The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

The French-American Foundation reports on what happened in France this week.

France

At the 25th France-Africa summit held in Nice this week, President Nicolas Sarkozy called for an African spot on the UN Security Council, saying that African countries should have a bigger role in world politics. Reform proposed in 2005 would have added two permanent spots on the council to the three non-permanent seats already held by the continent. But Le Figaro reported that Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria-the three African “heavyweights”-were still unable to come to an agreement about which countries should occupy the future Security Council seats.  The AFP reported that several leaders vehemently rejected a French proposal for “progressive enlargement,” beginning with a single permanent seat. The summit was attended by thirty-eight African leaders, including Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in a sign of thawing relations between France and Algeria.

After huge protests last week over plans to raise the French retirement age, French Prime Minister François Fillon said that implementing the changes as a progressive increase would prevent “destabilizing” workers currently approaching retirement age, according to Le Figaro. Meanwhile, the AFP published the results of a study finding that the majority of French people are anxious about changes to their retirement plan. According to the study, 78% of French people were worried about the amount they would receive in future plans, while 73% recognized retirement reform as an “urgent” priority.

The Times reported that President Nicolas Sarkozy was mentioned in a Luxembourg police report investigating kickbacks in the sale of French submarines to Pakistan in 1994. Rue89, citing the report, alleged that Sarkozy was involved in the creation of two offshore companies that profited from the sale, and suggested that these profits may have been used to fund then Prime Minister Edouard Balladur‘s 1995 presidential campaign. According to L’Express, General Secretary Claude Guéant completely dismissed the accusations against Sarkozy, claiming the investigation lacked “rigor.”

Le Figaro reported on Wednesday, June 2 that President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided against eliminating advertisements before 8 pm from public service channels, citing economic concerns. Commercials are currently banned between the hours of 8 pm and 6 am on France 2, 3, 4, 5 and France Ô, but Sarkozy had planned to completely eliminate commercials from those stations. According to Le Point, Jean-François Copé, head of the center-right UMP party, protested the ban in the National Assembly, claiming it would cost the state approximately 200 million Euros.

Artist Louise Bourgeois who is famous for her sculptures exploring women’s deepest feelings on birth, sexuality and death died on Monday, May 31 in Manhattan. Bourgeois’ work was almost unknown to the wider art world until she was 70, when New York’s Museum of Modern Art presented a solo show of her career in 1982.