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The Next Jackie O?
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly set to wed his girlfriend Carla Bruni: According to some reports in the French press, they married at a "secret ceremony" in the Elysée Palace a week ago.
Much of the press, both in France and overseas, has criticised the President for his very public affair, while commentators have scorned Mme Bruni's colourful past and the President's apparent haste to marry her.
Here at EURSOC, however, we're going to stick our necks out and say that perhaps Sarko has made a wise choice: Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Carla Bruni, the World's Leading First Lady.
France's BSD
Quote of the day:
"I couldn't give a damn about people's commentaries.
"For 12 years they were used to having granny and grandpa [Jacques Chirac and his wife] at the Elysée.
"I have a new style. Everyone is going to have to adapt. Now the French have a real man at the Elysée who has balls and uses them."
Europe Round-Up
French strikes, Spanish-US clash on seas, Italians bemoan US justice system, Conservative Muslims tell Tories "Iran needs nukes." And more...
As EURSOC predicted yesterday, the Sarkozy divorce beat yesterday's massive transport strike to the front pages of all the papers... with the exception of the left-wing Libération, which couldn't resist referring to both events with its cover "Divorce Social." Note how Libé reports that the trade unions responsible for yesterday's misery are demanding the "opening of negotiations on the reform of the special regimes." In France, bringing the country grinding to a halt is something the unions do as a statement of intent, rather than as an act of last resort.
Even the Guardian, Britain's closest equivalent of Libération, acknowledges that France is f*cked if Sarkozy can't introduce reform: "He cannot cave in the first time the unions flex their muscles. He was elected to reform labour laws, after a decade of failed attempts to do so."
While warning that Thatcherite strong-arm tactics won't keep public opinion on his side, the Guardian concludes, "France's action man has got to stop talking about reform and start delivering it."
Poodle Or Pit Bull?
Transport strikes first big test for President Sarkozy
At this moment, members of France's Communist-linked CGT trade union are marching on one of Paris' main boulevards in one of the biggest protests in five years. Public transport in the capital and throughout the country is at a standstill as the first major strike of Nicolas Sarkozy's Presidency takes grip.
The strikers are protesting against proposed reforms to their retirement benefits, which allow some transport workers to retire at fifty. Sarkozy's government wants to raise the retirement age in line with the private sector and public sector in other European nations. With a hefty parliamentary majority and a stunning personal success in the Presidential elections, he believes he has the mandate to reform France. The unions - increasingly anachronistic, with dwindling membership, but eager to stamp their authority on the new era - claim Sarkozy has misread France's mood.
Sarkozy Announces Split
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cécilia are to separate after eleven years of marriage, the Elysée Palace announced at noon today.
The 15-word declaration ends a week of fevered speculation in the French press that the Sarkozy's turbulent marriage had ended. Yesterday, we reported on a story in a French newspaper which confirmed that the Sarkozys had visited a divorce judge on Monday: An "official" announcement was expected at any day.
Gordon "Two Jobs" Brown
The "Governor General" hears the Empire's call
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown is off to Lisbon to batter out a final text for the EU Reform Treaty. Before leaving, he answered calls from the opposition and members of his own Labour Party for a referendum on the treaty, which everyone except the PM, the Foreign Secretary and the leader writers of the Independent admit is identical to the Constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
It's beginning to sink in that the "red lines" Brown has pledged to defend are being revealed as "red herrings" by sharper Eurosceptics. In what seems like a desperate attempt to stem criticism in Britain, Brown has launched the European Council meeting in the time-honoured fashion by bashing the French.
