Columnnist Antoine de Gaudemar bemoans President Chirac's failure to "come out clearly" on either side in the dispute over the youth labour law, the First Employment Contract, or CPE. "It is probably unprecedented in the annals of the Fifth Republic: the Journal Officiel [the official parliamentary record of the National Assembly's work] yesterday published an act of parliament some of which the president himself says should be thrown out. The French people's respect for the law will hardly improve if the very person whose prime duty is to see that it is applied is the first to dismiss it. ... Talks over the CPE will now take place between parliamentarians and the trades unions, and Nicolas Sarkozy stands to gain. ... The muddle is total and the situation completely without precedent, reflecting a system that has run out of steam and a fin de règne atmosphere. If things continue in this way, the political crisis could well become the crisis of a regime." (03/04/2006)

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The newspaper predicts that UMP leader Nicolas Sarkozy will be the winner in the domestic row over the government's new First Employment Contract (CPE) legislation. "So far Sarkozy hasn't made any mistakes as interior minister in his approach to dealing with the protest movement. If he manages to persuade the trade unions and students to end the strikes and protests, he will move one step closer to achieving his main goal. His party will finally make him its presidential candidate." By signing the law while at the same time demanding a new one, President Chirac had degraded Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to the role of "shooting target", the newspaper comments. (03/04/2006)

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The Copenhagen newspaper is happy to see that French President Jacques Chirac has not entirely discredited his government in the current dispute about the labour market reform, but it still sees Chirac as the real problem. "That Jacques Chirac has not entirely abandoned the labour market reform does nothing to change the fact that in his 11 years in power he has failed to convince his people of the need for reform. When Chirac took office, he promised to combat unemployment and reduce the budget deficit. Yet today, one in ten French citizens is unemployed, economic growth is practically non-existent and the public debt is even higher than the convergence criteria for the euro allow. Last year Chirac was defeated in the important constitutional referendum, and according to a recent survey France is the nation with the most critical attitude towards the market economy and free competition. President Chirac has been a disaster for France." (02/04/2006)

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Well-known French lawyer Gisèle Halimi first came to fame in 1972 when she defended women prosecuted for having illegal abortions. In an interview with Isabelle Poitte she explains how she is now fighting for abortion on a European level. "I was against the draft European constitution because it didn't commit to the dignity of women. Leaving it up to individual countries to legalise abortion was a form of contempt. Yet there was a binding commitment on capital punishment: no state that practiced the death penalty could be a member of the EU. With Choisir [the feminist association she founded] we want to write into the constitution a clause giving women 'most favoured European' status. It would be a legal status encompassing all areas - the right to abortion and contraception, political parity, and workplace equality. It would draw on the most enlightened legislation in each country." (03/04/2006)

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French sociologist and philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky has published a book entitled "Le bonheur paradoxal" (Paradoxal Happiness), which defines a new phase of capitalism. He terms it "hyperconsumerism". In an interview with the critic William Bourton, he argues that the consumer mindset has modified attitudes to politics. "Although citizens are not consumers through and through, there are clear parallels in their political choices. Identities used to be much forcefully asserted. People would vote for the same political family from generation to generation. Today you can switch in the space of two weeks, like consumers switch products because they're fed up with the one they tried previously. The hyperconsumer society outweighs the power of logos and brands. It is about the rise of the 'homo cosumans' model in all walks of life." (03/04/2006)

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Philosophy professor and former opposition leader Janos Kis warns in an interview that if opposition leader Viktor Orban wins the April 9 elections in Hungary it could lead to the formation of a eurosceptic bloc of Central and Eastern European EU member states. "Hungary is a member of the EU, but a new political situation is emerging in the central-eastern border regions of the European Union. A radical, europhobic party has come to power in Poland. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is much more moderate in his domestic policies, no longer stands alone in his sceptical stance towards Europe. His party will probably win the next elections. In Slovakia, on the other hand, the pro-European government is likely to lose the next elections. In these countries, a new, provincial anti-Brussels bloc could emerge." (02/04/2006)

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The Czech Republic has been hit by heavy flooding for the third time in ten years, and a state of emergency has been declared in many parts of the country. Josef Kopecky believes that the way the government deals with this disaster will have a major impact on the parliamentary election results. He points out that following the last major floods in 2002, then prime minister Vladimir Spidla was rated by 75 percent of Czechs as the most trustworthy politician. The commentator quotes political scientist Tomas Lebeda: "'The floods in Germany helped Gerhard Schröder's government in the 2002 general elections. President Bush, on the other hand, saw his popularity plunge because he underestimated the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.' Now Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has been presented with an unexpected opportunity and is making the most of it. He makes several media appearances a day and is stressing how much the government is doing to manage the crisis." (03/04/2006)

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Correspondent Eric Gujer examines the debate on the integration of children of immigrants in schools, an issue which is currently the subject of heated discussion across Germany. "The current debate is not about money, more teachers or more social workers, it's about an educational approach that places too little emphasis on authority and discipline and doesn't show children where the limits are. However, if this is done and teachers are really committed, a positive learning environment can be created even in schools where the general conditions are unfavourable. Recently, a school in Berlin made the headlines because it introduced a house rule according to which pupils are to speak German even during their break." (03/04/2006)

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In a leading article the right-wing daily reacts to an opinion poll published this weekend in Spain, which gives the socialist party (PSOE) an eight-point lead over the conservative People's Party (PP). "Before ETA announced its 'ceasefire' [on Wednesday, March 22] the PSOE and PP were neck-and-neck in the polls, with the trend in favour of the conservatives. That trend has swung so abruptly that the parties will need a great deal of political sense to draw up their new strategies," believes the leader writer. "The poll's results can be explained in terms of the general emotion, and they will fade with time. Nevertheless, they should not be disregarded, because they will help analyse the moods of the people as we enter a political phase that will be long. The supposed final talks with ETA are only just beginning." (03/04/2006)

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Columnist Daniel Oliveira condemns the way Portugal treats its immigrants, just as Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral is in Canada to protest that country's expulsion of illegal Portuguese immigrants. "We have some of the worst immigration legislation in the EU...We give immigrants a poor reception. We pay them poorly, if we even pay them. We give them neither roofs or rights...On arrival, immigration officials humiliate them, the police beat them up. Our behaviour as a host country is shameful. We exploit, persecute, and insult immigrants. But when something far less serious happens to our fellow countrymen, our hearts throb with fine sentiment. Because our people are different. They are white, they are honest workers struggling to make a living." (03/04/2006)

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The past has caught up with former Polish President General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who imposed martial law on the country in 1981, not once but twice. Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) wants to have General Jaruzelski put on trial for imposing martial law. Meanwhile, current President Lech Kaczynski (an anti-communist) has announced that he had been "mistaken" in giving General Jaruzelski the "Cross of deportees to Siberia". General Juruzelski reacted by quickly giving back the medal. Krzysztof Gottesmann comments: "Jaruzelski is leaving the political stage as a loser. People are awarded the controversial "Cross of deportees to Siberia" to honour their martyrdom and their loyalty to the ideals of freedom and independence. There can be no doubt that Jaruzelski suffered in Siberia and lost his father there, but he shouldn't be honoured for great deeds in the name of freedom and independence." (03/04/2006)

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"The Schröder-Gasprom connection, which started out as an unpleasant affair, is turning into a major scandal," comments Eric Frey with reference to former German chancellor's position on the company's supervisory board. The affair has triggered a new wave of scandal following revelations that the SPD-Green Party coalition government had agreed to guarantee a loan of several billion euros for the gas pipeline project. "The EU has an energy problem, however it's not a lack of transportation capacity for Russian natural gas but rather its dependence on the unpredictable Kremlin leadership. The new pipeline under the Baltic Sea would only ensure that Moscow gives the German economy preferential treatment in a crisis situation... It's not only the Poles and the Baltic states - who have provoked Russia's ire with their commitment to democracy - who would be left out in the rain. The rest of Europe has nothing to gain from this pipeline either. Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is becoming more and more of a political liability for the SPD and for the entire country." (03/04/2006)

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In an interview with Gorik Van Holen and Janine Meijer the European employment commissioner Vladimir Spidla describes as groundless the Belgian government's arguments for maintaining a transition period for workers from the new EU member countries. "There is talk of surplus labour, phoney freelance workers, and moonlighting. But these are things that bear no relation to the free movement of labour. It is something that has always existed that Polish workers may come to work here legally or not. ... Open borders are good for economic growth and lower unemployment. Take Great Britain for example. The workers who went there have created jobs for others. Work creates work." (03/04/2006)

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Is high culture on its way to becoming just one of many subcultures? This question is addressed by Horace Engdahl who, as permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, announces the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature each year. "A subculture is by definition a culture within another, larger culture. A subculture does not claim to setting standards for the rest of society. On the contrary, it is only valid for its adherents and serves to shut out others. The opposite to this is the claim to universal validity, such as classical aesthetics claims for great art, regardless of how many or how few people share these views or understand them at any time. In other words: if there is no higher-ranking, standardised culture, there can be no subculture." (02/04/2006)

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Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, cleared of charges of insulting the Turkish nation earlier this year, talks to journalist Aida Edemariam. He attempts to describe the conflicting nature of the Turkish soul, of which he became aware following the publication of his book 'The White Castle'. "That was the first book that had some international success. Then, when I was doing interviews, thinking about the book in an international context, I realised that doubles are Turkey's subject: 95% of Turks carry two spirits in themselves. International observers think there are the good guys - seculars, democrats, liberals - and the bad guys - nationalists, political Islamists, conservatives, pro-statists. No. In the average Turk, these two tendencies live together all the time. Every person is fighting within himself or herself, in a way." (03/04/2006)

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Italian conductor Ricardo Muti, who quit the Milan Scala amid controversy, is now at work preparing the 2007 Salzburg Festival. It will be devoted to the music of eighteenth century Naples. In an interview with writer and journalist Leonetta Bantivoglio, Muti talks of the ties between Austrian and Italian music. "Mozart is stages life and the world. He is a human being talking to human beings, but his voice is divine because perfection is divine. There is an Italianness to him that emerges chiefly in his relationship with Lorenzo Da Ponte. ... Our language alone has that unbroken flow that can suddenly change into song. ... Even Schubert, that most Viennese of Viennese, owes much to Italian music." (03/04/2006)

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