Roma. France loses the stake at the top
Started in the morning, the European summit, meeting yesterday in Brussels, was promised to exchanges agreed on Europe in the world. But during lunch, the situation got out of hand…
The 27 guests are no sooner seated around the table and the main course - a pan-fried scallop with speck - has not yet been served before hostilities begin. The French president is attacking ball in the head, questioning, once again, the commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding, for her remarks making the connection between the expulsion of the Roma and the attitude of Vichy during the Second World War. The president wants to be grandiloquent: “ France was hurt. (…) It's a lack of respect. That's not how you talk to a big state ". A rather long and violent diatribe. “The president seemed particularly pissed off says a diplomat. In this hushed enclosure, the subject hardly convinces. On the contrary…
When the main course - a fillet of beef in a crust - arrives, the outcome of the battle is clear. France has spoken a lot, but lost a lot. Only the Italian Berlusconi, who does not have a great aura in European circles, dares to come to the rescue of his French colleague. All the other European leaders are lecturing France. In turn, thus, Merkel (Germany), Juncker (Luxembourg), Faymann (Austria), Zapatero (Spain)... follow one another to remind that there is no " small countries and big countries and … to defend the role of the Commission. Even the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, cracks a vibrant " The Commission is the guardian of the Treaties, we must let it work. Thatcher must have heard his ears ringing!
It was not until the fresh fruit minestrone arrived that the President of the Council, Van Rompuy, managed to restore a semblance of calm around the table, by proposing to discuss the Roma issue again at a " next meeting and calling for a " mutual respect ».
For its part, the European Commission seems determined to go all the way. And its president, José-Manuel Barroso confirmed it during the press conference. According to our information, it could thus launch, on September 30, a double administrative procedure. One is rather common: France, like 15 other States, have been put on notice to transpose the 2004 directive on the free movement of people. The second is more original: France is accused of violating the Charter of Fundamental Rights and called upon to explain itself. A first, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, rather embarrassing for the country of human rights...
Nicolas Gros-Verheyde.
(article published in Ouest-France, September 17, 2010)
