The Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region of France
January 31, 2008
The area Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur is located in the south of France, between the Rhone Alpes area at the north, Languedoc Roussillon in the west, Italy in the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The seventh largest region of France in terms of surface with 31,400 km2, it is in third place in terms of population, with 4,506,151 inhabitants
This administrative area contains 963 towns whose prefecture is Marseille, and is divided into 6 departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04), les Alpes-Maritimes (06), les Bouches-du-Rhône (13), les Hautes-Alpes (05), le Var (83) et le Vaucluse (84).
In addition to the beauty of its Provencal landscapes, the inspiration of many famous artists such as Van Gogh, Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso, Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur bears witness to a remarkable historical heritage. In fact, many sites of artistic, religious or historic value have been built in the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region through the centuries. The ramparts, forts and citadels, like the fortifications in the valley of Ubaye or on the roads of Toulon, go back to past invasions. Cities such as Frejus, Vaison-La-Romaine and Orange were important Roman cities, as was Arles, whose principal monuments are classified by UNESCO. But these history-laden cities don’t feel like dusty relics of the past. Festivals in Tarasque and le Bravade celebrate a great cultural heritage; many museums pay homage to the fabulous artists for whom the area held such fascination (the Matisse Museum and the Musée Picasso in Antibes are only two); and other varied and internationally recognized festivals testify to a rich cultural life (the festival of Avignon, the international festival of lyric art in Aix in Provence, of Jazz in Juan, of dance in Chateauvallon for example.)
La Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur is characterized, as its name suggests, by contrasting identities and landscapes, united by a Latin and Mediterranean Provencal culture, and a temperate, sunlit climate which makes it among the favorite destinations of tourists.
Provence, first of all, with its azure skies, chirping cicadas, its perfume of lavender, its people with their mellifluous accent, recall the world of Pagnol and evokes the good life in the shade. Of course the star of Provence is its lavender which magically colors the landscape, and more exactly the lavandin, known for its health virtues and its uplifting scent, but olive-trees and the vineyards hold their place too. Indeed, the pride of Provence’s gastronomic world, the local red, rose or white wines, are varied enough to suit all palates, Côtes du Rhône, Vins de Baux and Côtes de Provence being among the best-known.
But another face of Provence is Argens, known as also “Green Provence”, with its luxuriant vegetation. Skirting the river, this part of the back country is full of refreshing cascades like the Gorges du Vallon Sourn, fountains and bridges.
Lastly, Provence extends to the west and changes into a marsh at the delta of the Rhone: the Camargue. This area, known for its bull breeding and sprinkled with unspoiled ponds is a favorite place for trail rides on horseback.
Next, the Alps, and more specifically the south-eastern end of the alpine arc, are located less than two hours from the sea. With all its diversity of fauna and flora, these mountains of which the highest summit is 4102 m (la Barre des Ecrins) are ideal for many activities year-round. Aerial sports and water sports like canyoning and rafting there are widely practiced here, as is climbing and skiing in winter.
Hiking is also hugely popular here, and Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur has the best in the area with more than 4000 km OF marked out trails. Nature is well-protected, with reserve areas and national and regional parks (examples include the Parc national des Ecrins, Parc naturel Régional de Queyras, Réserve géologique de Haute Provence, and the Parc National du Mercantour). These allow hikers and the nature enthusiast to observe local fauna such as the wolf. Nature is celebrated in all its glory in the many gardens which blossom all over La Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, such as the jardin du pavillon Vendôme and the jardin ethno-botanique du Prieuré de Salagon. In addition, it should be noted that the Lubéron, a paradise for long walks, is a classified by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve.
The Côte d’Azur or Riviera, finally, contains the majority of the area’s population and it is this Mediterranean coastline that attracts the most French tourists as well as foreigners visiting France. Here, a feast for the eyes is guaranteed with one view more sublimes than the other (for example: the cliffs of Cassis and Marseille, the red rocks of l’Esterels, les creeks).
With its beaches of fine sand interspersed with small, intimate coves in craggy hollows, many delightful activities abound: lazing the day away in Saint Tropez, boating and other nautical activities in Hyères with deep-sea diving in the dazzling sites of the île ed Riou and the île ed Planier.
Moreover the charm of the East coast is punctuated by its islands, accessible thanks to water shuttles. The best-known are Porquerolles and Port-Cros, much admired for their splendid beaches, their shaded paths and their underwater sites. The île du Levant is remarkable for its natural beauty. . The most glittering cities of the coastline of the Côte d’Azur are Cannes, Saint Tropez and Nice which, with Marseilles and Toulon, form one of the four major urban poles of the region, the fourth being Avignon in the Rhone valley.
Land of brilliant light, vineyards and olive-trees, the Provence Côte d’Azur region evokes the art of living well and a palette of highly colored landscapes which still inspire artists and tourists alike.
Let’s go, Grandma! A new program helps retired seniors in France leave on vacation
January 31, 2008
In order to give older people in France a chance to enjoy a time-honored French tradition—the vacation– the ANCV (National Agency for Vacation-Cheques) has launched the program “Seniors on holiday” 2008.
The program is intended to give seniors with modest incomes direct financial assistance and also connects them with preferential rates from professionals in the tourist industry. The agency is responding to a statistic stating that over 42 % of people who can’t afford to go away on vacation are older retired folks.
The French program is modeled on a similar plan begun by the Spanish ministry for social affairs, which benefits 1 million retired pensioners every year. Seniors on Holiday has a double mission. The first part is social: to foster well-being in elderly and retired people in France whose means are limited and whose lives are most isolated . The second aim is economic: to energize the tourist economy by lengthening the vacation season. Benefits for Seniors on Holiday are only applicable for vacations taken outside of July and August, the months when most of France is on holiday. The idea is that freed from the restraints of a schedule tied to the work or school year, seniors in France have much more flexibility when choosing when to take a vacation. Having more tourists travelling in the off-season while giving cash strapped seniors in France a better quality of life would seem to be a win-win proposition.
With so much at stake, the French Secretary of State for Tourism, Luc Chatel, wanted to boost “Seniors on Holiday”, so he entrusted it to the ANCV with the objective to grow the number of beneficiaries of the program from 10,000 people per year in 2008 to 500,000 people by 2010.
The Agency also unveiled offers of vacations at discount prices designed for groups of 30 to 80 people willing to travel outside of the traditional tourist season, and to finance half of the cost of these stays. To qualify, people must be at least 60 years old, and neither the beneficiary nor his or her spouse can be employed. They must be willing to pay for transportation to the vacation venue, and also be resident in France. Next year the program will add an arm specifically devoted to elderly vacationers who are disabled.
The ANCV’s mission is to extend free access to recreation and vacations to everyone in France. Responsible for the emission of vacation vouchers, which have benefited nearly 3 million people, the agency devotes 100% of its administrative surpluses to the assistance of populations in difficulty.
Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Mayor Bernard Delanoe click in Paris
January 30, 2008
Soon-to-retire Microsoft chair Bill Gates met with Paris Mayor Bernard Delanoe on Wednesday to discuss a sweeping new partnership based on Microsoft technology.
Security was tight as Delanoe and Gates, thought to be the world’s richest man, met in Paris, France to discuss innovative ways technology could be brought to bear on Paris’ social challenges including unemployment, education and business development.
Features of the deal include training and Microsoft network support for 120 unemployed IT workers in Paris, two years of training and support for 40 French start-up companies, and even a brand new digital sports center in the Porte de Montreuil area of Paris, due to open in 2009. The center will host traditional physical sports but also video games, with specific video tournaments being planned for the new space. Microsoft will provide X-Box consoles and other multimedia equipment.
The Mayor of Paris said that Gates was a man he admired for his advancement of knowledge, business innovation and values around the world. Socialist and Green leaders sniffed, only partly in jest, that this deal was simply one more step in the Microsoft founder’s quest for world domination. There were also some criticisms that Paris mayor Delanoe made such an important deal with Microsoft’s leader only 40 days before the end of his term. Delanoe retorted that he would be Mayor “right up until the end.”
Gates himself is something of a lame duck. He plans to stay on with Microsoft only a few more months before retiring from business to devote himself 100% to the philanthropic work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill Gates called himself “proud and happy” to have signed the agreement with Delanoe, which he said was not exclusive. Gates said his company would provide Paris with Microsoft software, but other software could also be used in the planned projects. The two men called the deal a both public and private partnership where each partner would keep its independence. A spokesman of Paris’ city hall asserted that “7 000 of the 20 000 data-processing stations used by the services of the City use free software as well as that of Microsoft.”
The private sector in Paris has its Microsoft fans as well. Thomas Sernal, one of the founders of Baracoda, a start-up company in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, applauded the deal, having already been a beneficiary. His company developed a program allowing users to listen to radio using Microsoft Vista software. Thanks to Baracoda’s partnership with Microsoft, the software has been downloaded 325,000 times in only one year.
Bertrand Delanoe has invited the founder of Microsoft to the next congress of the CGLU, a union of some 200 mayors in France, of which Delanoe is chairman. There he hopes to seal other philanthropic partnerships with the Microsoft chairman. Delanoe coyly hinted that the Paris-brokered deal on Wednesday was only the beginning, saying that he had the feeling that he and Gates were not through finding new ways to work together.
The Paris visit on Monday was only the latest stop on Bill Gates’ European tour. Two days earlier, in Athens, Greece, that country signed an agreement with Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company to establish IT development centers in an effort to boost the Greece’s competitiveness. The agreement, signed by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Greece’s finance minister calls for the creation of centers to provide IT and business development skills.
And Gates gave a glimpse of his future as a philanthropist in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland the week before calling for a new kind of creative capitalism from businesses to help improve the lives of the world’s poorest people without sacrificing their own business needs.
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region of France : the Opal Coast is an entry port to France
January 29, 2008
Located in the extreme north of France, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Area covers 12,414 km2 (7714v miles) and is home to a population of 4,026,000. The area is bordered by the English Channel on the west and the North Sea on the north, and shares its borders with Belgium in the east and Picardy in the south. It is comprised of two “departments” or administrative districts of France for whom Lille is the prefecture: Nord (59) and Pas-de-Calais (62).
Because of its geographical location and its tumultuous history, the area was subject to much invasion, plunder and destruction over the centuries. Thus, unfortunately, the area’s architectural heritage has been compromised considerably. Nevertheless, it is still possible to admire some buildings, secular as well as religious, that remain to bear witness to the history of this territory.
The architecture of the area is characterized in particular by the use of brick. The prevalence of chalk in the soil makes this area of France rather poor in stone for building. For this reason, red brick has been largely used since antiquity and today is a symbol of the region’s identity. Likewise, paved squares and belfries, emblems of civic freedom and pride, are also much in evidence and are characteristic of to Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Many examples of this can be found in Valencians, Douai, Bethune and Arras. Water mills and windmills are also very well represented, in Flandres and Hondschoote for example. Well-preserved, some are still active, and confer a special charm on the region. Finally, the area’s religious heritage did not escape devastation over the course of various historical events in France, yet it still counts a significant number of buildings going back to various eras.
In addition, the natural environment of the area is made up of a multitude of attractive landscapes. First of all, there is the coastline, covering more than 120 km and presenting a succession of different looks. Located only 2 hours from Paris, London or Brussels, the “Opal Coast” sits between Calais, the first stop of travelers to France from England, and Berk-sur-Mer. It is composed of capes, of sand beaches, cliffs and dunes. This natural landscape is intersected with small fishing ports such as Wissant, seaside resorts like Wimereux and Touquet Paris-Plage, and of large companies and their industrial parks. Among the latter, Dunkirk is a key industrial site, with its shipyards and refineries, and Boulogne-sur-Mer is the top French fishing port, where more than 150 companies process and market their seafood products.
Due to its location, Nord-Pas-De-Calais was for a long time victim of invasions and wars, and certain cities like Bergues and Gravelines even had to be fortified by Vauban. Today, the Opal Coast takes advantage of its seaside location and its past to make the most of its natural, historical and maritime heritage. Its bunkers and ramparts are shown off, and the “arts” of war and fishing are celebrated in museums like the Harbor Museum and the belfry of Bergues.
In Nord-pas-de-Calais, culture holds an important place, since many current festivals spring from the area’s heritage of traditions related to fishing like the carnival of Dunkirk and other fairs. Lastly, the landscapes of sand dunes found between Canche and Authie are the favorite playground of enthusiasts of sports like kite surfing. These preserved dune areas and rock masses are also made to order for hiking and excursions of all types. Apart from the coastline, water can also be found in the marshes. These areas are inhospitable for settlement by man but are true biotope reserves, such as the marsh of Scarpe or the Audomarois marsh.
The interior of the Nord-pas-de-Calais region is divided into several environments: The highland, which extends to the west and the south and includes the capes of Avesnois and the hills of Artois, Thiérache and Hainaut. This part of the territory covers 60% of the area and forms a terrain of character and variety, offering forest and rivers, valleys and villages. This rolling woodland landscape end abruptly at the crater of the peak of Artois, towards Saint-Omer, Therouanne, Aire and Arras. Here, nature is preserved and put on display in the Regional Natural reserve of Avesnois, which extends over nearly 125,000 hectares and hosts more than 130,000 inhabitants. Its many museums offer a myriad of possibilities to discover and explore local know-how and products. This green and pleasant area is strewn with mills, small rural villages and their pubs. At these traditional bars patrons play the Flemish games of antan, which lends the cozy venues even more charm.
The northern territory of the Nord-Pas-De-Calais region of France is part of the large European northern plain that extends to the Ural Mountains. It accounts for the rest of the area of the region, that is to say 40%, and is where most of the population as well the lion’s share of industrial activity is concentrated. The terrain is divided into three kinds of landscape environments: the chalk plain such as that of Lens, the surmounted clay-based plain (the mounts of Flanders, for example) and alluvial plains. In the latter are found the river plains of Scarpe and Lily, where the environment is preserved in the Regional Natural reserve of the Scarpe-Scheldt. Located between Valencians, Douai and Lille, the area cover 43,000 hectares and includes within it 48 towns. Lastly, a “buttonhole” dug in chalk by erosion is a geological peculiarity of the region that bespeaks the diversity of biological layers at the level of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Asterix and the Olympic Games debuts with the biggest budget ever for a film in France
January 29, 2008
They may still be fighting off the Roman invaders, but with the release of Asterix and the Olympic Games, Asterix & Obelix have conquered the record for the biggest budget ever for a French film.
The film is being produced by Pathe, with La Petite Reine and Spain’s TriPictures as co-producing partners. Asterix and the Olympic Games is posed to march boldly across France and the rest of Europe. With the largest investment ever at stake for a French movie, the producers are hoping the slapstick film steps on no banana peels along the way.
Based on the popular French comic strip by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo that debuted in France in 1968, this is the third Asterix & Obelix movie. The main title character is an upstart Gallic warrior who, despite his small size, refuses to bow to Roman conquest. He enlists the help of fat and comical Obelix, other Gallo-roman era friends and a magic potion to wage his campaign of resistance.
Asterix and the Olympic Games plays up tie-ins to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The story has Asterix travelling to Olympia to compete in the Games. Produced at a record cost of 78 million euros ($114 million), the film hopes to take France and the rest of the continent by storm with its star cast and massive release on 5,000 screens in 40 European countries over the next two weeks.
Gerard Depardieu reprises his usual role of the fat and friendly sidekick Obelix, while Alain Delon is a grumpy, narcissistic Julius Caesar. Clovis Cornillac takes over the title role of Asterix, replacing Christian Clavier, who starred in the first two big-screen adaptations. Also on hand are supermodel Vanessa Hessler (as Princess Irina) Claudia Cardinale, David Beckham, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michael Schumacher, among others.
The star cast of Asterix cost the producers 10 million euros, the copyright for the Asterix characters seven million, eight million for sets and costumes, with 32 million euros going for technical elements during the six-month shoot in southern Spain, and exhaustive post-production laden with special effects.
And the pillaging of the producers’ coffers doesn’t stop there. Pathe’s marketing campaign—the richest ever for a French film—is reported to be 4 million euros ($5.8 million) in France alone. The high-profile publicity features 15,000 billboards across France. There are also PR tie-ins planned with phone company Orange, Volkswagen, McDonald’s and Nestle.
The film will have to do better than the first two Asterix & Obelix movies and attract hordes of viewers to make a profit this time out. So Pathe and its co-producer, La Petite Reine, are taking a barbarian-sized gamble. However, efforts have been made with Asterix and the Olympic Games to make the film more popular in countries outside of France.
“We thought, produced, cast and shot the film so it would export well,” said Emmanuel Montamat of La Petite Reine. To make it more accessible to non-French audiences, the movie features a handful of foreign stars: Spain’s Santiago Segura, Germany’s Michael Herbig and Canada’s Stephane Rousseau. Guest cameos include soccer star Zinedine Zidane, ex-Formula One champ Michael Schumacher, tennis ace Amelie Mauresmo and basketball wiz Tony Parker – all international brand names inside and outside of France.
In France the film is being released in 950 theatres, with around 800 in Russia coming later. It has already premiered in Poland and is being released in Germany, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Scandinavia.
However, while popular across the European continent, the Asterix & Obelix comic strip and its ancillary films have never caught on in the U.K. or other English-speaking countries. Co-writer and co-director Thomas Langmann cites cultural differences, saying the Brits just don’t get the characters or where they’re coming from. As a result, only three prints pf the new Asterix & Obelix movie will cross the pond to UK movie screens.
Zoe’s Ark French charity workers back in France from Chad to serve 8 years in French prison
January 29, 2008
After months of trials on two continents that captured the attention of France and the world, a French court sentenced six charity workers from the amateur charity organization Zoe’s Ark to eight years in prison. The workers had been convicted in Chad of trying to abduct 103 children from the border with war-torn Darfur and take them to France.
The founder and five members of French charity Zoe’s Ark were sentenced to eight years hard labor in Chad last month plus a fine of $9 million on charges of attempted kidnapping. The convicted French aid workers were later repatriated to France where no such penalty exists, under a pre-existing 1976 agreement between France and Chad. Charity founder Eric Breteau, his partner Emilie Lelouch, head of logistics Alain Peligat, volunteer firefighter Dominique Aubry and team doctor Philippe van Winkelberg were at the hearing. A sixth aid worker, nurse Nadia Merimi, was not in court. She was hospitalized with exhaustion earlier in January.
The Zoe’s Ark members were first arrested at the airport in the eastern Chad town of Abeche on October 25, 2007 as they were about to put 103 children on a flight bound for France. Three French journalists and seven Spanish and Belgian flight crew members were also arrested in the sting, on initial suspicions of “kidnapping and child trafficking”.
International aid staff later found almost all the children to be Chadian, rather than war refugees from Darfur, across the border. Furthermore, the children were not all orphans, but many apparently had at least one living parent.
In the most extreme accusation associated with the case, Chad’s President Idriss Déby went so far as to accused the group of being a ring of pedophiles exploiting the refugee crisis in a scheme to sell children to paying adults back in France.
At their four-day trial in Ndjamena, the French aid organization’s members declared their innocence. They claimed they were lied to by middlemen into believing the children were orphans from the Sudanese region of Darfur which borders eastern Chad. A violent uprising that broke out in Darfur in 2003 has led to the deaths of more than 200,000 people and forced 2.5 million to flee.
Opinion on the 8-year sentence of the French aid workers is split between people in Chad and in those in France, with natives of Chad complaining that the Europeans were getting special treatment and the workers’ lawyers in France deriding even the lighter French sentence as a farce.
But even in France, there is disagreement as to the motives and tactics of the French charity group. Were the Zoe’s Ark workers merely amateurish do-gooders who ran afoul of a corrupt Chad system? Were they pawns in a larger political struggle between the two countries? (The case has stoked tensions between France and Chad, a former French colony, as Paris prepares to lead an EU peacekeeping force of 3500 in eastern Chad to protect refugees near Darfur.)
Were the workers simply examples of what sub-Saharans view as arrogant European colonialism? Or was something more sinister afoot—such as obtaining children, orphans or not, to “sell” to desperate, childless French families for adoption? Theories abound, with conflicting evidence on all sides.
Adoption is not permitted in either Sudan or Chad. Adoption arranged by an organization without and official charter for the activity is also prohibited in France.
Zoe’s Ark maintained that it wanted to place orphaned Darfuri children under five years old in foster care with families in France. The general secretary, Stephanie Lefebvre, told the French newspapers in late December that the organization never aimed to have the children in its care adopted, but simply to save them from starvation.
But critics said many of the host families were childless couples, led to believe that they could begin adoption procedures. Most paid between €2,800 and €6,000 (up to $9,000) to the charity, which is reported to have registered donations totaling at least €1 million.
More damning still, UNICEF said that bandages put on the children by members of Zoe’s Ark were designed to portray them as war victims; however the child-protection body found that none was wounded. And some French media reports quoted residents of Chadian villages claiming they’d seen some of the 103 children lured from their homes into trucks by visiting white people promising candy. These stories were confirmed by some of the children themselves in interviews.
Mariam, 10, said, “A car came with two whites and one black man, who spoke Arabic. The driver said, ‘Come with me, I’ll give you some money and biscuits and then I’ll take you home’. “We were taken to the white people’s house and they gave us medicine – small white tablets. I was not ill. All the children were given pills. They told us that we would no longer be able to go home.” Mariam’s mother is dead but her father is still alive. She is from Chad, not Darfur.
A clumsy attempt to do good, or a nefarious child-trafficking scam? The mystery will likely rage on in France and around the world for some time. But some other aid organizations in France and elsewhere fume that the Zoe’s Ark case has made their jobs more difficult, with local populations viewing outsiders who claim to be trying to help them with even more distrust than before.
Zoe’s Ark was formed four years ago by motoring enthusiasts from the French four-wheel-drive community to aid victims of the December 2004 Asian tsunami. Its founder, Eric Breteau, is a volunteer firefighter and former president of the French 4×4 Federation. Zoe’s Ark says it is motivated by the firefighter’s spirit and sense of duty.
Ryanair ad featuring Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni provokes turbulence from the President of France
January 28, 2008
In Paris on January 28, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s spokesman on Monday complained that an ad campaign for budget airline Ryanair was “unacceptable.” The offending advertisement, appearing in the popular daily Le Parisien, features a photo of the President of France and his latest girlfriend Carla Bruni. In the photo, the lovebirds smile happily.
This in itself would not seem to be a problem—after all, Sarkozy’s busy love life is anything but a secret in France. The problem seems to be a cartoon “thought balloon” floating above Bruni’s head that reads: “With Ryanair’s low fares, my whole family can come to the wedding.”
Sarkozy and Bruni’s relationship has been the target of speculation for months, with some sources in France saying they were already secretly married.
Sarkozy admitted at a news conference earlier this month that his relationship with Carla Bruni was “serious” and hinted at wedding plans. Sarkozy met the 40-year-old model and singer in November. The couple have since been jet-setters, vacationing together in Egypt and Jordan. Only last October, Sarkozy became the only president of France to divorce while in office when his tumultuous 11-year marriage to his second wife Cecilia ended.
All of this is common knowledge in France. So why all the fuss? Some opine that perhaps Sarkozy’s consternation springs from the public’s reaction to the rapidity of his shifting his affections from his wife to Bruni. But then again, the French President has a reputation as a man who works fast.
Elysee spokesman David Martinon sniffed: “We are looking at all possible legal
venues because this is unacceptable.”
This is not the first time Ryanair has thumbed its nose at authority in its advertising. In December 2007, Ryanair settled out of court with former PM of Sweden Georan Persson for using his picture in an ad campaign without permission. The company appears to enjoy the extra free publicity that comes from the inevitable legal conflicts that arise from its advertising ideas.
In that case, by complaining publicly about the ad and threatening legal action, Nicolas Sarkozy may be playing right into Ryanair’s hand. There is no word as to whether the French President will demand payment from Ryanair–either for damages or for rendering publicity services to the airline.
Societe Generale investment banker Jerome Kerviel loses over $7 billion in the worst banking fraud in the history of France
January 25, 2008
A man in France described as a 31-year-old computer genius single-handedly cost Societe Generale, the second largest bank in France, over $7 billion in only one day. The Frenchman’s actions powerful influenced everything from the worldwide stock market free-fall to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s emergency decision this week to cut interest rates.
Now this lone trader is being portrayed by the governor of the Banque de France as a “genius of fraud”. But his crimes, which might otherwise have gone unnoticed, were made much worse by a case of terrible timing—coming as they did on the worst trading day in France and most other world stock markets since September 11, 2001.
According to bank officials in France, Jérôme Kerviel worked at Societe Generale in Paris for five years, learning all the secrets of the security system that the bank used for fraud protection. Then Kerviel was promoted to trader. Now he was one of the employees the security systems had been created to police—a veritable fox in the henhouse.
Over the next several months Kerviel used his inside information of the bank’s six-layer security system to pull off one of the largest banking frauds in the history of France and worldwide banking, creating devastating losses of more than $7 billion for Societe Generale.
Both Daniel Bouton, executive chairman of Societe Generale bank, and Jean-Pierre Mustier, head of the investment bank, had their resignations rejected by the board of directors, officially absolving them from guilt. Still both men’s jobs are in jeopardy after the investment debacle.
While Kerviel has not been seen lately, his lawyer said on French television that he is not fleeing and is “available for judicial authorities.” However, she wouldn’t say where he was, perhaps to shield him from aggressive reporting, or worse.
Banking specialists in France and elsewhere said Societe Generale’s big mistake was moving an employee armed with the back-office secrets of the bank’s monitoring system into the role of a futures trader.
Kerviel’s job was trading in European equities futures, a speculative market that involves betting on the future performance of stocks.
The trader maintained two sets of books, one in which he kept accounts of his successful investments, and a secret parallel book where he was voiding his losing positions, Bouton said.
He knew when the security checks were going to take place, Bouton said, because over the years Kerviel had become and expert in the security schedule. Bouton said Kerviel outmaneuvered six levels of security checks and firewalls designed to detect and prevent fraud.
Societe Generale bank officials spent last weekend and the early part of this week secretly selling many of Kerviel’s investments to try to stop the bleeding. But in a perfect storm of bad timing, the worst collapse in world stock markets, including in France, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks drove Kerviel’s losses higher and higher, eventually topping $7 billion.
The man who caused this massive house of cards to fall was not a high-flyer, said one former colleague. In his best year at Societe Generale bank, Kerviel earned only $146,500 a year in salary and bonuses. Yet his motive did not appear to be personal gain, said bank officials, who even after interrogating the man for six hours still remained baffled as to why he committed the fraud.
Civil servants strike in France – A labor ritual, says French authorities
January 25, 2008
Civil servants held demonstrations all over France on Thursday protesting job cuts and demanding higher salaries for al French government workers. The government of France characterized the marches as simply another “labor union ritual.” Strikes and protest marches in France have become a commonplace and regular occurrence.
Seven out of the eight public servants’ unions in France, representing around 5 million workers, called on its workers to strike, with teachers, hospital workers, firefighters and postal workers answering the call.
According to France’s CGT labor union, about 400,000 people took to the streets all across France. Marchers carrying banners and bullhorns choked streets in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Marseille.
In Paris, the unions claimed up to 40,000 people had turned out to march, while police low-balled the numbers at 17,000.
The day follows a similar strike on November 20 and a separate wave of stoppages over pensions by transport and energy workers across France.
Civil Servants Minister Eric Woerth was quoted as saying, “This is a maneuver that amounts to a labor union ritual,” dismissing the seriousness and validity of the marchers’ concerns. He added that he would have preferred a dynamic of “dialogue, not confrontation.” However, Woerth had recently announced plans to cut 22,900 civil service jobs this year, one of the issues that had workers up in arms.
On the subject of the across-the-board pay raises civil servants in France are demanding, union leader Francois Chereque called for open salary talks with the government. He also criticized President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, saying he has failed to augment French purchasing power, a major issue in France.
The strike raises pressure on Sarkozy, who is facing a dip in approval ratings in France, festering consternation over scandals in his private life and rising doubt about his election promises to raise the standard of living for workers.
Strikes in France are regarded by many both in the public and government as a needless nuisance, with complaints that unions in France use strikes as a first resort rather than a last. However, according to an opinion poll in Wednesday’s Les Echos business daily, 57 % of the public said the day of strikes was justified.
This particular walkout was a response to the unions’ dissatisfaction with the result of December negotiations, when the government of France rejected demands for sweeping salary increases. While transport workers have recently struck three times, they did not join Thursday’s strike.
France gets slammed on discrimination against homosexuals wishing to adopt
January 24, 2008
In a victory for homosexuals that could have an impact on gay adoption laws in countries across Europe, judges in Strasbourg, France decided that the woman, known as “E.B.”, was a victim of discrimination by France solely because of her sexual orientation.
The nursery school teacher, 45, has lived with the same female partner for nearly 20 years. But she was turned down as adoption candidate by French authorities who stressed the absence of a father figure in the home.
The judges said that articles 8 and 14 of the European Human Rights Convention had been violated by the French government. Article 14 forbids discrimination. Article 8 provides for the right to respect for one’s private and family life. As a result, France has been told to pay the woman damages of 10,000 euros ($14,522) and 14,528 euros in costs.
Nine European countries allow homosexuals to adopt children: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden. However, adoption by gay couples remains illegal in France. At the same time, France, like many other countries, does allow unmarried people to adopt. And therein lays the legal paradox that snared France in its web.
The Strasbourg, France court’s Tuesday ruling noted that: “French law allows single persons to adopt a child, thereby opening up the possibility of adoption by a single homosexual.”
The court criticized the French judiciary’s emphasis on “the lack of a paternal referent in the household” in E.B.’s case. By emphasizing the lack of a father figure, the court judges that the reference to the applicant’s homosexuality had been “if not explicit, at least implicit,” the ruling said.
The case first came before the court in Strasbourg in December 2002.
A spokesman for the court said it was the first such ruling against one of the 47 members of the Council of Europe, which set up the court.
The vote, while conclusive, was by no means unanimous, with ten judges voting in favor of the ruling and seven against.
The ruling means that, in France, or any European country where homosexual marriage is still not allowed, adoption by a lesbian or gay person could now be possible anyway. However, any partner’s status as regarding the child would still be fuzzy. As things stand in France, the adoptive parent’s companion would have no legal rights over the child, not being recognized as his or her parent. So for some homosexual couples wishing to parent children, the victory is tempered by the recognition that their status still is equal to that of heterosexual couples.