French-American Foundation Weekly Brief highlights political, economic and cultural news stories related to France and French-American relations as well as trans-Atlantic and European issues.
France
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President Nicolas Sarkozy officially announced on Wednesday, February 15, his candidacy to seek re-election in April’s elections, Reuters, le Nouvel Observateur and the Washington Post reported. As Sarkozy entered a week full of campaign activities throughout the nation, Prime Minister François Fillon gave his support of Sarkozy’s reelection for the first time on Monday, February 20, while all his opponents, notably Socialist François Hollande were quick to begin their criticism of the current president, as covered by Europe 1 and le Point. Answering criticisms of his leadership, Sarkozy said on Sunday, February 19, that he saved France from “catastrophe” in his handling of the European economic crisis and said a second term would be the only way to ensure France’s escape from economic ruin, according to the Guardian. Polls following Sarkozy’s announcement showed the incumbent closing a gap with leader Hollande, with a Yahoo! poll released on Monday, February 20, showing Sarkozy at 26 percent to 32 percent support for Hollande, according to Bloomberg. Another poll released on Sunday, February 19, showed Hollande leading 55 to 45 percent in a face-off between the two frontrunners, according to al Jazeera.
Insee, France’s national statistics office, announced on Wednesday, February 15, that the GDP for the nation grew 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, putting the growth for the year at 1.7 percent. This announcement came after the agency had expressed fears in December that France could enter recession with negative growth in the last quarter of 2011 and first of 2012, according to la Croix. On Monday, February 20, Insee released its index of French business confidence for the month of February, showing the first increase of this indicator of financial well-being after a seven-month decline, according to Businessweek. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported the same day that the overall fourth-quarter growth for all 34 member nations was only 0.1 percent, with France being the only European nation to see a positive movement from October to December, according to the LA Times.
A week after a French court ruled in favor of a French farmer, Paul François, in a case against agricultural giant Monsanto, France asked the European Commission on Monday, February 20, to suspend use of the company’s MON810 corn, which is the only genetically modified corn currently allowed in Europe, le Point and Reuters reported. After France banned the use of the genetically modified crop in 2008, two European courts shot down a Union-wide ban in the past months, according to le Figaro.
The Paris tourism office announced this week that the capital had reached a record level of hotel visits in 2011, confirming its standing as a top tourist destination. The number of overnight visitors reached 36.9 million, an increase of 3.1 percent from 2010, according to la Tribune. The growth in tourism amid the economic crisis was explained by a growth of visitors coming from emerging countries, notably in Asia, according to le Point.
The National Assembly voted on Monday, February 20, to make Armistice - November 11 – a day in honor of all who have died for France, not just those who died in World War I, le Point reported.
United States
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The FBI arrested Amine El Khalifi on Friday, February 17. El Khalifi approached the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., to detonate a bomb attached to his body, CBS and le Monde reported. The inactive bomb and a gun he was carrying were provided by undercover FBI agents, who had followed El Khalifi, a Moroccan national who had been living illegally in the United States, according to le Nouvel Observateur.
In the week after Washington’s governor signed a bill allowing same-sex marriage into law, Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey vetoed on Friday, February 19, the same bill after it passed both chambers of the state Congress, TF1 and le Point reported. Christie, who had previously promised to veto the bill, said he would call on the people of New Jersey to vote on the matter. Meanwhile, a same-sex marriage bill brought forth by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley was approved on Friday, February 17, by a House vote of 72-67, according to the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Times. The state senate, which approved the same bill a year ago, was expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday, February 21. The Chicago Tribune looked at same-sex marriage legislation in the state of Illinois, which permitted civil unions for same-sex couples last year. The state legislature is preparing to enter discussions, but the bill is not expected to be approved quickly.
A federal judge rejected on Monday, February 20, a portion of a Nebraska law that sought to limit the rights of illegal immigrants, CBS and the New York Times reported. Judge Laurie Smith Camp declared that the portion of the bill that would forbid landlords from renting housing to illegal immigrants was discriminatory, while the court upheld the portion of the bill that would require employers to verify the citizenship status of all people hired.
A study by USA Today released this week showed that the U.S. population saw an increase of only 0.7 percent in both 2010 and 2011, lower than the pre-crisis level of 1.0 percent and at the lowest rate since the 1930s. The number of babies born from July 2010 to July 2011 was 200,000 lower than in the same period in 2008-2009, while immigration was also down 150,000. Another demographic poll released by the Pew Research Center on Thursday, February 16, showed that the number of interracial marriages has doubled in the past 30 years, reaching 4.8 million or one in 12 marriages in the United States, according to la Croix and the Detroit Free Press.
Business & Economy
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European leaders and finance ministers agreed early on Tuesday, February 21, after a long negotiation, to a second installment of €130 billion in bailout funds to be distributed in time for Greece to avoid a default on €14.5 billion in debt payments due March 14, Bloomberg and the New York Times reported. After much political tumult across Europe and in Greece, the agreement would bring the total bailout package to a record €237 billion, which would allow Greece to bring its national debt down to 120.5 percent of GDP by 2020, according to l’Express and the AP. In addition to European contributors, the International Monetary Fund could contribute up to €23 billion to the bailout, according to 20 Minutes.
Fitch raised on Friday, February 17, its rating of Iceland from BB+ to BBB-, bringing the island’s economy back to investment grade three years after the nation’s banking system collapsed, Boursier and BBC reported. After Iceland’s $13 billion economy dropped 6.7 percent in 2009, a series of structural reforms and debt relief programs drove the economy to grow 2.9 percent in 2011 with expectations of a 2.4-percent growth this year and next, according to Bloomberg and le Nouvel Observateur.
Crude oil reached its highest level since May on Monday, February 20, trading at $105.44 per barrel amid concerns of political tension with Iran over its nuclear development, which caused the nation to threaten to stop trading with European nations, Tribune reported. As European leaders agreed to a second bailout package for Greece on Tuesday, February 21, market relief caused crude prices to retreat though they stayed above $104 most of the day, according to the AP.
U.S. retail giant Walmart announced on Sunday, February 19, that it was planning to take a 51-percent stake in Yihaodian, a leading Chinese eCommerce website, the Financial Times and le Figaro reported. As the world’s largest retailer continues its efforts to grow its overseas presence, particularly in China, the company announced on Tuesday, February 21, fourth-quarter figures for 2011 that were lower than expected, driving shares down 2.6 percent, according to TF1 and Reuters.
International
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German President Christian Wulff resigned on Friday, February 17, as a number of allegations emerged about various favors he received while head of the German land of Niedersachsen from 2003 to 2010, la Croix and le Monde reported. Chancellor Angela Merkel oversaw tense negotiations in the following days before leaders from various parties agreed to the nomination of Joachim Gauck, a former Protestant pastor and civil-rights activist, to fill the symbolic position, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Financial Times explored how the difficult debates over the nomination showed rifts in Merkel’s center-right coalition, as she eventually was forced to accept Gauck, who had been nominated by the Free Democratic Party, part of her coalition, and the Social Democrats and Greens.
Yemen was set to hold on Tuesday, February 21, elections that would see past leader Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year reign come to an end, Bloomberg and Reuters reported. Following a deal brokered between Arab neighbors and Saleh, the only candidate in the nation’s symbolic elections will be Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who has served as Saleh’s vice president for the past 18 years, as covered by the Washington Post. As Saleh called on the Yemeni people to take part in the elections on Monday, February 20, tension between protesters and government forces were still seen throughout the nation, with at least two killed, according to la Libération and le Parisien.
Security forces moved in on the city of Homs, the center of Syrian opposition, on Monday, February 20. Tension continued to grow as the international community continued to debate how to address the violence that has plagued the nation for months, CBS, RFI and the Washington Post reported. After a resolution before the United Nations Security Council was shot down by vetoes from China and Russia, the U.N. General Assembly passed by a vote of 137-12 on Thursday, February 16, a resolution condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and calling for his resignation, according to the New York Times. As violence continued early in the week, the International Red Cross said on Monday, February 20, that it had been in talks with Damascus to broker a ceasefire that would allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, according to le Nouvel Observateur.
Iran announced on Wednesday, February 15, that it had made major advances toward the creation of nuclear fuel, as the Associated Press reported the same day that the nation’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, had said the nation was prepared to re-enter negotiations over its controversial nuclear program, the Washington Post and ABC reported. Iran announced on Sunday, February 19, that it would stop exporting oil to European nations, specifically mentioning Great Britain and France – two nations that have already halted the importation of Iranian oil, as Iran announced it was launching military exercises to reinforce its anti-aircraft defense in the southern part of the nation, according to le Parisien, the Telegraph and le Monde.