PARIS BRIEFING April 2005

News this month

Non, merci

Copies of the European Union (EU) constitution are circulating in France, and people seem to dislike what they are reading. Polls show rising support for a “Non” vote in the country's referendum on the constitution, to be held on May 29th; the “Oui” camp, comprising most of the political establishment, is starting to panic. Jacques Chirac, the French president, reportedly snapped at José Manuel Barroso, the EU Commission leader, after France failed to get its way in a debate over liberalising trade in services. On March 28th, Mr Chirac reportedly pressured F2, a national television station, into cancelling an appearance by Mr Barroso on the show “100 Minutes to Convince”, fearing even a brief airing of Mr Barroso's comparatively liberal views would further imperil the constitution's chances.

Two main factors are driving French opposition: first, the constitution is widely seen as promoting a business-friendly, “Anglo-Saxon” model of government rather than a traditional French “social” model. Second, opponents have deftly tied support for the constitution to fears of Turkey's accession to the EU, which most French people oppose. Still others worry that voters will use the referendum to express general discontent, rather than as a considered view on Europe.

Le show Sarko

One invited guest who did make it on to “100 Minutes to Convince”, for the third time, was Nicholas Sarkozy, leader of the ruling UMP party, who announced that he would challenge Mr Chirac for the presidency in 2007. Mr Sarkozy served in Mr Chirac's cabinet as both finance and interior minister—as his popularity rose so did his ambition. His interest in the presidency had long been rumoured; he used his television appearance to campaign, spending most of it criticising Mr Chirac's government.

Mr Chirac has not confirmed his own candidacy for 2007. A defeat in the EU constitution referendum could end his political viability, and Mr Sarkozy poses a real threat. Le Canard Enchainé, a satirical investigative weekly, recently claimed that Mr Chirac has been eavesdropping on his rival's telephone conversations. The paper said, “a close Chirac ally had more or less confirmed” that Mr Sarkozy's phones were tapped, but said it was not part of an official police operation.

Marry later

The French Senate has voted unanimously to raise the legal marrying age for women from 15 to 18, in an attempt to crack down on forced marriages. The bill will now go to the National Assembly, France's parliament, where it enjoys cross-party support and should sail through. The change will make the male and female marriage ages equal, ending a discrepancy that dates back to the time of Napoleon.

Last year about 1,200 teenage girls married, many of whom are believed to be Muslims whose parents arranged their marriages in other countries. Dominique Perben, France's justice minister, warned of a “false freedom that allows girls to marry young and then find themselves with no freedom at all”. Up to 70,000 young women in France may be in forced marriages, said Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, the senator who introduced the reform. The change brings France in line with several EU countries, and also with Morocco, which raised the marriage age for girls last year.

TNT boom

TNT stands for télévision numérique terrestre, or digital terrestrial TV, which arrived in France on March 31st. Already available in several other European countries, it broadcasts a digital signal through the air to traditional aerials, rather than through cables or via satellite. Now 35% of French homes, mostly in urban areas, can receive TNT; the network aims to cover 85% of homes by 2007. Fourteen channels are free for anyone who stumped up the €70-120 for a digital receiver, with the promise of more to come, including 15 pay channels from September.

The head of France's broadcast commission believes the market can handle about 20 advertising-financed stations. Naturally, the state broadcaster remains the key TNT player; its flagship channel is F4, formerly “Festival”, which promises blanket coverage of festivals across France.

She's back

The “Mona Lisa” has moved, but not far: about 150 metres, from the cramped Salle Rosa to the newly renovated Salle des Etats. The four-year renovation—financed by NTV, the same privately owned Japanese television network that financed the restoration of the Sistine Chapel—places La Gioconda in roomier surroundings, still beneath anti-reflective glass some 40 millimetres thick. The painting is now in a space filled with 50 major works from 16th-century Venice. Painted between 1503 and 1506 on a thin panel of poplar wood, Leonardo brought the Mona Lisa to France in 1517; it has hung in the Louvre since 1804. In recent years it has shown signs of warping.

Catch if you can

April 2005

Neo-Impressionism from Georges Seurat to Paul Klee

Until July 10th 2005

Six Seurats, including a study for “Un Dimanche à la Grande Jatte” on loan from the Chicago Art Institute, open this exhibition of 120 paintings in the first-ever exhibition on neo-Impressionists in France, and the first anywhere since 1968. This movement, often incorrectly conflated with pointillism, involved placing colours on the canvas in tiny dabs rather than mixing them on the palette. Seurat invented the method, and after he died Paul Signac took up the mantle. This exhibition traces how neo-Impressionism bridged the gap between Impressionism and abstract art: it follows the works of Seurat, Signac and Picasso with those of Matisse, Kandinsky and Mondrian. It seems quite a few notable 20th century artists had a neo-Impressionist phase.

Musée d'Orsay, 1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 7th arrondissement. Tel: +33 (0)1 40.49.48.14. Métro: Solferino; RER: Quai d'Orsay. Open: Tues-Sun, 10am-6pm (Thurs to 9.45pm). Entry: €9. For more information, visit the museum's website.

More from the Paris cultural calendar