Voici pour les Anglophones la France et les français vus du Golfe Persique... 25/07/2006   Down but not out http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/07/13/10053027.html 07/14/2006 06:18 PM | By Patrick Seale, Special to Gulf News France is living through moments of anxiety as it approaches the end of the Chirac era. When he was battling the uprising of rebellious students in 1968, General Charles de Gaulle - then President of France - used to ask how one could possibly govern a country that produced 365 different types of cheese! He meant, of course, that the French were so diverse, so opinionated, so individualistic in their tastes, and so turbulent, that they were virtually ungovernable. That remains true today, as President Jacques Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de […]

  Friday, May 19, 2006 Last Update: 3:33 PM ET   May 14, 2006 La Femme By JAMES TRAUB Dominique Issermann for The New York Times   Madame la Présidente? Ségolène Royal, charming voters, if not the political mandarins. There's a reason that the leaders of France's Socialist Party are called "elephants": They live forever. Among the elephants now vying to become the party's candidate for president in next year's election are Laurent Fabius, who served as prime minister 22 years ago, and Lionel Jospin, who served as Socialist Party leader a quarter-century ago and suffered a defeat in the last presidential election so devastating, both for himself and for the party, that you would have thought prudence alone would dictate political retirement. But in France, politics is a profession; […]

  Le dessin représente un coq gaulois, les yeux bandés. Légende : "La France affronte l'avenir." Cette semaine, le magazine britannique The Economist a consacré sa "une" à la bataille du CPE. Avec ce constat, récurrent ces derniers temps dans la presse internationale : "La France semble incapable de s'adapter à un monde en évolution."  "UN MANQUE D'AMBITION À DONNER LA CHAIR DE POULE" L'hebdomadaire n'en revient pas : "Selon un sondage étonnant, les trois quarts des jeunes Français voudraient devenir fonctionnaires, essentiellement parce que cela impliquerait 'un emploi à vie'." A en croire The Economist, "derrière ce manque d'ambition à donner la chair de poule se cache un fantasme et un mythe paralysant". Le fantasme, tout d'abord : croire que "préserver la France en l'état revient à […]

    Sarkozy tells EU to get tough on trade Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, last night warned the world he expected Europe to take a much tougher stance in global trade talks and that he would not allow his country's farmers to be sold "at the lowest possible price". On his first visit to Brussels as French leader, he also called on Europe to "protect" its citizens, buying them time to adapt to the pressures of globalisation.   His comments suggest Mr Sarkozy will pursue an assertive French agenda in Europe, which could put him in conflict with free traders including Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and Gordon Brown, incoming UK prime minister. Mr Sarkozy's passionate defence of French farmers will concern Europe's trade partners, who hoped he might be more flexible in his approach […]

Mr Sarkozy's admiration for British deregulation has a very Gallic edge EU excited and worried by Sarkozy "Tonight France is back in Europe," Nicolas Sarkozy said in his victory speech, on the night of his election on 6 May. He said he had believed deeply and sincerely in the construction of Europe all his life.   But in the next breath, he warned Europe to listen to French citizens who saw Europe as an enemy of social protection and a Trojan horse of "all the threats that come with the changes in the world". These comments encapsulate the hopes and fears that other European leaders have regarding Mr Sarkozy's influence on the EU. The arrival of a vigorous new president in France means that the EU can now start taking real steps to resolve the problems caused by the French rejection […]

   AFP An inclusive government President Nicolas Sarkozy is poised to pick a surprising Socialist as France's foreign minister THE polished brass hats, shiny trumpets and 21-gun salute that marked the investiture of Nicolas Sarkozy as president in place of Jacques Chirac on Wednesday May 16th were all part of the traditional ceremonial pomp at the Elysée. Yet the new President Sarkozy promptly set out to deliver his promised break with the past, flying to Berlin the same day. Two days later he was expected to pick a broad-based government.   To no surprise, his prime minister will be François Fillon, a Gaullist former social-affairs minister who pushed through a mini-reform of state pensions in 2004. A late convert to the Sarko-sphere, he has become a loyal right-hand man and foil to […]

Patriotism and pride come first as Sarkozy takes power President Nicolas Sarkozy took office promising to create a new France, rooted in pride in the values of an "old France" of hard work, discipline, patriotism and self-sacrifice. After the traditional, rather stiff ceremony of inauguration yesterday at the Elysée Palace, and a ride up the Champs Elysées in an open-top car, President Sarkozy added a gut-wrenching speech paying tribute to young resistance martyrs of the Second World War. He said his first act as president would be to order the final letter home of a condemned resistance hero to be read out to all French schoolchildren aged 15 to 18 each September. M. Sarkozy's message was plain. He plans to try to reform the French economy but he also plans to try to reform the […]

Sarkozy picks moderate as premier By John Thornhill, Martin Arnold in Paris and James Blitz in London Published: May 7 2007 18:42 | Last updated: May 7 2007 22:05 Nicolas Sarkozy is planning to appoint one of his most moderate allies as France’s prime minister in an attempt to win support for the contentious labour reforms he has said are essential to the country’s economic future. The president-elect will name François Fillon, the mastermind of his election victory and former education minister, as prime minister after assuming the presidency. Mr Fillon is seen by the left as one of the “least detested” members of Mr Sarkozy’s team.   Although he has yet to announce the appointment and Mr Sarkozy’s spokesman said no final decision had been made, the president-elect confided his plan […]