Vol. 12.05 / July 2012

Vol. 12.05 News From France July 2012 A free monthly review of French news & trends Remembering D-Day: France Honors its Defenders © Robert F. Sargent/U.S. Coast Guard Coast Sargent/U.S. © Robert F. U.S. forces wade toward the beaches of Normandy, France during the Allied invasion, on June 6, 1944, also called “D-Day.” French commemorations of the event’s 68th anniversary included decorations of U.S. and Allied veterans and a presidential visit to the region. The event began France’s liberation and hastened the end of World War II. Syria’s Assad “Must Leave Power:” Foreign Minister inside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is calling for Current Events 2 the departure of Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria. Interview with Agriculture Expert “Bashar al-Assad is the murderer of his people. He France & America 3 must leave power—the sooner the better,” he said, in a France Honors Former Congressman May 29 interview with the French newspaper Le Monde. Pledging to aid Syria since the first stages of the Arab In Depth 4 Spring, the path to international consensus has been a French-U.S. Foreign Direct Investment challenge. A February 4 veto by Russia and China of a Business & Tech 5 UN Security Council Resolution to help the country has Tech Tours and Smart Sidewalks stalled progress. Mr. Fabius hopes to counter this opposition in one part of his “three-pronged approach” . Society 6 “First, we must toughen sanctions, if possible at the Risky Reporting: Conflict Zones Security Council level. Second, we must work with Rus- Culture 7 sia, who plays a decisive role. Finally, we must encourage History Made at French Open 2012 the Syrian opposition to come together,” he said. France intends to hold a “Friends of the Syrian People” France in America 8 meeting in Paris on July 6. Rallying broad support from French Rock’n’Roll “Unfurls” in NYC the international community, 140 participants have been invited, including pivotal players such as Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States. News From France The international group, which met in Paris on April A free monthly review of French news & trends 17 of this year, will also seek to sketch out possibilities of NFF is also available online at: a Syrian future without Mr. Assad. de la Mure © MAEE/Frédéric www.ambafrance-us.org “If Bashar al-Assad falls, who will replace him? What Laurent Fabius has led efforts to stem increasing violence www.facebook.com/FranceInTheUS must be sought is a rapid, credible political transition in Syria. He will host a related summit on July 6 in Paris. @franceintheus involving his departure,” said Mr. Fabius. NFF current events en bref Neutron Turns 80, Continues Education Ministry Launches Premium School Label Fueling Research in Grenoble School French programs around the world will soon The teachers will also be required to meet certain perfor- Two thousand scientists from more have an opportunity to be certified as places of excel- mance standards. than 30 countries congregated this lence in French learning. In an announcement Once awarded, the FrancEducation label is past May in the southeastern city this spring from France’s Ministry of Foreign valid for three years, and can be extended of Grenoble to present their recent and European Affairs, a new “FrancE- through a standardized auditing process. and innovative neutron samples at ducation” label will be awarded to the Member groups will have access to a L’Institut Laue-Langevin de Greno- highest-achieving French language fund for innovative learning projects, ble (The Laue-Langevin Institute of programs in secondary schools, of- and even guaranteed training from Grenoble), the most active laboratory fering formal recognition for excel- the Institut Français, a public insti- for neutron research in the world. lence by the French government. tution founded in 2010 to promote The Institute was founded in 1967 In partnership with the Agency French culture, dialogue and ex- to honor German physicist Max von for French Language Teaching change worldwide. Laue and French physicist Paul Lan- Abroad, or the AEFE, the program The program doesn’t hide its gevin. It is home to a high-flux reac- assures that at least a third of in- shoot-for-the-stars ambition. The tor, which develops particles for later struction time is in French. Students idea behind the label, explains Jean- use in experiments in neutron scatter- will also benefit from a “francophone Marc Berthon, assistant director of Lin- ing and behavior. environment,” meaning that French- guistic Diversity and French Language The neutron has just celebrated its language materials such as newspapers, at the French foreign ministry, is to create a 80th birthday, highlighting the ad- literature and digital media must be present in “club of excellence” alongside the lycée français vances that have been made since its the classroom, so as to provide maximum exposure to system, offering French instruction internationally. The la- initial discovery. The zero-charge sub- the language and its real-world use by native speakers. bel’s administrators hope to establish 50 centers by 2013. atomic particle was dubbed the “neutron” in 1932 by Nobel Prize-winning British physicist James Chadwick, and has had an immense impact on the interview with the expert scientific community ever since. One of the most exciting discover- Christophe Malvezin, Agricultural Counselor ies to come out of the Institute’s year- ly event is that of a soap containing From farming and forestry to camembert and commodity markets, few countries are magnetic iron, which may eventually involved in so many areas of agriculture as France. Leading the charge in Washington is be used to clean oil spills. Christophe Malvezin, whose role as Agricultural Counselor puts him in daily contact with international stakeholders. News From France sat down with the diplomat to learn TGV to Offer Low-Cost Rail © MAEE/Samuel Tribollet about his work, and France’s current and future engagement in global agriculture. Tickets, Expand in Europe The word “agriculture” covers food, ecotourism, ducible traits. And it’s not just agricultural—it’s the region’s French rail company SNCF will of- research… How do you handle such a large dossier? inhabitants, too. Given France’s great diversity of climate, fer rail tickets at reduced prices on I’m not alone. The embassy has a five-person team. soil and history, the result is different local traditions and their high-speed TGV domestic trains We work with other departments, such as the Scientific different expertise in agricultural production. France has beginning next year. The tickets will Mission, as well as the European Union’s representatives. a number of government-sponsored seals of quality, in- soon cost less than 25 euros and of- We also work with other entities, like UBIFRANCE and the cluding the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, (AOC), or fer passengers a more stripped-down Ministry of Agriculture. It’s a collective effort. “Protected Designation of Origin,” and the “Label Rouge.” rail experience. The trains will be one The labels guarantee not just quality, but that the prod- class, without a dining car, and limit How has the Embassy’s agricultural department uct really is from where it’s advertised—Champagne wine passengers to one piece of luggage engaged with Washington and Americans? from the Champagne region, and so on. per person. We work with as many associations as we can, includ- The new discounted TGV trains ing NGOs, USAID, USDA, TTB, FDA and others. We provide The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by will help keep the SNCF competitive information about French agriculture to university stu- 2050. How is France assuring future food supply? with the growing low-cost flight in- dents throughout the U.S. In California, for example, we France took the lead in 2010 when we began to address dustry. Airlines such as EasyJet and provided information on the EU’s Common Agricultural food production and improving food security. The ques- Ryanair offer no-frills transporta- Policy (CAP). Furthermore, we communicate on agricul- tion is also how to improve productivity, value chains, and tion for the European on a budget. tural subsidies, the environment, food productivity and cross-border food shipping. We’ve been working with the Although stations will be located security. Lastly, we work with many French and American U.S. administration on these issues through the G20 the on the outskirts of city centers, the companies who import French products to the U.S. past two years and the G8 the past month. SNCF wishes nonetheless to attract voyageurs back to rail travel with its Your website, FrenchFoodintheUS.org, launched in What are France and the U.S. doing together to lead reasonable prices. January. What’s the six-month assessment? global agricultural policy? Eurostar, an SNCF subsidiary, plans FrenchFoodintheUS.org was launched to make French We recently agreed to provide a common criterion to expand its service as well. Eurostar agricultural information available to the general pub- to European and U.S. consumers on organic farming in currently provides service from Paris lic. We have 4,000 visitors and 15,000 pageviews each both countries, which is huge since organic exports are to London (the famous “Chunnel” month, plus a monthly newsletter to a growing number increasing worldwide. The second policy we’re working train) and Brussels. Eurostar trains of U.S. readers. We receive a lot of site-related email inqui- on is the question of nutrition and obesity. We are cur- will soon offer service to Amsterdam, ries, so it generates engagement, which is good.

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