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Writer Stephane Hessel, the former French Resistance fighter whose 2010 manifesto Time for Outrage inspired social protesters, has died at the age of 95.
Stephane Hessel died overnight, his wife Christiane Hessel-Chabry told France’s AFP news agency in Paris.
A German by birth, Stephane Hessel was imprisoned in Nazi camps during World War II for his activities in France.
In Time for Outrage, Stephane Hessel called for a new form of “resistance” to the injustices of the modern world.
He expressed outrage at the growing gap between haves and have-nots, France’s treatment of illegal immigrants and damage to the environment.
The Indignados protest movement in Spain was inspired by Stephane Hessel’s manifesto, according to Spanish media.
His name was the top trending term on Twitter in Spain and France on Wednesday morning, as admirers paid tribute with quotes such as: “To create is to resist, to resist is to create.”
French President Francois Hollande said he had learnt “with great sadness” about Stephane Hessel’s death.
“His capacity for indignation knew no bounds other than those of his own life,” he said in a statement.
“As that comes to an end, he leaves us a lesson: to refuse to accept any injustice.”
Born of Jewish origin on October 20, 1917, in Berlin, Stephane Hessel arrived in France at the age of eight.
His parents Franz and Helen Hessel (born Grund) inspired two of the characters in Francois Truffaut’s classic romantic film Jules And Jim.
Writer Stephane Hessel, the former French Resistance fighter whose 2010 manifesto Time for Outrage inspired social protesters, has died at the age of 95
A naturalized French citizen from 1939, Stephane Hessel became a prominent Resistance figure, says French news agency AFP. He was arrested by the Gestapo and later sent to the Buchenwald and Dora concentration camps.
After the war, Stephane Hessel worked as a French diplomat at the UN, where he was involved in compiling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
However some, like the French Jewish activist Gilles-William Goldnadel, have accused him of exaggerating his role in the work.
According to Giles-William Goldnadel, France’s leftist press idealized the former Resistance fighter, a strong critic of Israeli policy, as a “secular saint”.
Stephane Hessel’s diplomatic postings also included Vietnam in the 1950s and Algeria in the 1960s.
In France, Stephane Hessel took up the cause of illegal immigrants and championed the rights of the oppressed.
Time for Outrage, which has sold more than 4.5 million copies in 35 countries, argues that the French need to again become outraged like those who participated in the wartime Resistance.
Whether Stephane Hessel inspired the global Occupy movement, as some have argued, is more open to debate.
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France’s President Francois Hollande has said his country’s forces are engaged in the “final phase” of the fight against militants in northern Mali.
Francois Hollande said there had been heavy fighting in the Ifoghas mountains, where members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were thought to be hiding.
The president also praised Chadian troops for their efforts in the same area.
Thirteen Chadian soldiers and some 65 militants were killed in clashes on Friday, according to the Chadian army.
Chad’s government has promised to deploy 2,000 troops as part of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma).
Speaking in Paris on Saturday, Francois Hollande said “heavy fighting” was taking place in the far north of Mali, near the Algerian border.
“This is the final phase of the process since it is in that massif [the Ifoghas mountains] that AQIM forces have probably regrouped,” he said.
“Our Chadian friends launched an attack yesterday which was very harsh with significant loss of life,” Francois Hollande added.
“I want to praise what the Chadians are doing.”
France’s President Francois Hollande has said his country’s forces are engaged in the “final phase” of the fight against militants in northern Mali
The latest fighting was between Islamists militants and ethnic Tuareg in the In-Khalil area, near the border town of Tessalit.
The MNLA – a secular Tuareg group which seeks an independent homeland in the Sahara and Sahel regions of Mali, Libya, Algeria, Niger and Burkina Faso – was at one time allied to the Islamists but now supports the French-led offensive.
France has deployed 4,000 troops since January 11 to help the Malian government eject Islamist militants who seized control of the north of the country last year.
The French-led forces faced little resistance during the initial offensive, when they recaptured major towns of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
Meanwhile, more help for the French and African forces is being offered by the United States, which is sending Predator drones to Niger.
The unarmed drones would be used to overfly the zone of combat in Mali and provide information about deployments, US officials said.
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Seven French tourists, including four children, have been kidnapped by gunmen in Cameroon, near the border with Nigeria, French President Francois Hollande has said.
Francois Hollande says they belong to the same family and were seized by a “known terrorist group based in Nigeria”.
The president added that the seven were probably taken to northern Nigeria.
He indicated that the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram may have been responsible.
“I see the hand of Boko Haram in that part of Cameroon, and that is worrying enough for us to mobilize,” Francois Hollande said.
He said everything possible was being done to rescue the family and warned other French nationals in northern Cameroon to avoid “exposing themselves”.
The family had been returning from a visit to Waza National Park when they were attacked by men on motorcycles, Cameroonian officials said.
The incidents come amid a French-led intervention against Islamist militants in Mali.
Seven French tourists, including four children, have been kidnapped by gunmen in Cameroon, near the border with Nigeria
At least eight French nationals were already being held by Islamist groups in Africa.
Boko Haram has staged many attacks across northern Nigeria in recent years, targeting churches, government buildings and the security forces.
Another Islamist group- Ansaru – is also active in the region.
On Sunday, Ansaru claimed the abduction of seven foreign workers in Nigeria.
Italian, British, Greek and Lebanese workers are thought to be among those held after an attack on a construction project in Bauchi state.
Ansaru also says it is holding a French national, Francis Colump, who was seized in the northern state of Katsina.
EU leaders have reached agreement on the 7-year budget for 2014-2020 after marathon talks in Brussels.
The deal was announced by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who said it was “worth waiting for”.
The new budget amounts to 908 billion euros ($1.2 trillion) in forecast payments. It is the first-ever reduction in the EU’s multi-annual budget.
UK PM David Cameron – who had been pressing for cuts – hailed it as a “good deal for Britain”.
“I think the British public can be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the EU for the first time ever,” David Cameron said.
French President Francois Hollande – who had argued against big spending cuts – said it was a “good compromise”.
The agreement came after almost 24 hours of negotiations, as countries such as France and Italy sought to protect spending.
EU leaders have reached agreement on the 7-year budget for 2014-2020 after marathon talks in Brussels
The budget amounts to about 1% of the EU’s overall GDP – it is dwarfed by the combined national budgets.
It must still be approved by the European Parliament, and MEPs had previously said they were prepared to block anything that amounted to an “austerity” budget.
Herman Van Rompuy said the deal amounted to a cut of roughly 34 billion euro in both commitments and payments.
He said EU leaders had met their responsibilities by overcoming sharp differences, and he hoped the European Parliament would meet its responsibilities by passing the budget.
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European Union leaders are due to begin a two-day summit in Brussels to try to strike a deal on its next seven years budget.
High EU expenditure at a time of cutbacks and austerity across the continent is the main issue dividing the 27 member states.
They failed to reach a compromise at a similar summit last November.
The summit will almost certainly demand cuts in EU administration.
However, whatever is agreed still has to go to the European Parliament and MEPs are big backers of EU spending.
The EU Commission – the EU’s executive body – had originally wanted a budget ceiling of 1.025 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) for 2014-2020, a 5% increase. In November that was trimmed back to 973 billion euros and later revised down to 943 billion euros.
However, with other EU spending commitments included, that would still give an overall budget of 1.011 trillion euros.
The UK, Germany and other northern European nations want to lower EU spending to mirror the cuts being made by national governments across the continent.
Another grouping, led by France and Italy, wants to maintain spending but target it more at investment likely to create jobs.
European Union leaders are due to begin a two-day summit in Brussels to try to strike a deal on its next seven years budget
French President Francois Hollande told reporters on Sunday that conditions were “not yet in place” for a deal but also signaled that Paris was prepared to make compromises.
Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Paris on Wednesday before attending a France-Germany football match.
Angela Merkel’s spokesman said she and Francosi Hollande had had “a short but intense meeting… to see what kind of agreement could be made”.
angela Merkel – seen as the powerbroker in the summit – has already acknowledged that the talks will be “very difficult”.
In Brussels, a European Parliament spokesman warned that more severe cuts would leave the commission unable to do its job as the EU integrates more deeply in response to the financial crisis.
“How can we imagine that an EU institution can ensure a proper banking union with a budget that is cut by whatever billions in figures we hear, here and there?” said spokesman Olivier Bailly.
“At the moment, there is a need for a reality check between the requests that are sent to the commission, the council, the parliament, or the European Central Bank, and the budget – the means – that are given to these institutions to fulfill their commitments.”
The split in the EU reflects the gap between richer European countries and those that rely most on EU funding.
The argument for higher spending is supported by many countries that are net beneficiaries, including Poland, Hungary and Spain.
Others, mostly the big net contributors, argue it is unacceptable at a time of austerity.
Germany, the UK, France and Italy are the biggest net contributors to the budget, which amounts to about 1% of the EU’s overall GDP.
Analysts say failure to reach an agreement on its seven-year budget would mean the EU falling back on more expensive annual budgets.
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French jets have carried out air strikes in Mali’s far north as they try to secure the final rebel stronghold of Kidal after a three-week offensive.
Thirty jets targeted Islamist militants’ training and communication centres around Tessalit – a mountainous area near the Algerian border.
France’s President Francois Hollande has pledged to help rebuild Mali after the rebels who seized its north are beaten.
But there are fears the fighters could re-group in the mountains near Kidal.
It is believed that several French civilian hostages are being held by militants in the area, making the situation even more delicate.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio on Monday that the air strikes were aimed at “destroying the bases and depots” of the rebels.
He said: “They cannot stay there a long time unless they have new supplies.”
Although French troops captured Kidal’s airport on Wednesday, rebels from a Tuareg group who want their own homeland in northern Mali – the MNLA – still have control of the town itself.
Malian Interim President Dioncounda Traore has offered to hold talks with the MNLA in order to help secure Kidal.
At the same time, French-led forces will begin chasing down Islamist militants who have retreated to desert or mountainous hide-outs.
Tessalit is about 200 km (125 miles) north of Kidal and is a gateway to the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, where rebels are believed to have sought refuge after being forced from the main population centres in the north and east of the country.
French jets have carried out air strikes in Mali’s far north as they try to secure the final rebel stronghold of Kidal after a three-week offensive
Reports have also emerged that a senior figure in the main militant Islamist movement – Ansar Dine – has been captured near the Algerian border by a rival separatist group.
Malian security sources quoted by AFP news agency named the man as Mohamed Moussa Ag Mouhamed, third in command of the group. The report cannot be verified.
Speaking in Bamako on Saturday, Francois Hollande pledged more French aid to its former colony and vowed to restore cultural sites damaged by the rebels.
Francois Hollande received a warm welcome on Saturday as he visited the northern desert city of Timbuktu, which was recaptured by French and Malian troops a week ago.
On Monday, Laurent Fabius said France intended to hand over control of Timbuktu to African forces as soon as possible.
He said a French withdrawal from the city “could take place very quickly, we are working on it”.
A total of 3,500 French troops are currently in Mali.
Nearly 2,000 army personnel from Chad and Niger are helping consolidate the recent gains. A further 6,000 troops will be deployed as part of the UN-backed African-led International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma).
Despite the rapid progress of French forces in recapturing parts of the north, it may be premature to talk of mission accomplished, analysts say.
It is thought the mountainous areas around Kidal provide perfect hiding places for the militants.
On Saturday Francois Hollande said it would be wrong to assume the operation was over while Dioncounda Traore said it would be difficult to completely rid the country of Islamists.
France’s President Francois Hollande is visiting Mali, three weeks after French-led troops launched an offensive to oust Islamist rebels from the country’s north.
Francois Hollande was welcomed by dignitaries and residents in Timbuktu, six days after the city was recaptured.
He is expected to thank the French soldiers and stress the need for an African force to replace them swiftly.
Meanwhile, the UN has warned of the risk of reprisal attacks against Tuareg and Arab communities in northern Mali.
The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, said there had been serious allegations of human rights violations committed by the Malian army, including summary executions and disappearances.
There had also been reports of incidents of mob lynching and looting of properties belonging to Arab and Tuareg communities, which had been accused of supporting armed Islamist groups, Adama Dieng added.
“I call on the Malian army to discharge its responsibility to protect all populations, irrespective of their race or ethnicity,” he said.
The allegations came as heavily-armored columns of French and Malian troops continued their advance in northern Mali.
They are attempting to secure the north-eastern city of Kidal, the militants’ last stronghold, having captured the airport on Wednesday.
France’s President Francois Hollande is visiting Mali, three weeks after French-led troops launched an offensive to oust Islamist rebels from the country’s north
Francois Hollande flew into the central town of Sevare on Saturday morning, accompanied by his ministers of defence, foreign affairs and development. Mali’s interim President, Dioncounda Traore, met them at the airport.
They then flew to Timbuktu’s airport before being driven to the 700-year-old mud mosque of Djingareyber and the Ahmed Baba Institute, where fleeing militants set fire to about 2,000 priceless manuscripts.
Thousands of locals gathered in the city’s main square to welcome Francois Hollande. Many changed “Vive la France” and praised the president for ordering the military intervention in France’s former colony.
“The women of Timbuktu will thank Francois Hollande forever,” 53-year-old Fanta Diarra Toure told the AFP news agency.
“We must tell him that he has cut down the tree but still has to tear up its roots,” she added, referring to the Islamist militants.
Speaking on Friday before he flew to Mali, Francois Hollande said he wanted “to express to our soldiers all our support, encouragement and pride”.
“I’m also going to ensure that African forces come and join us as quickly as possible and to tell them we need them for this international force,” he added.
He said he wanted Mali’s transitional government to restore democracy soon and begin a political dialogue with opposition groups in the north.
However, this is not quite a “mission accomplished” moment for Francois Hollande, because the Islamist militants remain a threat.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday that the French-led forces had recaptured the major population centres “must faster” than he had expected, but warned that they now had to ensure long-term security.
“They have made tremendous progress, I give them a lot of credit,” he told the AFP news agency.
“But the challenge now is to make sure that you can maintain that security and that you are not overstretched and that, ultimately, as you begin to pull back, that the other African nations are prepared to move in and fill the gap of providing security.”
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President Francois Hollande is to visit Mali, where three weeks of targeted French air strikes have forced Islamist militants to retreat.
France’s President Francois Hollande will fly into Bamako to meet interim President Dioncounda Traore, his office says.
He is set to visit Timbuktu, recently seized from Islamist rebels by French and Malian troops, on Saturday.
The French military intervention has recaptured large parts of northern Mali from Islamist groups.
French troops are currently securing Kidal, the last major town which was occupied by militants who had controlled much of the northern part of the former French colony since a coup last year.
Francois Hollande will be joined on his trip by Foreign Minister Lauren Fabius, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Development Minister Pascal Canin.
Earlier, Jean-Yves Le Drian said the jihadists had now scattered, marking a “turning-point” in France’s intervention.
President Francois Hollande is to visit Mali, where three weeks of targeted French air strikes have forced Islamist militants to retreat
French polls suggest the public only have patience for a limited operation: Eradicating the Islamist threat entirely is a bridge too far.
Francois Hollande’s objective is to prepare to hand over the towns the French-led troops have captured to an African force that has begun to deploy to Mali, and create enough stability to facilitate new elections by July.
So far about 2,000 African soldiers, mainly from Chad and Niger, are on the ground in Mali.
On Thursday, French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said a column of 1,400 troops from Chad was heading towards Kidal from the Niger border.
It will be the job of the African Union-backed force, the International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma), to root out the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents that have fled into the desert and mountains further north.
The Tuareg rebels launched the insurgency in October 2011 before falling out with the Islamist militants.
The Islamist fighters extended their control of the vast north of Mali in April 2012, in the wake of a military coup.
France launched a military operation this month after the Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south.
French Employment Minister Michel Sapin made it clear that his government’s tax-and-spend policies are just not working and admitted that France is bankrupt.
Just half a year since his party came to power, Michel Sapin told radio listeners: “There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state.
“That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective.”
While the admission was unlikely to have been intentional, it highlighted huge concern at Socialist President Francois Hollande’s handling of the economy.
Since Francois Hollande came to power, unemployment and the cost of living have continued to spiral in France, while “anti-rich” measures have provoked entrepreneurs to leave the country.
Francois Hollande is currently trying to revive France’s economic fortunes by cutting spending by the equivalent of more than $80 billion.
The president has also pledged to increase taxes by $30 billion over the next five years.
Shrinking economies make it difficult for eurozone countries to get debt levels under control despite pushing through harsh spending cuts and reforms because shrinking output makes the value of a country’s debt as a proportion of the size of its economy worse.
Last week the IMF downgraded its growth forecast for the eurozone from 0.1% to a minus 0.2% contraction, warning that the eurozone “continues to pose a large downside risk to the global outlook”.
The Bank of France has already produced data showing that capital investment is leaving the country every day, along with the business people who helped to build it.
French Employment Minister Michel Sapin made it clear that his government’s tax-and-spend policies are just not working and admitted that France is bankrupt
Among those who have moved their vast wealth out of France is Bernard Arnault, the country’s richest man.
Bernard Arnault, the 63-year-old head of luxury goods group LVMH, insists that he moved the cash and assets to Belgium for “family inheritance reasons”.
But others are convinced that, like numerous other tycoons and celebrities, he simply wants to avoid taxes including a 75% top rate on income being introduced by President Francois Hollande.
Bernard Arnault, who owns numerous homes around the world including one in London, applied for a Belgian passport soon after Francois Hollande’s Socialists won presidential and parliamentary elections last year.
Earlier this year, actor Gerard Depardieu became another high-profile Frenchman moving his assets abroad.
Gerard Depardieu obtained a Russian passport, bought a house in Belgium, and put his multi-million dollars Paris town house on the market.
There have even been reports that Nicolas Sarkozy, the last President of France, is preparing to move to London with his third wife, Carla Bruni, to set up an equity fund.
Prime Minister David Cameron has already said that Britain will “roll out the red carpet” to attract wealthy French people.
Pierre Moscovici, France’s finance minister, immediately tried to play down Michel Sapin’s comments, saying they were “inappropriate”.
He said: “France is a really solvent country. France is a really credible country, France is a country that is starting to recover.”
France is Europe’s second-largest economy and is suffering from rising unemployment, with figures up 10% on last year.
Meanwhile Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said Europe must abandon austerity policies and hold a summit to make Greece’s debt sustainable.
Alexis Tsipras said a conference similar to the one that brought debt relief to Germany in 1953 is the only way to solve their financial crisis.
Greek GDP fell 6% in 2012, the lowest in Europe, as the country struggled with the financial crisis. Portugal’s GDP fell 3%, while Italy declined by 2.3% and Spain’s GDP shrank by 1.4%.
The French GDP rose by 0.2% last year while Ireland grew up 0.4% and Germany increased by 0.8%.
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France and Germany are marking the 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty that helped to reconcile the two former foes.
The German and French leaders have been holding talks in Berlin and there will also be a joint session of the two countries’ parliaments.
The Elysee Treaty was signed by Charles de Gaulle of France and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963.
Despite ups and downs in the relationship, Berlin and Paris have been key shapers of the European Union.
Charles De Gaulle described Europe as “a coach and horses, with Germany the horse and France the coachman”, and the co-operation between the two nations has been the foundation stone of the European project.
To celebrate what has been described as a festival of friendship, France and Germany are issuing stamps, coins and other items of memorabilia.
France and Germany are marking the 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty that helped to reconcile the two former foes
French flags will be flying beside those of Germany in Berlin.
Later on Tuesday, more than 500 French lawmakers will travel to the German capital for the session with the Bundestag.
There will also be a joint cabinet dinner and a concert.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held talks behind closed doors.
Angela Merkel said in her weekly podcast on Saturday that she felt “a very great closeness” with Germany’s neighbor.
“When we have come together, then mostly a good new solution has come out of it,” Angela Merkel said.
However, the two countries remain at odds on several issues, including how to deal with the eurozone crisis.
President Francois Hollande – who is pushing for fresh spending to bolster growth – believes that the Germans are wrong to place such emphasis on austerity and cutting deficits.
On Francois Hollande’s side there is also still bitterness that Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Nicolas Sarkozy so openly during last year’s French presidential elections, our editor says.
The ongoing crisis in Mali is also likely to test the two countries’ relationship.
While Paris has deployed troops in West African nation to halt the advance of Islamist insurgents, Berlin has been reluctant to be drawn deeply into the conflict.
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France’s President Francois Hollande says more French troops are to be deployed in Mali to support the 750 in the country countering an Islamist insurgency.
Francois Hollande said new air strikes overnight had “achieved their goal”. One target was the town of Diabaly, which rebels entered on Monday.
West African military chiefs will meet in Mali on Tuesday to discuss how an alliance with the French will work.
France began its intervention on Friday to halt the Islamists’ advance south.
Late on Monday, the UN Security Council unanimously backed the intervention.
Francois Hollande, on a visit to the French regional military base known as Peace Camp in Abu Dhabi, said: “For now, we have 750 men and the number will increase. New strikes overnight achieved their goal.”
He said that assembling an African military force to work with the French troops could take a “good week”.
Francois Hollande told RFI radio: “We are confident about the speed with which we will be able to stop the aggressors, the enemy, these terrorists.”
The French contingent is expected to rise to 2,500 in the coming weeks.
Witnesses in Diabaly, 400 km (250 miles) north-east of Mali’s capital, Bamako, said there had been heavy air strikes overnight to try to dislodge Islamists who had taken the town from Malian forces on Monday.
President Francois Hollande says more French troops are to be deployed in Mali to support the 750 in the country countering an Islamist insurgency
However, Francois Hollande said the Islamists had not captured it, but were merely hiding there “to protect themselves”, adding: “They will be chased out.”
One visitor, Ibrahim Toure, told Associated Press: “They bombed the town all night long. I am hiding inside a house. It only stopped at around 06:00.”
One Malian security source told Agence France-Presse news agency that “at least five Islamists were killed and many injured”.
Some 30 French tanks and armored troop transport vehicles also crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast on Monday, with a helicopter escort, witnesses said.
Nigeria is set to lead the regional force, supplying 600 troops. Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Senegal and Togo have also pledged soldiers. Britain has deployed troop plane transporters.
The African force will be deployed under UN Security Council resolution 2085, which was passed in December and allows for a 3,000-strong mission.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says there will be a donor meeting towards the end of January to discuss the funding of the anti-Islamist intervention.
He also denied the French intervention would boost al-Qaeda recruitment.
“It’s not encouraging terrorism to combat terrorism,” he said.
French war planes have carried out a series of air strikes since the intervention began on Friday.
Islamists are reported to have withdrawn from the major towns of Timbuktu and Gao.
One spokesman for the Ansar Dine militant group, Senda Ould Boumama, said the withdrawal was a “tactical retreat” to reduce civilian casualties.
One resident of Timbuktu told AFP: “The mujahideen have left. They are really scared.”
However, one spokesman for the Islamist group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, told AP: “I would advise France not to sing their victory song too quickly. They managed to leave Afghanistan. They will never leave Mali.”
On Monday, the UN Security Council convened in New York for an emergency meeting at France’s request.
France’s UN ambassador Gerard Araud said his country had the “understanding and support” of the 14 other Security Council members.
A meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday will discuss EU involvement.
At least 11 Malian soldiers and a French helicopter pilot have died in Mali since Friday’s intervention. More than 100 militants are reported to have been killed.
Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels took advantage of chaos following a military coup to seize northern Mali in April 2012.
But the Islamists soon took control of the region’s major towns, sidelining the Tuaregs.
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France’s President Francois Hollande has ordered security stepped up around public buildings and transport because of military operations in Africa.
Francois Hollande was responding to the risk of Islamist attack after French forces attacked militants in Mali and Somalia.
A pilot was killed as air strikes were launched on a column of Malian rebels.
In Somalia, two French soldiers were “sacrificed” in a raid to free a French hostage, Francois Hollande said. The hostage was believed to have died.
France’s anti-terrorism alert system known as “Vigipirate” is being reinforced immediately, with security boosted at public buildings and transport networks, particularly rail and air. Public gatherings will also be affected.
The alert will remain at red, the second-highest level at which emergency counter-attack measures are put in place.
The “struggle against terrorism” required all necessary precautions to be taken in France itself, the president said.
Francois Hollande’s remarks came within hours of one of the Islamist groups targeted by French military action in Mali threatening reprisals against France.
An Ansar Dine spokesman told Reuters news agency there would be consequences for French citizens throughout the Muslim world.
The operations in Mali and Somalia were launched within hours of each other but were “totally unconnected”, according to government officials.
French troops were deployed in Mali on Friday after the army lost control of a strategically important town to Islamists who were advancing south. The rebels took control of a huge swathe of northern Mali last April.
The central town of Konna has since been recaptured, the Malian government says.
President Francois Hollande has ordered security stepped up around public buildings and transport because of military operations in Mali and Somalia
Then, French commandos went into action in Somalia, swooping on the town of Bulo Marer in an attempt to free Denis Allex, who was kidnapped in July 2009.
A battle erupted with al-Shabab militants and, according to President Francois Hollande, the operation failed “despite the sacrifice of two of our soldiers and probably the assassination of our hostage”.
Earlier, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said one of the soldiers had been killed, another was missing, and “all the indications” were that Denis Allex had been killed by his captors.
But al-Shabab insists the hostage was not in the area at the time of the raid and is alive.
Hundreds of French troops have been deployed in Mali, both in the conflict zone near Konna and in the capital, Bamako.
An estimated 6,000 French expatriates are said to live in Bamako and one of the tasks of the French mission is to guarantee their security.
President Francois Hollande said “heavy losses” had been inflicted on France’s adversaries “but our mission is not over yet”. A Malian army officer said that more than 100 rebels had been killed.
The defence minister said earlier that Paris had decided to act urgently to stop the Islamist offensive, which threatened to create “a terrorist state within range of France and Europe”.
He also revealed that a French helicopter pilot, Lieutenant Damien Boiteux, was killed in Friday’s fighting – during an air raid to support Mali’s ground troops in the battle for Konna.
Eleven Malian soldiers have also been killed and 60 injured in fighting around Konna, Malian interim President Dioncounda Traore said in a statement.
There were reports of civilian casualties too, with Human Rights Watch talking of ten deaths in Konna.
On Saturday, Dioncounda Traore called Francois Hollande to thank him for the operation, the AFP news agency reports.
Dioncounda Traore declared a state of emergency on Friday, which he said would remain in place for an initial period of 10 days.
West African bloc Ecowas has authorized the immediate deployment of 2,000 troops to Mali and UK Prime Minister David Cameron said British forces would offer logistical assistance to help transport troops and equipment.
The Ecowas troops – from Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Togo – are expected to arrive in the next 10 days.
A government official in Niger told Reuters around 500 troops would be sent while AFP reported that Burkina Faso was sending a similar force.
In a statement, Ecowas Commission President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said the decision was made “in light of the urgency of the situation”.
For some months, Ecowas had been planning to send 3,300 troops to Mali with the aim of helping government forces reclaim the north of the country.
However, even though the mission was authorized by the United Nations, its deployment was not due to take place until later this year.
Although the French operation appears to have halted the rebel offensive, the logistics are complicated and the task of recapturing northern Mali remains a daunting one.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on French President Francois Hollande to explain why he previously met one of the Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris on Thursday.
One of the three women killed was Sakine Cansiz – a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a group proscribed by the European Union.
President Francois Hollande has said that he and other politicians had regularly met one of the women, without saying which one.
Turkey has fought the PKK for 25 years.
Some 40,000 people have died, but the Paris shootings came as Ankara sought peace talks with the group.
Thousands demonstrated in central Paris on Saturday to demand action over the deaths of the activists who were found shot dead at the Kurdish information centre in Paris on Thursday. According to French media they had been shot in the head or neck.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on French President Francois Hollande to explain why he previously met one of the Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris on Thursday
At a meeting in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Francois Hollande should “immediately disclose” why he met members of “this terrorist organization, what was discussed, to what end he was in communication with these terrorists”.
“How can you routinely meet with members of an organization labeled a terrorist group by the European Union and being sought by Interpol? What kind of politics is this?” he added.
Sakine Cansiz, who was detained and tortured in Turkey in the 1980s, is said to be close to the jailed PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
A second woman has been named as Fidan Dogan, 32, who worked in the information centre. She was also the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress.
The third, named as Leyla Soylemez, was a young activist.
The PKK took up arms in 1984, demanding greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population.
It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organization, because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians.
In 2012 it stepped up its attacks, leading to the fiercest fighting in decades, but violence has subsided in recent months.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested the killings had been designed to sabotage peace talks between Turkey and the PKK.
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France is ready to stop Islamist militants who control northern Mali if they continue their offensive, President Francois Hollande has said.
However, President Francois Hollande said France would only act under UN authorization.
Francois Hollande was responding to a plea by Malian President Dioncounda Traore for help to counter a renewed rebel offensive.
Earlier, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for the rapid deployment of an African-led international force to Mali.
Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of northern Mali in April 2012.
They have enforced an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.
Analysts say Western nations are concerned that Mali’s north could become a base for terrorists to plan and launch international attacks.
The UN has approved plans to send some 3,000 African troops to Mali to recapture the north but they are not due to arrive until September.
“They (rebels) are trying to deliver a fatal blow to the very existence of this country,” Francois Hollande said.
“France, like its African partners, cannot accept this. I have decided that France will respond, alongside our African partners, to the request from the Malian authorities.
“We will do it strictly within the framework of the United Nations Security Council resolution. We will be ready to stop the terrorists’ offensive if it continues.”
France is ready to stop Islamist militants who control northern Mali if they continue their offensive, President Francois Hollande has said
Diplomatic sources said Francois Hollande and Dioncounda Traore would meet for talks in Paris next Wednesday.
It is not clear what form French intervention might take, but one possibility is the use of air strikes if the rebels advance on the strategic central town of Mopti.
Speaking shortly before Francois Hollande’s address, French War Veterans Minister Kader Arif appeared to rule out a speedy deployment of French troops to Mali.
“There is clearly an emergency but… there’s no point in rushing in,” said Kader Arif.
“At the same time, there can be no kind of engagement that could take place in this emergency without taking account of the international scale.”
Earlier this week, the militant Islamist group Ansar Dine said it had entered the key central town of Konna and intended to advance further south.
The army has refused to comment on the claim.
Following its emergency meeting on Mali on Thursday, the UN Security Council called for a “rapid deployment” of the African force and expressed “grave concern” at the capture of Konna by “terrorists and extremist groups”.
UN diplomats in New York said President Dioncounda Traore had appealed for help to Paris and to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
“It basically said <<Help, France>>,” the US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told reporters in describing the letter.
France was the colonial power in Mali until 1960.
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French President Francois Hollande says he still plans to raise the top rate of income tax after his 75% plan was struck down on technical grounds.
In a national address on New Year’s Eve, Francois Hollande said the law would be redesigned, adding, “we will still ask more of those who have the most”.
However, the president did not mention the 75% figure, leading some to speculate that the move would be watered down.
Francois Hollande also promised “all efforts” towards cutting unemployment.
The number of jobless broke the three-million barrier for the first time this year, prompting Francois Hollande to say the trend must be reversed.
He has been criticized for lacking direction, and his popularity levels have plummeted, since he took power in May.
Francois Hollande says he still plans to raise the top rate of income tax after his 75 percent plan was struck down on technical grounds
Francois Hollande acknowledged the “serious and legitimate” concerns of the public, and that there had been “fits and starts” in his first six months.
But the president insisted France would emerge from the financial crisis “sooner and stronger” than expected because of action by his government.
“We’ve set the course – jobs, competitiveness and growth – and I will not deviate. It’s the future of France,” he said.
The Socialist president said he would resubmit his flagship policy of raising income tax for those earning more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million) a year.
It was rejected by the Constitutional Council on Saturday because, unlike other forms of income tax, it was to be applied to individuals rather than households.
Francois Hollande said while the law would be “redesigned” its objective would remain the same – that those who could afford to do so should pay more to France’s effort to tackle its deficit.
The policy has angered France’s business leaders and the right-wing opposition, who say it discourages entrepreneurship and wealth-creation. It has led to some wealthy citizens, like the actor Gerard Depardieu, to say they would emigrate.
While the measure is popular with Francois Hollande’s supporters on the left, some analysts think it may be dropped or watered down, possibly by raising the income level at which it is paid.
“I suspect this tax will be shelved,” Philippe Gudin, an economist for Barclays and a former French treasury official, told Reuters news agency.
“For the [low amount of] revenue it would raise, the outcry it has provoked and the damage it has done to France’s image, it would be more sensible if it were quietly buried.”
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France’s constitutional council has struck down a top income tax rate of 75% introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande.
Raising taxes for those earning more than 1 million euros has been a flagship policy for Francois Hollande.
The policy angered France’s business community and prompted some wealthy citizens to say they would emigrate.
Francois Hollande’s government said it would rework the tax, due to take effect in 2013, to meet the council’s complaints.
In its ruling on Saturday, the Constitutional Council said the new tax rate “failed to recognize equality before public burdens” because, unlike other forms of income tax, it was to be applied to individuals rather than households.
For example, that meant a household in which one person earned more than 1 million euros would pay the tax, but a household in which two people earned 900,000 euros each would not have to pay.
France’s constitutional council has struck down a top income tax rate of 75 percent introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande
The council also rejected new methods for calculating the tax.
But Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government would press ahead with the new tax rate.
“The government will propose a new system that conforms with the principles laid down by the decision of the Constitutional Council,” he said.
The new rate was seen as largely symbolic since it would have only applied to some 1,500 people for a temporary period of two years.
But along with other tax rises, it has still been the subject of fierce debate in France.
French actor Gerard Depardieu recently announced he was moving to Belgium to avoid taxes, sparking a furious reaction from some on the left.
There was also speculation that people employed in high-income jobs like banking and finance would move elsewhere, including to London.
Francoise Hollande campaigned against the austerity policies used in many European countries affected by economic crisis, favoring higher taxes rather than spending cuts to bring down the deficit.
The 75% rate for high earners was included in the government’s 2013 budget, approved by parliament in September.
France’s President Francois Hollande has ordered tighter security for his country’s embassy in the Central African Republic (CAR), after it was attacked by protesters.
Francois Hollande also told the defence minister to provide extra protection for French citizens there.
Demonstrators threw stones at the embassy in the capital Bangui and tore down the French flag.
They want France to help quash a rebellion in the north of the country.
France, the former colonial power in the CAR, has about 200 soldiers based there, and the government in Bangui has appealed for France to intervene against a rebel movement which has taken several northern towns.
The protesters said France had abandoned them. Protests were also staged outside the Air France office in the city.
The French ambassador has complained to the government over the incidents.
President Francois Hollande has ordered tighter security for French embassy in the Central African Republic, after it was attacked by protesters
France Hollande said he had ordered Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to take “all necessary” protective measures to guarantee the security of the embassy.
The Defence ministry said the embassy perimeter had been secured with the deployment of French troops.
Analysts say Paris is increasingly reluctant to interfere in its former colonies and a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry told Reuters news agency the crisis needed to be resolved through dialogue.
Rebels in northern CAR on Sunday captured the key city of Bambari, the third largest in the country, having earlier seized the rich diamond mining area around Bria.
The rebels – known as the Seleka coalition – accuse President Francois Bozize of failing to honor a 2007 peace deal, under which fighters who laid down their arms were meant to be paid.
Seleka, which is made up of breakaway factions from three of the former armed groups, has pledged to depose Francois Bozize unless he negotiates with them.
They began their campaign a month ago and have taken several towns in their push towards the capital.
It is unclear how far they have advanced towards Bangui, but an unconfirmed report by Reuters news agency on Sunday quoted sources saying they were only 75 km (47 miles) away.
President Francois Bozize, who seized power in a coup in 2003, has repeatedly relied on foreign intervention to fend off rebellions and the spill-over from conflicts in neighboring Chad and Sudan.
Chad has deployed 150 soldiers to try to stem the rebel advance.
The United Nations has ordered all its non-essential staff to be evacuated due to the worsening security situation.
European Union leaders have agreed on a roadmap for eurozone integration beyond the deal on centralized banking supervision, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Specific dates have not yet been agreed for the phases of integration.
But the EU summit chairman, Herman Van Rompuy, said a deal should be reached next year on a joint resolution scheme for winding up failed banks.
Herman Van Rompuy’s far-reaching roadmap was the main topic of the two-day Brussels summit.
Speaking after the summit talks, French President Francois Hollande said: “There is no doubt today about the integrity of the eurozone – Europe cannot now be taken by surprise.”
But beyond the banking reforms, he said, Europe must address the problems of unemployment and feeble growth.
The deal to make the European Central Bank (ECB) the chief regulator should pave the way for direct recapitalization of struggling eurozone banks by the main bailout fund, the 500 billion-euro ($654 billion) European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
Spain is especially anxious to get that help for its debt-laden banks.
Direct recapitalization would help break the “vicious circle” in which bank debts have put a crippling burden on national budgets and led to massive taxpayer-funded bailouts.
However, Germany insists that the ESM should not be used to write off the existing “legacy” debts that have burdened Spain, Greece and the Republic of Ireland. Any ESM loans will be accompanied by tough rules on budget discipline.
At a late-night news conference, Angela Merkel said “we agreed a roadmap for the future development of the currency union and talked about different aspects of this that are important.
“Above all, it was important to define when we do what.”
Herman Van Rompuy aims to present detailed plans for deeper economic integration in time for the June 2013 EU summit. They would include “mutually agreed contracts for competitiveness and growth between governments and EU institutions”.
Much closer EU scrutiny of national budgets is envisaged, including penalties if governments rack up unsustainable debts.
Contractual agreements on things such as taxation and labor market policy are likely to require changes to the EU treaties – so these are likely to be put off until after the European elections in mid-2014.
The UK, along with Denmark, has a formal opt-out from joining the euro, and will not be part of the new banking union. But the UK’s banking pre-eminence in Europe means it is taking an intense interest in the negotiations.
New rules on prudent banking are seen as vital to bolster the euro, as bank failures triggered the financial crash.
Under the deal expected to take effect in March 2014, banks with more than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) in assets will be placed under ECB oversight.
The ECB would also be able to intervene with smaller lenders and borrowers at the first sign of trouble.
Speaking after the summit, Francois Hollande said Europe had been unprepared for the financial crisis but now had a “crisis management authority” which allowed for the “return of confidence and growth”.
The agreement on a financial transactions tax was, he told reporters, a good example of how countries could be brought into eurozone integration through closer co-operation, signing up to agreements at a later stage.
A non-eurozone country, Lithuania, joined the group adopting a financial transaction tax.
Eurozone integration – next steps
- ECB takes charge of bank supervision no later than March 2014
- Joint scheme to wind down broken banks, planned for launch in mid-2014
- Joint deposit guarantee scheme, to prevent bank runs
- Main bailout fund – ESM – gets power to recapitalize banks, under strict conditions
- More centralized economic governance, including enforceable “contracts” between governments and EU Commission
- Tighter co-ordination of national budget targets
Eurozone banking deal
- ECB to act as chief supervisor of eurozone banks and lenders
- ECB to co-operate closely with national supervisory authorities
- Direct oversight of banks with assets greater than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) or with 20% of national GDP
- National supervisors to remain in charge of other tasks
- Non-eurozone countries that wish to take part can make close co-operation arrangements
France has confirmed its intentions to vote for Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations later this week.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France had long backed Palestinian ambitions for statehood and would vote yes “out of a concern for coherency”.
The Palestinians are asking the UN General Assembly to upgrade their status from permanent observer to a “non-member observer state”.
The vote is due to take place later this week.
“This Thursday or Friday, when the question is asked, France will vote yes,” Laurent Fabius told the lower house of parliament.
But he cautioned: “It’s only with negotiations between the two sides that we demand immediately, without any preconditions, that a Palestinian state can become a reality.”
Backing international recognition of a Palestinian state was a campaign pledge made by Francois Hollande before he became France’s president earlier this year.
France – a permanent member of the UN Security Council – is the first major European country to come out in favor of the move.
Germany is expected to vote against, while the UK’s ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said on Tuesday that London remained undecided.
France has confirmed its intentions to vote for Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations later this week
An upgrade in status would allow the Palestinians to participate in General Assembly debates and improve their chances of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC), although the process would be neither automatic nor guaranteed.
If they are allowed to sign the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, the Palestinians hope to take legal action in the court to challenge Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
The bid follows an attempt in 2011 by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), to join the UN as a full member state, which failed because of a lack of support in the Security Council.
Observers say the latest Palestinian application is likely win approval in the 193-member UN General Assembly, as it needs to only a simple majority to pass. According to the PLO, more than 130 countries already grant the Palestinians the rank of a sovereign state.
But Israel and the United States are concerned that the move is an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to secure statehood through the United Nations rather than through negotiation, as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Lior Ben Dor said earlier this month that if the Palestinians, with UN non-member observer status, asked the ICC to resolve disputes with Israel, then Israel would “take unilateral steps to protect its interests”. He did not elaborate on what those measures would be.
President Mahmoud Abbas has said he does not “want any confrontations with the United States or Israel”, adding: “If we can start a dialogue or negotiations the day after the [UN] vote, we will.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she doubts an agreement can be reached on the European Union’s 2014-2020 budget at the summit taking place in Brussels.
Angela Merkel spoke after negotiations on the 2014-2020 budget were adjourned until midday on Friday.
The opening of the summit was delayed for three hours because of stark differences over the budget plans.
Most EU members support an increase in the budget but several countries say it is unacceptable at a time of austerity.
Earlier, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy circulated a revised proposal for the new budget and said he believed that a compromise was possible.
“I think we’re advancing a bit, but I doubt that we will reach a deal,” Angela Merkel said.
She has previously said that another summit may be necessary early next year if no deal can be reached now.
French President Francois Hollande also cautioned that an agreement might not be possible.
But he added: “We should not consider that if we don’t get there tomorrow or the day after, all would be lost.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she doubts an agreement can be reached on the European Union’s 2014-2020 budget at the summit taking place in Brussels
The 90-minute session late on Thursday followed a grueling day of face-to-face meetings between Herman Van Rompuy and each of the bloc’s leaders, followed by a flurry of backroom discussions.
Before suspending talks, leaders nominated Luxembourg’s Yves Mersch to the executive board of the European Central Bank.
The EU Commission, which drafts EU laws, has called for an increase of 4.8% on the 2007-2013 budget.
The UK is the most vocal of EU member states seeking cuts in the budget to match austerity programmes at home.
“No, I’m not happy at all,” Prime Minister David Cameron said about Herman Van Rompuy’s offer to cap spending at 973 billion euros ($1.2 trillion).
“Clearly, at a time when we’re making difficult decisions at home over public spending, it would be quite wrong – it is quite wrong – for there to be proposals for this increased extra spending in the EU.”
The statement called the rebate “fully justified”. The EU Commission and some EU governments want the rebate scrapped.
David Cameron has warned he may use his veto if other EU countries call for any rise in EU spending. The Netherlands and Sweden back his call for a freeze in spending, allowing for inflation.
Poland and its former-communist neighbors, which rely heavily on EU cash, want current spending maintained or raised.
Francois Hollande has also called for subsidies for farming and development programmes to be sustained for poorer nations.
France has traditionally been a big beneficiary of EU farm support.
Failure to agree on the budget would mean rolling over the 2013 budget into 2014 on a month-by-month basis, putting some long-term projects at risk.
Possible outcomes
- A deal after intense negotiations which may continue into the weekend
- Failure to agree and a follow-up budget summit
- If no agreement is reached by the end of 2013, the 2013 budget ceilings will be rolled over into 2014 with a 2% inflation adjustment, amid uncertainty over long-term EU projects
France has become the first Western country to recognize Syria’s opposition coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
The move was announced by President Francois Hollande at a televised news conference in Paris.
Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday to form a broad coalition to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
The US and Britain have both signaled support for the coalition.
But they stopped short of recognizing it as a government-in-exile.
Gulf Arab states have declared the coalition to be the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Opposition and human rights activists estimate that more than 36,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule began in March 2011.
More than 408,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, and more are fleeing every day, according to the United Nations.
Francois Hollande told reporters: “I announce today that France recognizes the Syrian National Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and as the future government of a democratic Syria, allowing it to bring an end to Bashar al-Assad’s regime.”
Francois Hollande’s announcement is a clear sign that the West is now pinning its hopes on the Syrian opposition finally being able to offer a united and effective alternative to President Bashar al-Assad.
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has been calling on European nations to recognize it as the country’s transitional government, enabling it to buy weapons to assist its attempts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Fancrois Hollande said France would look at the question of arming the coalition, but that it would not support doing so “as long as it wasn’t clear where these weapons went”.
“With the coalition, as soon as it is a legitimate government of Syria, this question will be looked at by France, but also by all countries that recognize this government,” he said.
In Washington, state department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the US regarded the National Coalition as “a legitimate representative” of the Syrian people.
“We now have a structure in place that can prepare for a political transition,” he told reporters.
“But… we’re looking for it to still establish the types of technical committees that will allow us to make sure our assistance gets to the right places.”
German chancellor Angela Merkel has called for the EU to be given the power to veto member states’ budgets, as leaders meet in Brussels for a summit.
Angela Merkel said the EU economics commissioner should be given clear rights to intervene when national budgets violated the bloc’s rules.
But French President Francois Hollande said the summit must keep focused on plans for a banking union.
Francois Hollande wants action to revive growth, while Germany stresses budget discipline.
“The topic of this summit is not the fiscal union but the banking union, so the only decision that will be taken is to set up a banking union by the end of the year and especially the banking supervision. The other topic is not on the agenda,” Francois Hollande said.
The banking union plan is fraught with legal complications, as it would give more powers to the European Central Bank (ECB) and possibly weaken those of national regulators. There is speculation that it could lead to treaty changes – something that has caused big headaches for the EU in the past.
The aim is to agree first on joint banking supervision, with the ECB playing the lead role. But the UK – the EU’s main financial centre – wants safeguards to protect the powers of the Bank of England.
The UK and some of the other nine non-euro states are also concerned about voting rights in the proposed banking union.
France and Germany differ over the timetable for such a union, with Berlin advocating caution.
Germany is also at odds with the European Commission over the scope of the proposed ECB supervision. Under the plan, all 6,000 banks in the 17-nation eurozone would be included, but Germany wants it limited to the biggest, “systemic” banks.
As the summit got under way its chairman, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, invited all 27 leaders to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway. The EU was awarded the prize last week.
“To mark this joyful occasion I hope all EU Heads of State or Government will be able to join celebrations in Oslo in December,” he said on Twitter.
But Greece, the eurozone state worst hit by the debt crisis, was gripped by another 24-hour general strike on Thursday, with at least 20,000 protesters thronging central Athens, amid clashes between demonstrators and police.
Addressing the German parliament in Berlin on Thursday morning, Angela Merkel said the EU should have “real rights to intervene in national budgets” that breached the limits of the EU’s growth and stability pact.
The EU’s economics commissioner, she suggested, should have the authority to send a budget back to a national parliament.
Unfortunately, Angela Merkel said, some EU member states were not ready for such a step.
“I am astonished that, no sooner does someone make a progressive proposal… the cry immediately comes that this won’t work, Germany is isolated, we can’t do it,” she added.
“This is not how we build a credible Europe.”
On the banking union Angela Merkel has repeatedly stressed that “quality must trump speed”.
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, one of the 10 EU countries outside the euro, echoed her stance, saying “there are a lot of questions that need to be answered legally” and “it’s better to get things right than to rush things”.
The idea is that the ECB would be able to intervene early on to prevent a systemically dangerous accumulation of debt on a bank’s balance sheets.
Once the legal framework is in place the new permanent rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), will be able to recapitalize struggling banks directly, without adding to a country’s sovereign debt pile.
The prize is a system that avoids huge taxpayer-funded bailouts like those arranged for Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Portugal.
The summit is taking place amid calmer European stock markets than at previous meetings and with less immediate concern over the debt crises in Spain and Greece, analysts say.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron made it clear that improving the EU single market was his priority at the summit.
He said that in the “global race” there was a risk of the EU falling behind.
The EU single market “still isn’t finished, in digital, in services, in energy, and that is the agenda I’ll be pushing very hard at this council”, he said.
Later Finland’s Europe Minister, Alex Stubb, said the UK was looking increasingly isolated and the summit appeared to be “26 plus one”.
“I think Britain is right now, voluntarily, by its own will, putting itself in the margins,” he told Reuters news agency.
“It’s almost as if the boat is pulling away and one of our best friends is somehow saying ‘bye bye’ and there’s not really that much we can do about it.”
Banking union – Brussels’ 3-stage plan
• Single supervisory mechanism (SSM)
• Joint resolution scheme to wind down failing banks
• Joint deposit guarantee scheme
France’s first lady Valerie Trierweiler has admitted she made a mistake sending tweets aimed against President Francois Hollande’s former partner.
Valerie Trierweiler caused controversy when she used Twitter to publicly back an opponent of Segolene Royal in parliamentary elections in June.
Segolene Royal, the Socialist presidential candidate in 2007, is the mother of Francois Hollande’s four children.
Valerie Trierweiler told a French newspaper she regretted the move.
“It was a mistake that I regret. I must have been clumsy because this was badly interpreted,” Valerie Trierweiler told regional newspaper Ouest-France.
“I had not yet realized that I was no longer a simple citizen. It won’t happen again.”
Government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem welcomed the remarks.
“It is entirely to her credit that Valerie Trierweiler has taken the time to express her regrets,” she said according to French news agency AFP.
During the elections, Valerie Trierweiler tweeted support for Segolene Royal’s opponent, dissident socialist politician Olivier Falorni. Her actions embarrassed Francois Hollande, who had only recently been elected president.
The president had given his public support to his former partner Segolene Royal, who subsequently lost the election to Olivier Falorni.
He recently told journalist that he and the first lady agreed on everything except her tweets.
There has long been speculation of the intense rivalry between the two women.
Segolene Royal is a former leader of the Socialist Party who ran for president in 2007 but was defeated by conservative Nicolas Sarkozy. Valerie Trierweiler is a former political journalist.
In the interview with Ouest-France, she said she planned to continue working at Paris-Match – the weekly magazine where she writes an arts column. – but would abandon plans for a more high-profile television presenting role.
“I understand that being the president’s partner and working for a television channel may be problematic or even fuel suspicion for some people,” she said.
The number of unemployed people in France has topped 3 million for the first time since 1999, according to latest labor ministry figures.
August’s jobless total rose by 23,900 to 3.011 million, a 9% increase on a year earlier, marking the 16th consecutive monthly rise.
Speaking before the data was officially announced, Labour Minister Michel Sapin said: “It’s bad. It’s clearly bad.”
However, the government blamed the previous regime of Nicolas Sarkozy.
The number of unemployed people in France has topped 3 million for the first time since 1999
“These three million unemployed embody the failure of economic and social policies undertaken during the last few years,” the labor ministry said in a statement.
“In the face of this difficult report, the government is determined to implement as soon as possible reforms,” it said.
The news will, however, add pressure on President Francois Hollande, who came to power on a promise to revive the economy.
He won power in May, pledging to revive the eurozone’s second largest economy, tackle rising unemployment, and reverse industrial decline. However his approval rating is now at it lowest since he assumed power, pollsters say.
Since May, major companies have announced thousands of layoffs, including carmaker Peugeot, drugmaker Sanofi, airline Air France-KLM, and retailer Carrefour.
Analysts warned that the unemployment situation could worsen.
Mathieu Plane, economist at the French Economic Observatory, told the Reuters news agency: “There are almost one million more unemployed people compared with early 2008 and we can’t yet say that we have reached the peak.”
The French economy has posted three consecutive quarters of zero growth, and forward-looking data suggests it may continue to flatline.
“Confidence is weak both with companies and, even more so, with households. It’s not really surprising given the economy has fallen in recession and the private sector is facing the biggest tax hike in decades,” Bruno Cavalier, analyst at Oddo Securities, wrote in a research note.
The 2013 budget, due to go before the cabinet on Friday, is expected to contain more than 30bn euros in budget savings, and fresh tax rises.
The government has forecast 0.3% growth for the year, and has so far kept its 2013 target at 1.2%, which many economists now consider unrealistic.
France’s central bank this month predicted that the economy would contract by 0.1% in the third quarter after flatlining for the first half of the year.
Amid the gloom, French consumer confidence slipped two points in September from the previous month, the national statistics office said on Wednesday.
France President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are marking the 50th anniversary of an historic speech seen as a key moment in the post-WWII reconciliation between the two countries.
Addressing an audience of young Germans in their own language in 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle said they were “children of a great nation which had made great errors”.
The meeting is to be largely ceremonial, German officials say.
Both countries are working together to address the current euro debt crisis.
Addressing an audience of young Germans in their own language in 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle said they were children of a great nation which had made great errors
Apart from the ceremonies, the two leaders were expected to discuss plans by EADS and BAE Systems to merge – creating the world’s largest aerospace and defence firm.
France’s finance minister says the planned deal needs close scrutiny raising fears of delays through political wrangling. Airbus maker EADS is anxious for stakeholders France and Germany to set out their position on the merger before an informal British deadline in October.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman told journalists there would “of course be no decisions this Saturday” on that or any other issue.
Charles de Gaulle’s speech was seen as a highly significant moment, when France sought partnership with its erstwhile invader.
Now the Franco-German relationship is the core of the eurozone, even though when President Francois Hollande won power earlier this year, it did not seem to be at its strongest.
President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel had different policies on how to save the euro – the German leader had a more austere policy on public spending than he did.
He says they speak as one on insisting on strict conditions for bailouts.
Francois Hollande may have softened his belief that economies can be stimulated by government spending, and Angela Merkel may have softened her position on the European Central Bank being more willing to help struggling governments.
But issues remain, particularly over how fast to move towards a unified European banking system. Charles de Gaulle’ speech has led to a partnership but one where there are still rows.
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