http://www.ambafrance-us.org http://www.france.diplomatie.fr VOL. 04.04 APRIL 7, 2004 A triweekly review of French news and trends Online at: www.ambafrance-us.org/publi/nff INSIDE Michel Barnier New Foreign Minister 2 L’événement E.U. Unites After reshuffle, Dominique de Villepin is appointed minister of the interior and internal security Against Terrorism 3 France-Amérique OLLOWING THE MARCH 28 regional elec- spending around 30 Clinton-Chirac AIDS tions, the government led by Prime Minister billion euros a year on Initiative for Africa Jean-Pierre Raffarin has been revamped and infrastructure projects now counts 43 ministers, minister delegates and in the E.U.'s poorest 4 Profil Fsecretaries of state. Among them, 14 —including 5 min- areas. France’s Historical isters— have been nominated to government for the He was first elected Role in the E.U. first time. Two of the most powerful ministries have to the French National changed hands: Dominique de Villepin, formerly the Assembly in 1978, 5 Économie / Science minister of foreign affairs, is the new interior and inter- when he was 27, then New Law Promotes nal security minister, and the Ministry of Foreign he became a Senator Entrepreneurship Affairs will be headed by 53-year-old Michel Barnier. from 1997 to 1999 for 6 Société “The new government will have to pursue the course of his Savoie region. He French Grand Slam the reforms indispensable for the future of our country,” was appointed minis- said President Jacques Chirac during the first cabinet meet- ter delegate for 7 Culture Salon du Livre in Paris COMPOSITION OF ing of the new gov- European affairs under THE NEW GOVERN- ernment on April 2. the Juppé Government 8 Chez nous The new foreign (1995-1997). He also MENT Lyon Opera Ballet minister, Michel very successfully Despite several important changes, Barnier, declared Dominique de Villepin (right)congratulates presided over the Minister of Defense Michèle Alliot- himself "touched his successor, Michel Barnier. Organizational Marie, Minister of Justice Dominique by the trust shown (Courtesy:Ministry of Foreign Affairs - F. de La Mure) Committee for the Perben, Minister of Agriculture Hervé in me by both the 1992 Winter Olympic Gaymard and Minister for Sports president and prime minister, Games, which were held in Albertville, Savoie. AMBASSADE DE FRANCE Jean-François Lamour have retained and proud of succeeding Shortly after his nomination, Barnier explained that "the con- AUX ETATS-UNIS their portfolios. The principal ministers Dominique de Villepin, who struction of Europe will be at the core of France's foreign dealings," forming the new government are: headed this Ministry with tal- under his leadership, but that he will not neglect France's many Ministre d’Etat, ent, intelligence and energy." other diplomatic relation- Minister for the Economy, Barnier will be assisted ships and initiatives. His FRANCE PAYS TRIBUTE Finance and Industry by two minister delegates. appointment is considered a TO VICTIMS OF MADRID Nicolas Sarkozy Claudie Haigneré will be in sign of the French govern- BOMBINGS Minister of Education charge of European affairs ment's goodwill towards the On March 15, French President Jacques Chirac paid trib- and Research —Europe's first female European Union, which is ute to the 190 victims of the March 11 Madrid train François Fillon astronaut, she was the minis- currently facing major chal- bombings by laying a wreath at the Spanish Embassy in Minister of the Interior ter delegate for research and lenges and so needs the sup- Paris, and observing three minutes of silence. Sirens and Internal Security new technology under the port of its strongest mem- blared and church bells rang out in Paris and across Dominique de Villepin previous Raffarin govern- bers to implement necessary France at noon in honor of the victims, while the flags at Minister of Labor the Elysée presidential palace and at French embassies Jean-Louis Borloo ment— and Xavier Darcos reforms. throughout the world were flown at half-mast. The met- Minister of Justice will be responsible for coop- Speaking of the crucial ros in Paris briefly came to a halt, buses stopped and Dominique Perben eration, development and French-American relation- shoppers in the Galeries Lafayette department store froze Minister of Defense francophony. ship, Barnier emphasized in place as all of France showed its solidarity with the peo- Michèle Alliot-Marie Michel Barnier had pre- that he "will be working with ple of Spain, and with all victims of terrorism. Minister of Foreign Affairs viously been the European the U.S. to recast and reno- On March 24, Chirac attended the victims' state funerals in Michel Barnier commissioner for regional vate the long-lasting alliance Madrid's Almudena cathedral, along with 15 other heads Minister of Health policy and institutional with our American friends." of state and government, including King Juan Carlos of Phillipe Douste-Blazy reform, a position he had He also called for strong U.S. Spain, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Minister of Agriculture held since 1999. While in ties with the European conti- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Hervé Gaymard Minister of Culture Brussels, Barnier managed nent in general; according to and Communication the second largest E.U. the new foreign affairs minister, "the American people have to trust Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres budget after agriculture, Europe, and of course this trust has to be reciprocated." l l 1 En bref current events FRENCH PRESENCE L’ÉVÉNEMENT INCREASED IN KOSOVO French President Jacques Chirac, in order to confront the resurgent ethnic E.U. Unites Against Terrorism violence in Kosovo that has left at E.U. leaders agree on many vigorous new measures during the March 25 European summit least 31 dead and more than 500 injured, pledged France's support to HE EUROPEAN UNION'S heads of state and of arrest warrant policy, and to the strengthening of Eurojust (the the president of Serbia-Montenegro, government met on March 25 in Brussels for a European Justice Agency) and Europol (the European Police Svetozar Marovic, on March 19. European summit overshadowed by the terrible train Agency). Other measures, to be enacted by 2005, include mak- Specifically, Chirac announced the bombings that had stunned Spain and the world two ing visas and passports more secure through the use of bio- deployment of 400 soldiers to rein- Tweeks before. The 25 leaders focused therefore on reinforcing metric data, forming a common European border agency, and force France's peace-keeping opera- their common anti-terrorism policies and agreed on a number coordinating the intelligence services of banks and other tions in the region. The French contin- gent in Kosovo already numbers of steps, notably the creation of a Counter terrorism financial organizations in order to disrupt terrorist financing. 2,500, representing 16 percent of Coordinator to better harmonize their counter terrorism The E.U. leaders also agreed on the importance of adopting U.N. forces deployed in the province. efforts (former Deputy Interior Minister Gijs de Vries of the a European Constitution no later than June 17-18, when a Netherlands was appointed to the position). European Council will be held shortly after the June 13 FRANCE AND INDIA CON- The leaders discussed a package of counter terrorism mea- European parliamentary elections. With the European Union's DUCT NAVAL EXERCISES sures in three major areas: judicial cooperation, operational enlargement. to take place in May, it has become ever more Recent developments have furthered cooperation and the fight against terrorism's financial net- pressing to reform its institutions in order to accommodate 10 French beliefs that strong bilateral ties with India as well as a strong naval works. They agreed to the implementation of a pan-European new nations while preserving a single, European identity. l l presence in the seas around the sub- continent are critical in the fight against terrorism and regional instabil- ity. From April 2 to 15, the two coun- Queen Elizabeth II Visits France tries' navies will thus pursue their The monarch’s state visit marks the centennial of the Entente Cordiale between the two nations "Varuna" series of exercises, which were launched in November 2001, by NE HUNDRED YEARS AGO this April, France conducting joint military exercises in and the United Kingdom ended centuries of rivalry the Arabian Sea. French-Indian rela- and mutual miscomprehension with the signature tions will be further consolidated by O India's decision to build at least six of the Franco-British Accords, commonly referred to as the French designed Scorpene submarines Entente Cordiale (please see NFF issue 03.14 for more infor- in its Mazagaon shipyard. mation). In celebration of this important anniversary, Queen Elizabeth II of England and Prince ALAIN ROBBE-GRILLET IMMORTALIZED Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Writer Alain Robbe-Grillet, 81, was elected on March 25 to the made an official state visit to France Académie Française, the prestigious guardian institution of the French language's purity. Robbe-Grillet will succeed Maurice Rheims, who from April 5 to 7. This marked the passed away last year. With more than 10 novels to his name, includ- Queen's fourth state visit to France, ing Dans le Labyrinthe (1959), Pour un Nouveau Roman (1963), La making it the country she has most Belle Captive (1976), Djinn (1981), Angélique ou l'Enchantement visited in her capacity as Britain's British Prime Minister Arthur James Balfour and his (1988) and Les Derniers Jours de Corinthe (1994), the former agricul- head of state. French counterpart Emile Combes, whose govern- tural engineer is primarily recognized as the theoretician of the "nou- The Queen and the Duke of ments signed the Entente Cordiale in 1904.