to just three months.
Under pressure from housing advocates, the MP behind the amendment has just agreed to withdraw it.
A stay of execution for those who cannot find any other housing solution.
Unemployment - an issue for voters
Unemployment rate in France is nearly 10 per cent
Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier
At a 12 year high of nearly ten per cent, it's frequently cited in surveys as the main concern among voters.
According to Les Echos, the French financial daily, almost 900 factories have been closed since the economic crisis of 2008, with the loss of some 100,000 jobs in industry.
Sarkozy aims to push through measures before the election in a bid to reduce unemployment.
He hopes to make employers more willing to hire staff by removing some of the social security contributions they pay and including them instead in a sales tax, dubbed by some as a “Social VAT”.
He also wants to give employers the power to negotiate working time with their staff: to reduce hours and salaries at company level if deemed necessary, in order to maintain threatened jobs.
Opponents point out that Sarkozy had five years to introduce such reforms and say the moves now smack of desperation.
Socialist François Hollande promises 60,000 new jobs in schools, and plans to reduce tax on smaller companies.
He wants improved credit for research and says he will force companies who re-locate outside France to pay back any state subsidies received.
Critics say he is vague about how to pay for his plans.
Immigration - not an election issue - yet.
Members of Strasbourg's Muslim community
Reuters/Vincent Kessler
Always in the background, but so far not as prominent an issue as it was in 2007.
Back then, Sarkozy actively tried to attract sympathisers of the far-right Front National but polls show that many who voted for him then intend to go back to their old party this time.
However, their old party is trying to change. New leader Marine Le Pen (daughter of Jean-Marie) has re-vamped the party’s image.
She talks less of immigration, much more about protecting French jobs and industry and the negative effects of globalisation.
Sarkozy’s so-called “immigration choisie” policy was inspired by the systems in Canada and Australia, where quotas are set to attract immigrants to work in sectors where jobs are unfilled, such as the construction industry.
He was criticised when he tightened the rules on immigration for family reasons and for foreigners wishing to work after graduating in France.
Socialist François Hollande was asked in a TV programme whether he would continue Sarkozy’s policy. After much equivocating he failed to give a clear answer, saying instead that he favoured “immigration intelligente” without specifying what he meant.
The question of immigration in France is inextricably linked to the place of muslims in society.
France colonised several north and west African countries, and many people from these countries later settled in France where they and their children now make up Europe’s largest muslim population.
Sarkozy’s presidency saw two major initiatives in this area: a debate on national identity which was widely seen, even by supporters of the idea, as divisive, damaging and unproductive; and the ban on wearing a burka in public places, which polls show was a popular reform.
Most immigrants to France come from European Union countries, so France has little control over them. When Sarkozy sent back Romanians living in illegal camps in France, creating a huge furore, most returned a few months later.
Economy and debt - losing the AA rating no impact on France
Demonstrators outside Standard and Poor's in Paris
Reuters/Mal Langsdon
France was downgraded in mid-January by credit ratings agency Standard and Poors, though its triple A rating has been maintained by the 2 bigger agencies.
Though the S&P downgrade did not trigger the calamity predicted by some, it was seen as politically damaging for Sarkozy.
The gap in France between imports and exports reached a record high in 2011 and there is concern that France is not doing enough business in lucrative emerging markets.
Sarkozy stresses that many big economies are suffering amid difficult conditions worldwide, and hopes that his prominent role in trying to manage the eurozone debt crisis will earn him votes. He’s gambling that voters will see Socialist plans to tax and spend as irresponsible.
Socialist François Hollande says he would renegotiate aspects of the fiscal pact (which was agreed after a hugely difficult EU summit in December) persuading Germany's Angela Merkel to include more unspecified measures to stimulate growth.
Marine le Pen of the Front National has been loud in her condemnation of the whole euro project. She wants France to pull out of the shared currency, and advocates a protectionist economy
Centrist François Bayrou was a lone voice in 2007 when he insisted France should urgently deal with its deficit...This time around he has a new authority.
The economy is stagnating and whoever wins the election, there are few options to kickstart it because of the constraints imposed by eurozone budget rules.
French press review
In today's French press, it's a battle of political extremes, while Interior Minister Claude Guéant causes a kafuffle amongst UMP party members.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen are on the front page of Le Monde, where they represent the "battle of the extremes".
Le Pen is the leader of the far right National Front party, while Mélenchon can be found at the other end of the political spectrum. He is the presidential candidate of an extreme Left coalition, including the Communist Party, the Unified Left and the Party of the Left.
The two have a lot in common, despite the political gap. Both are loudly critical of the way the economic crisis is being managed, and see the working class as their natural support. Both also hope to seduce those disappointed by mainstream politics.
And they despise one another personally, to the point where their little war has become a festering side issue in the main race. Le Pen currently accounts for 16% of voting intentions, Mélenchon for about 8%, so their supporters are not to be ignored by the leading contenders.
Yesterday saw the first mass walk-out by the French government since 1898. At that time, the Dreyfus Affair was a bone of contention.
Yesterday, it was the Guéant Affair. After his weekend statements to the effect that not all civilisations are equal, Guéant was yesterday associated with Nazi Germany and the concentration camps. The comparison provoked a riot among UMP members and saw the Prime Minister, François Fillon, lead his chattering charges from the debating chamber.
Elsewhere, communist L'Humanité recalls the tragic events around the Charonne metro station here in Paris fifty years ago.
Police attacked a group of people protesting against the war in Algeria, killing nine and injuring dozens. No one has ever been charged in connection with the killings.
How the French presidential election works
Babsy/Wikimedia Commons
France is gearing up to vote in the ninth presidential election since the fifth republic was introduced in 1959. The first round takes place on 22 April. If there is no clear winner, there will be a second run-off round on 6 May. RFI explains the rules and regulations governing the vote.
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Who can be president?
Who can vote?
How and when?
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