Economist.com Cities Guide: Paris Briefing - June 2005

News this month

Saying no with force

On May 29th the French dealt a ringing blow to the proposed EU constitution: 55% voted against it, with voter turnout at an impressive 70%. In the weeks leading up to the referendum, debates over the 191-page document could be heard from televisions to bars. Polls showed that most French supported the constitution as recently as March. Though the EU is likely to weather the set back, negotiations over liberalising service trade, the EU budget and Turkey's entry talks may grow nastier.

Critics of the constitution argued that it is a neo-liberal, “Anglo-Saxon” vision of Europe. But besides being a vote to protect French jobs from deregulation, the referendum is seen as largely a rebuke to Jacques Chirac, France's president, and his inability to boost the economy or curb unemployment. The vote provoked disarray in Brussels, and set the tone for the subsequent no vote in the Netherlands three days later, by 63% to 37%.

Radical splits

The referendum debate initially centred on fears of neo-liberal threats to France's “social model”, and what the French call their “acquis” (acquired benefits). It rapidly broadened to include many concerns. One commentator described the vote as a “May '68” at the ballot box. But the anti-establishment mood did not prevail in Paris. Two out of three Parisians voted in favour of the constitution, reflecting deep divisions between city and country. Only a handful of other cities, including Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux, voted yes.

The vote revealed a widening gap between France's political centre and the anti-liberalisation and nationalist agendas of the far-left and far-right. Newspaper photographs after the vote showed Communists singing the “Internationale” and the National Front downing champagne, both sides delirious with joy. The Socialist opposition was also torn: the no vote, spearheaded by Laurent Fabius, the party's deputy leader, may have cost François Hollande, party leader and a strong yes campaigner, his chances as the party's presidential candidate.

In with the new

Within minutes of the result on May 29th, Mr Chirac went on French television to say that he understood that the referendum was essentially a vote of no confidence in his government. He promised a reshuffle. Despite calls from the far right and far left for his own resignation, Mr Chirac had a ready scapegoat at hand: Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the lacklustre prime minister. (Indeed, it hadn't been called the “Raffarindum” for nothing.)

From among the candidates vying to take over the post, Mr Chirac tapped Dominique de Villepin on May 31st. But many are perplexed by this choice. The aristocratic Mr de Villepin, a 51-year-old interior minister and former foreign minister, who is known for his loud opposition to the war in Iraq, would seem to be an embodiment of the French elite that voters just rejected. Also, he has never stood for elected office. But Mr Chirac's choice seems motivated by internal politics, as he overlooked the more logical candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, the UMP head who badly wants to succeed him (though the president did call him back to the government to serve as its number two). The new prime minister has a tough schedule before the summer recess. Several dossiers were set aside before the referendum to avoid fuelling voter anger, including Gaz de France privatisation; stiffer checks on unemployment claimants; negotiations on a minimum service during public transport strikes; civil service job cuts; and health insurance reform.

The Sarkozy affair

President Chirac's arch-rival and the leader of the ruling UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy, is fanning rumours about the alleged collapse of his marriage with cryptic comments. “The truth is very simple. My family, like millions of others, has had some difficulties”, he said on television in the days leading up to the referendum vote. (The subsequent re-shuffling led to him becoming the interior minister once again, and deputy prime minister as well.) His wife Cécilia—who is also his chief of staff, and was once married to a television presenter—had not been seen at his side for several days. Paris tabloids speculated that one of them had had an affair.

The final touches

Could the no vote on the EU constitution affect Paris's chances of hosting the 2012 Olympics? French sports officials are jittery. Before the vote, Henri Serandour, president of the French National Olympic Committee, warned that “a no could have a real influence” on the IOC's vote. Mayor Bertrand Delanoë was quick to deny this claim.

Paris is planning a mini-Olympics on the Champs-Elysées on Sunday June 5th. The “Champs-Olympiques” will feature races in front of the Arc de Triomphe, and sailing and kayaking in a specially built 486-square-metre pool. The French Open at Roland Garros, meanwhile, provided an opportunity to encourage French players to cheer “Paris, pour l'amour des Jeux” to the television cameras before all (save Mary Pierce) scuttled off to their next defeat. One Russian player took umbrage, reminding the cameras that Moscow was also a candidate. The International Olympics Committee will make its decision on July 6th in Singapore. Paris is competing against London, Madrid, Moscow and New York.

Catch if you can

June 2005

Florentine Drawing Under the Last Medicis 1620-1720

Until August 15th 2005

The brief introductory text explains that “Florentine naturalism had a taste for theatre, fable and humour...in the form of the observation of bodies”. There are 60 drawings in two rooms of the Denon Wing, and each is a gem. Look for Francesco Furini's sketch of a naked woman standing, and Cristofano Allori's study of a shirt sleeve and fist, clenching a tuft of hair.

The Louvre has one of the most complete sets of pieces from this period, thanks to the Filippo Baldinucci collection (1625-1696), acquired in Florence by the museum's first director, Dominique-Vivant Denon, in 1806. This show marks the publication of the second volume of the “Inventory of Tuscan Drawings” from the 16th to 18th centuries, which includes 750 sketches. The selection here, curated by Catherine Goguel, pays tribute to several brilliant draftsmen—Mannozzi, Cinganelli, Lippi, Vannini, Dandini, Gherardini and Roselli, to name a few.

Louvre Museum, 99 rue de Rivoli, 1st arrondissement. Métro: Palais-Royal-Musée-du-Louvre. Tel: +33 (0)1 40 20 50 50. Open: Mon-Sun 9am-5.30pm, Wed and Fri until 9.30pm. Tickets: €8; free on first Sunday of each month. For more information visit the museum's website.

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