French weekly magazines review

There's anger and derision over the government's efforts to save the Florange steelworks. Accusations of lies and half-truths on all sides of the political chessboard. And a look ahead to the president's first official visit to Algeria.

The complete picture of the government’s flip-flopping on the fate of the strategic ArcelorMittal steel furnaces in Florange is just becoming clear.

Le Canard Enchaîné says that while the “Christmas good tidings” are on everybody's mind, there's not much cheer at the presidential Elysée Palace or Matignon, the office of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. 

 
According to the satirical weekly, the fiasco has cast a dark shadow over the political and social climate, already clouded by worsening unemployment figures, the cockfight in the opposition UMP party and Gérard Depardieu’s highly publicised flight into fiscal exile in Belgium.

The man to blame for the cacophony on the proposed nationalisation of Florange and the bitter feelings it has left is President François Hollande and the weeklies are pointing the finger at him.

"Capitulation” Marianne, “Renunciation” Le Nouvel Observateur, "Florange: disgruntled and cuckolded L’Express “, "Copernicus’s head would be spinning had he learnt about such incantations”  Le Point.

L’Express summarises the general mood of confusion and deception in what its managing editor, Christophe Barbier, describes as the “Florange show”. For the right-wing magazine it all smacks a kind of “Zolattitude”, an expression recalling novelist Emile Zola’s crusade against moral decay in 19^th century France which “helped accelerate social conquests, without delaying inevitable economic defeat”.

Marianne says the French people have had enough of being told lies not just about ArcelorMittal but also about the “cheating” in the opposition UMP's leadership vote, not to mention the half-truths about taxes, unemployment, gay marriage, bank reform, the cost of labour, gas, delinquency, the contested Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project, Europe and about filling medical deserts in France.

Le Point investigates what it calls forbidden truths, taboos that politicians aren’t coming clean about.

They range from unemployment, to integration, money, education and religion. 

France’s social model creates joblessness says the magazine but it regrets that everyone is looking away.  The magazine publishes a new poll that finds that Hollande’s approval rating lost six points in November, dropping to 35 per cent as his horrible year continues.

The right-wing publication says it is the clearest signal that there is fire in the house. It warns that this is not the time for incantations and “tinkering”. According to the right-wing weekly, it has become a “pathetic experience” to sit down and listen to the outdated recipe being served by the so-called professionals of politics to resolve the country’s problems.

Le Canard Enchaîné mocks the ongoing boxing match between Jean François Copé and François Fillon for the opposition UMP party leadership. It explains that the political rivals are now into their fifth meeting since ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy set a 4 December ultimatum for the pair to end the fight.

The weeklies are looking ahead to Hollande’s first official visit to Algeria this week.

The trip will be held in a tense atmosphere, says Marianne, citing the demand by the authorities in Algiers for some post-colonial repentance and deep-rooted divergences on bilateral economic issues.

 
For Le Nouvel Observateur, while it will be a high-risk outing, Hollande knows the country very well, its people and the FLN nomenclature in power as well. His speeches have been well prepared, according to the left-leaning magazine, and it claims that Hollande is keen on becoming the president of reconciliation between France and Algeria.

Le Nouvel Observateur, however, wonders if he will succeed where others have failed.

Marianne slams a “parking racket” in Paris. You have to cough up 9.50 euros for two hours of parking in Paris, according to the paper. No surprise, says Marianne, that parking tickets are flying in all directions. With fines leaping from 11 euros to 17 euros in a single year,  the state and private companies are feeding fat on car owners.