French press review 15 September 2015

Most of this morning's Paris dailies look at the fate of the Schengen zone, the western European free-transit area where passports and customs formalities are a thing of the past. Until last weekend, that is, when Germany closed its frontier with Austria to stem the flood of refugees. Borders are back.

DR

The main story in Le Monde asks if the recent closure of several European borders marks the end of the Schengen Zone, that part of western Europe where goods and people are supposed to be allowed to circulate freely, without passports or border formalities.

The original deal, effective since 1995, allowed for the temporary reestablishment of national frontiers in the event of a crisis. There are 26 member countries, 22 of them members of the European Union, with four external participants, Island, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

As things currently stand, Germany, Slovakia and Austria have reintroduced border controls, effectively breaking the key engagement in the Schengen deal.

Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary are all considering similar moves, Hungary having already sent army units to close its border with Serbia.

Here in France, the right-wing party Les Républicans has called for the temporary return of controls at the Franco-Italian border and a complete rethink of the Schengen principles. The far-right Front National has never ceased to criticise the Schengen ideal and has again called for the suspension of the agreement.

Le Monde's analysis of the situation suggests that Germany has no intention or desire to bring Schengen to an end. The weekend decision to close the border with Austria was a practical reaction enforced by the huge number of refugees, not an indication of a fundamental change of policy by Berlin.

Nonetheless, says Le Monde, if the European partners fail to find a real, workable solution to the current migrant crisis, then calls to reform or abandon the Schengen deal are likely to become louder and more insistent.

For right-wing Le Figaro, the idea of free circulation in Europe is already dead and burried. "Migrants blow Schengen to bits," is the conservative paper's main headline. The Le Figaro editorial is simply headlined "Chaos" and roundly condemns German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the "misplaced generosity" that opened the doors to an endless flood of Syrian refugees which Europe has not the political will to accommodate.

Schengen, says Le Figaro, is no longer worth the paper it was printed on and the continent faces its own state of emergency with millions of asylum-seekers massed in Turkey, Lebanon, Libya and Jordan.

L'Humanité says "Europe is not condemned to live behind a wall of shame," though the Communist Party daily does admit that yesterday's Brussels summit was another complete waste of time. If a last-minute deal to accommodate 40,000 refugees already on European soil was reached, it is clear that many countries don't want to accept the idea of an obligatory quota. France, according to Le Figaro, is already financing more than 20 per cent of the entire cost of dealing with the new arrivals.

L'Humanité says Europe's rulers have turned a deaf ear to the millions of voices calling for more compassion and solidarity.

Rachida Dati, Sarkozy-era minister now mayor of Paris's seventh arrondissement, has been suspended from a key committee of Les Républicains, for non-payment of her monthly dues to the party's group on the Paris city council. She owes the lads a total of 6,500 euors and has one month to balance her account. Dati says she stopped paying the contribution of 100 euros per month because she wasn't sure if the money was being spent to pay the restaurant bills, drivers and assistants of certain party members.

As for how the Swiss and US police authorities are getting on with their investigation into corruption at Fifa, the governing body of world football, Le Monde says we're still a long way from half-time.

Yesterday's press conference in Switzerland saw the two chief investigators confirm the siezure of more suspect property, including several Alpine chalets, and promise that more arrests are imminent.

Expect extra time and, probably, penalties.