French press review 15 June 2013

Three stories dominate the news today: the Bernard Tapie affair, President Hollande’s pension reform plans and the first flight of the Airbus’ youngest baby, the A350.

Le Monde has no doubts that the massive 400 million euro payout to Bernard Tapie is just a drop in the ocean as the list of personalities charged for fraud continues to grow. The respected paper publishes a dossier pinpointing what role the key suspects played in the scam that it claims is now moving close to the entourage of ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy in the wake of the latest revelations.

For Le Monde, the Elysée has already made up its mind to challenge the unprecedented ruling by a three-man arbitration panel. According to the paper there is a big question mark now hanging on the head of Stéphane Richard, the head of telecoms company Orange and a former aide to IMF chief Christine Lagarde, credited for the damaging revelations. An Orange board meeting is expected on Monday to decide whether he will have to step down from his role as chairman and chief executive.

The opposition UMP party has been in no haste to defend Claude Guéant. That’s the position upheld by Le Monde. Guéant, Secretary General at the Elysée during the Sarkozy Presidency was the official who chaired the meeting when the Tapie arbitration was decided. Guéant is already in judicial dire straits as he is being investigated for a series of graft scandals. Le Monde claims that UMP strategists are instead making desperate attempts to shield Sarkozy from his scandal-prone ex-chief of staff, a clear signal that Guéant is doomed.

Le Figaro examines the seven main measures in President François Hollande’s pension reform proposal, which it claims, could see a rise in the social contributions of workers and pensioners. The package is above everything geared towards trimming the social security deficit by 7 billion euros, according to the right-wing newspaper.

For Le Figaro, despite Hollande’s promise to safeguard the so-called special regimes of strategic sector workers, he has infringed on a red line drawn by his own Socialist-led majority, brazing for a fight with the government to preserve the purchasing power of the elderly with small pensions, the condition of women and workers exposed to hard conditions.

Libération is all smiles as it cheers for Airbus after its brand new A350 completed a faultless test flight over the skies of Toulouse in southern France on Friday. The plane was designed to help the European manufacturer catch up with its American rival in the market for long-haul, fuel-efficient airliners. For Libé the A350 is a symbol of France’s expanding industrial sector with Airbus looking to maximise the potential for further orders at the Paris Air Show opening on Monday.