With 10 weeks until the French vote on Europe’s constitution, the ‘yes’ camp is losing ground. Hugh Schofield in Paris reports
Thursday’s mammoth demonstrations across France brought out the usual cavalcades. Greying veterans of May 1968, legions of railwaymen, teachers and their students, union apparatchiks, civil servants of every grade, journalists, air-traffic controllers and museum staff: all marching beneath a colourful display of banners and balloons and to an ear- splitting din of firecrackers and foghorns.
Le manif is a ritual in France, and the ritual of the day after – apart from clearing up the tonnes of debris – is assessing the numbers that took part and deciding whether or not the campaign has been a success. Assessments by tradition vary ludicrously. This time the unions said 150,000 people took part in the Paris protest; for the police it was 35,000.
Not that it mattered. By Friday morning the consensus had settled: the mass movement had exceeded the unions’ hopes. More than one million workers – including many, unusually, in the private sector – had downed tools. The government of President Jacques Chirac, commentators agreed, should be seriously rattled.
Among the regular alphabet soup of union acronyms worn on stickers and baseball caps in Paris on Thursday, two new slogans caught the eye. One group of protesters was adorned with banners proclaiming the unions’ support for the capital’s 2012 Olympic bid: this an attempt to mitigate the harm caused by a public transport shutdown on the very day of the International Olympic Committee inspectors’ visit.
But it must be said that few in France share the predominant British view that the day of strikes will damage the city’s application. Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe even said the protests would help the Paris bid, by showing a vibrant democracy in action.
But for Chirac, and his long-suffering prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the banners that counted were elsewhere. They were proudly arrayed along a substantial section of the cortege – and though their message flew in the face of the official policy of the opposition socialists and most trade unions, nobody on the march seemed to mind. The words were: Non à la constitution Européenne!
It is 10 weeks until France’s referendum on the EU’s constitution – an electoral rendezvous that leaders across the continent know is crucial for the treaty’s ratification. A victory for the “yes” camp would maintain the momentum set in Spain last month, and give hope to advocates preparing to campaign in Britain next year. But a rejection in France – the historic core of the European Union – would be a disaster.
None would feel the catastrophe of a defeat more than Chirac. He has staked his reputation on showing France to be once again in the vanguard of European construction. Repudiation would consign the past two years of his presidency to limp decline. On the plus side are the coalition of mainstream parties which back his call for a “yes” vote, as well as opinion polls that show some 60% of the public to be in favour of the treaty.
But on the down side – and making Chirac and his government nervous – is a mood of surly discontent on the street.
Thursday’s protests were the third national display of union muscle since the start of the year, and for this bout they cleverly cast their net as wide as possible. Instead of focusing on particular demands such as the 35-hour week, they simply articulated the ongoing and most pressing concern of ordinary men and women (including millions in the private sector where union membership is tiny): more pay and more jobs.
France’s seemingly perennial air of gloomy truculence – morosite they call it – has been growing in recent months. Despite all the government’s promises, unemployment is once again on the up. It has broken through the symbolic 10% mark which means that nearly 2.5 million people are on the dole. Anglo-Saxon liberals may argue that the reason for this is the government’s failure to free up the labour market – but in Colbertian France many feel the state is simply failing to do its job.
Meanwhile salaries – already low by European standards thanks to social security deductions that remove as much as 25% – remain static, even as what for most families is the biggest monthly outlay goes through the roof. House prices, and to a lesser extent rents, in Paris and elsewhere have seen an almost British-style boom in the past few years – the result being that many people simply feel poorer.
And just as all this takes place, France’s top publicly quoted companies last month announced record profits. L’Oréal’s were up 143% to €3.6 billion; Renault made €3.5bn, nearly half as much again as in 2003. Buoyed by the oil price explosion, Total took in $11bn. Market analysts might nod their heads in praise, but for much of the hard-suffering public these are excessive sums. For the government, they are, to say the least, awkward.
What Chirac fears most of all is the siren call that lays all these problems at the door of “neo-liberal” Europe and urges voters to register their growing discontent by voting “no” at the May 29 referendum.
For while the “no” camp is certainly varied in France – it also includes Jean-Marie Le Pen’s far right as well as souverainistes in Chirac’s ruling party – its most dynamic section is on the left. The Communists and the Trotskyite far left oppose the constitution. So too – defying its leadership – does a large section of the Socialist party, and so – also defying its leader – does the central committee of the biggest union, the CGT.
A week ago the leader of the Socialists, François Hollande, was even attacked with eggs and snowballs by opponents of the constitution, who accuse him – by backing it – of selling out to big business. For groups such as the anti-globalisation movement Attac, the treaty merely entrenches what is already bad about Europe, and what they believe will lead to more of what people fear most: relocations of industry to the east of the continent, job cuts and “social dumping”.
The great risk for Chirac is that these left-wing opponents of the constitution tap into the public gloom and will therefore build a head of steam in the run-up to the referendum.
With the latest polls showing falls of 3% in the level of support for the “yes” camp, Chirac knows that nothing can be taken for granted. Expect handsome concessions to the Thursday demonstrators in the days and weeks to come.
13 March 2005
Thursday’s mammoth demonstrations across France brought out the usual cavalcades. Greying veterans of May 1968, legions of railwaymen, teachers and their students, union apparatchiks, civil servants of every grade, journalists, air-traffic controllers and museum staff: all marching beneath a colourful display of banners and balloons and to an ear- splitting din of firecrackers and foghorns.
Le manif is a ritual in France, and the ritual of the day after – apart from clearing up the tonnes of debris – is assessing the numbers that took part and deciding whether or not the campaign has been a success. Assessments by tradition vary ludicrously. This time the unions said 150,000 people took part in the Paris protest; for the police it was 35,000.
Not that it mattered. By Friday morning the consensus had settled: the mass movement had exceeded the unions’ hopes. More than one million workers – including many, unusually, in the private sector – had downed tools. The government of President Jacques Chirac, commentators agreed, should be seriously rattled.
Among the regular alphabet soup of union acronyms worn on stickers and baseball caps in Paris on Thursday, two new slogans caught the eye. One group of protesters was adorned with banners proclaiming the unions’ support for the capital’s 2012 Olympic bid: this an attempt to mitigate the harm caused by a public transport shutdown on the very day of the International Olympic Committee inspectors’ visit.
But it must be said that few in France share the predominant British view that the day of strikes will damage the city’s application. Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe even said the protests would help the Paris bid, by showing a vibrant democracy in action.
But for Chirac, and his long-suffering prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the banners that counted were elsewhere. They were proudly arrayed along a substantial section of the cortege – and though their message flew in the face of the official policy of the opposition socialists and most trade unions, nobody on the march seemed to mind. The words were: Non à la constitution Européenne!
It is 10 weeks until France’s referendum on the EU’s constitution – an electoral rendezvous that leaders across the continent know is crucial for the treaty’s ratification. A victory for the “yes” camp would maintain the momentum set in Spain last month, and give hope to advocates preparing to campaign in Britain next year. But a rejection in France – the historic core of the European Union – would be a disaster.
None would feel the catastrophe of a defeat more than Chirac. He has staked his reputation on showing France to be once again in the vanguard of European construction. Repudiation would consign the past two years of his presidency to limp decline. On the plus side are the coalition of mainstream parties which back his call for a “yes” vote, as well as opinion polls that show some 60% of the public to be in favour of the treaty.
But on the down side – and making Chirac and his government nervous – is a mood of surly discontent on the street.
Thursday’s protests were the third national display of union muscle since the start of the year, and for this bout they cleverly cast their net as wide as possible. Instead of focusing on particular demands such as the 35-hour week, they simply articulated the ongoing and most pressing concern of ordinary men and women (including millions in the private sector where union membership is tiny): more pay and more jobs.
France’s seemingly perennial air of gloomy truculence – morosite they call it – has been growing in recent months. Despite all the government’s promises, unemployment is once again on the up. It has broken through the symbolic 10% mark which means that nearly 2.5 million people are on the dole. Anglo-Saxon liberals may argue that the reason for this is the government’s failure to free up the labour market – but in Colbertian France many feel the state is simply failing to do its job.
Meanwhile salaries – already low by European standards thanks to social security deductions that remove as much as 25% – remain static, even as what for most families is the biggest monthly outlay goes through the roof. House prices, and to a lesser extent rents, in Paris and elsewhere have seen an almost British-style boom in the past few years – the result being that many people simply feel poorer.
And just as all this takes place, France’s top publicly quoted companies last month announced record profits. L’Oréal’s were up 143% to €3.6 billion; Renault made €3.5bn, nearly half as much again as in 2003. Buoyed by the oil price explosion, Total took in $11bn. Market analysts might nod their heads in praise, but for much of the hard-suffering public these are excessive sums. For the government, they are, to say the least, awkward.
What Chirac fears most of all is the siren call that lays all these problems at the door of “neo-liberal” Europe and urges voters to register their growing discontent by voting “no” at the May 29 referendum.
For while the “no” camp is certainly varied in France – it also includes Jean-Marie Le Pen’s far right as well as souverainistes in Chirac’s ruling party – its most dynamic section is on the left. The Communists and the Trotskyite far left oppose the constitution. So too – defying its leadership – does a large section of the Socialist party, and so – also defying its leader – does the central committee of the biggest union, the CGT.
A week ago the leader of the Socialists, François Hollande, was even attacked with eggs and snowballs by opponents of the constitution, who accuse him – by backing it – of selling out to big business. For groups such as the anti-globalisation movement Attac, the treaty merely entrenches what is already bad about Europe, and what they believe will lead to more of what people fear most: relocations of industry to the east of the continent, job cuts and “social dumping”.
The great risk for Chirac is that these left-wing opponents of the constitution tap into the public gloom and will therefore build a head of steam in the run-up to the referendum.
With the latest polls showing falls of 3% in the level of support for the “yes” camp, Chirac knows that nothing can be taken for granted. Expect handsome concessions to the Thursday demonstrators in the days and weeks to come.
13 March 2005
