Latest news: France
D.I.V.O.R.C.E After much speculation, president Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed his divorce from second wife Cecilia making him the first French president to divorce while in office. He originally met Cecilia when he officiated at her first marriage as mayor of one of Paris’ suburbs, Neuilly-sur-Seine. The couple’s marriage had been the subject of much speculation after a previous split in 2005 and Sarkozy is the first president to live alone in the Élysée.
FROM THE CITY TO LA CITÉ Sarkozy’s new government is discussing plans to make Paris a rival of the City of London when it comes to the world of financial services. French finance minister, Christine Lagarde spoke of her intention to create a new stock market with less strict regulation and, importantly, to allow it to operate in English. The scheme is part of Sarkozy’s grand plan of kick-starting the French economy and making it more competitive.
SALARY FIT FOR A PRESIDENT It’s good being your own boss – especially when it comes to pay rises. As president of the republic, Nicolas Sarkozy has been awarded a pay rise in excess of 200 per cent although this only brings him into line with his righthand man and subordinate, the prime minister, François Fillon. His former salary was much less than that of his European peers and the measure passed through parliament without significant opposition.
TRAVEL NEWS Ryanair is launching three new routes from Bristol airport to Bergerac in Dordogne, Béziers in Languedoc-Roussillon and Pau, the gateway to the Pyrenees. The three routes will run thrice-weekly from May 2008 and can be booked online at www.ryanair.com... Eurostar is to sell through fares from 68 UK towns and cities, direct to Paris and other European destinations. Tickets from Birmingham, Cambridge and Sheffield among others will go on sale from 14 November. See www.eurostar.com to book online.
EASYJET EXPANSION Low-cost airline easyJet has plans to increase its presence in France with the opening of two new bases in Paris Charles de Gaulle and Lyon early next year. The airline hopes to double its presence by 2011 and will base five additional aircraft in the two new bases. The Lyon base will make easyJet the first budget airline to offer French domestic routes out of a regional airport. The new bases will add both domestic and international flights and the airline is set to carry some 8 million passengers through French airports in 2008.
TOUR 2008 Next year’s Tour de France has been revamped in a bid to escape the doping scandals that riddled this year’s tour. No rider will be allowed to participate without undergoing a series of blood tests prior to the start of the tour at the beginning of July. The race itself will be different and for the first time since 1966, it will start with a 195km stage rather than a solo time trial; time bonuses have also been scrapped. The idea is to open the race up and not just favour the time-trial experts. Next year’s tour begins in Brittany and will go anti-clockwise around the country.
SARKOZY GOES GREEN WITH GRENELLE One of Sarkozy’s presidential pledges was to put the environment on France’s political agenda and October’s two-day summit, Le Grenelle de l’Environnement, outlined a raft of measures to do just that. Proposals include moving freight from the roads to new rail links and putting a freeze on the building of new roads and airports. Carbon footprint labelling on supermarket goods was also proposed. The detailed action plan is expected to be put to parliament early next year.