Est. 1min 13-04-2006 (updated: 04-06-2012 ) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Now that the French controversial labour law has been withdrawn and will soon be replaced by a series of less radical measures, commentators question France’s capacity to undertake the socio-economic reforms that are necessary to achieve the EU’s Lisbon agenda. Read more with Euractiv "Smartgrids": vision for single European electricity grid The main challenge for future provision of electricity in Europe will be to adapt the current network of large carbon-based centralised generators to welcome new, smaller-scale, local, renewable power sources. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters PositionsAccording to Time magazine, the past ten weeks of revolt have nothing to do with the glorious French revolutionary tradition. The so-called fight "against precariousness" is "a very long way from liberty, equality and fraternity," since it just represents "a demand for an arbitrary powerful state in whose bosom you can settle for life" by young middle-class people afraid of taking risks. In an interview for Le Monde , former Commissioner Chris Patten finds this lack of "adventure spirit" among the French young generation "rather depressing," and regrets the absence of "European vision" within both the French population and the political elite who is accountable for it. For most European newspapers quoted in Courrier International , the failure of Chirac and De Villepin reveals three major handicaps of the French model: • Ill-adapted institutional system ( La Libre Belgique ): the legislative power can easily be neglected by the executive, itself reluctant to social dialogue and dependent on party discipline. This produces "a blocked state, which progresses only by convulsions, and in which decision-makers are completely disconnected from the public opinion." • Lack of coherent, hence credible political leadership, since a disunited government tried to implement a liberal, "Thatcherite" solution to growing youth unemployment while also "trying to shut out foreign companies from takeovers in France"( The Guardian ). • Lack of clear, two-ways communication strategy about the reform plans ( Svenska Dagbladet ): if it is "high time [for politicians] to listen to what the French people are saying,"according to Jean-Marc Ayrault, leader of the Socialist opposition ( Spiegel online ), the government "should [also] have explained more clearly what was needed” for the French to "wake up"( The Guardian ) and realize their model must adapt to the globalizing market place. Does this mean that the French society is definitively allergic to reforms, thus striking a lethal blow to the Lisbon agenda and "undermining the most fundamental achievements of European integration itself" (Peter Mendelson)? Not quite yet, says David Gow in The Guardian , for whom "there are grounds for believing that [France]is embarked on a process of reform and of adaptation." One of his reasons for hope lies in the centre-right government's persistence in pressing ahead with significant reforms – and maybe in Nicolas Sarkozy's recurrent claims "to campaign on a ticket of labour market flexibility" ( The International Herald Tribune ) for the 2007 presidential elections. Be it as it may, and drawing the lessons of the CPE crisis, it is very likely that "reform efforts in the years to come will focus on less contentious issues,"and that they will not radically depart from the status quo (Elie Cohen, quoted in The International Herald Tribune ). The legislative measures that should be adopted on Thursday 13th April may exemplify such 'gradualism.' The new proposal on "young people' access to employment in companies" ("accès des jeunes à la vie active en enterprise") which aims at subsidizing firms hiring applicants under 26 who are either low qualified or in an underprivileged situation, actually relies on already existing device. BackgroundAfter the French government's humiliating defeat on the "CPE" (contrat première embauche), the international press pessimist reactions contrast sharply with the victory parade of protesters and opponents to the legislation. Timeline After a first discussion in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the second chamber of the French Parliament is expected to give a green light to the new proposal on 13 April 2006. Further ReadingPress articles Le Monde:La loi en remplacement du CPE devrait être définitivement adoptée jeudi(13 April 2006) The Guardian:Sarkozy pushes claims in wake of Chirac retreat:(12 April 2006) Die Welt:"Frankreich gibt seinen Arbeitnehmern den falschen Schutz"(12 April 2006) The New York Times:In France, an Economic Bullet Goes Unbitten(11 April 2006)
