euro|topics - Thierry Meyer

22/11/2008

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Meyer, Thierry

5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

24 heures - Switzerland | 13/12/2007

The populist Christoph Blocher is ejected from the Swiss Cabinet

The Swiss parliament ejected the controversial justice minister Christoph Blocher, former president of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), from the cabinet on Wednesday, December 12th. "All those who are rubbed the wrong way by the politics of Christoph Blocher, all those who are weary of the incessant flirting of the leader of the SVP with the limits of what is tolerable from a minister, all those people rejoice his ejection from the Federal Council," writes Thierry Meyer. "But there is also a lot of incomprehension, of feelings of rejection after this institutional power play, among many citizens who found in Blocher, in his ideas and his success, an answer to their worries. ... We have killed the messenger, but the message remains: in 15 years, the SVP has doubled its impact on the country. And if tomorrow, all of a sudden, those who made the decision to send Christoph Blocher packing to the opposition don't show his supporters that they have answers at least as good as his, they are setting the stage for a new dark green tsunami for [the federal elections] in 2011."

24 heures - Switzerland | 23/10/2007

The victory of Swiss populists

Thierry Meyer highlights the ecologists' break in the Swiss elections. "If we add to the Greens their liberal counterpart, the environmental cause has gained ten seats in the National Council, and brought the first green senator (Robert Cramer) into the upper chamber. ... The cause has advanced at fantastic speed recently. ... Strengthened by their break, the Greens have reached a point where they can open up to other groups preoccupied by climate change, without going so far as dropping their often insistent doctrine. As far as the heart of the PSV, represented by the peasant Alice Glauser, a conservative vision of nature can fuel compromises on objectives that are as simple as they are decisive: improved isolation of buildings, the promotion of renewable energy and low energy appliances, the resolute support of public transport and new antipollution norms."

24 heures - Switzerland | 04/01/2007

France is responsible for fiscal exodus

Thierry Meyer harshly criticises the French Member of Parliament Arnaud Montebourg, who has reproached Switzerland for favouring fiscal exodus. "Switzerland, says Montebourg, should be stopped from attracting the rich French as well as thousands of international businesses with fixed taxes, if necessary, by applying a blockade. Let us not dwell on the grotesqueness of the latter proposition. ... Still, is there not some truth in what Ségolène Royal's opportunistic spokesman is proposing? The answer is no. Switzerland offers less in the way of fiscal benefits than Great Britain or Ireland, members of the EU. The problem raised by Arnaud de Montebourg is a French one. It is one of a State that, on the left as much as on the right, does not always know how to fix the cursor between providence and competition. ... Should we, Arnaud de Montebourg, demand a blockade of the Channel? That would be somewhat less easy than taking aim at the 'Swiss Confederation'."

24 heures - Switzerland | 25/09/2006

Swiss referendum on stricter asylum laws

Thierry Meyer hopes that a very large majority's approbation of new laws on immigration will calm people down. "This could be the really good outcome of a campaign that has reflected not only the confirmed polarisation within our political sphere, but also the visible dismay of a population that, following the whole of Europe's example, is struggling to understand the confusing evolution of the world-wide flow of immigration. Why believe in an appeasement? Firstly, the clear-cut results prevent any nit-picking around the policy that ought to be followed. In addition, a clear base from which to build global policy on immigration and integration can be built. The nationalist right-wing's visceral tendency to always ask for more can be felt. But it has perhaps filled its bag up and played its role. ...Now, after this limpid vote, how to demand a subsequent toughening-up without slipping into xenophobic policy?"

24 heures - Switzerland | 14/09/2006

Swiss Minister of Justice accused of playing censor

Thierry Meyer harshly criticises the Swiss Minister of Justice, Christoph Blocher, who attempted in vain to ban the broadcasting on French-speaking Swiss television of a program in which he was invited to speak. He did not appreciate the contents of certain satirical drawings. "Christoph Blocher had accepted to come and debate asylum for foreigners in the usual conditions of a program that he knows well [Mix & Remix], for having participated in it twice before. He made no request in advance for any specific treatment that would have 'sheltered' his contribution from the vision of the program's appointed caricaturist. This is why the about-facing that followed the recording of the debate is not acceptable. And if he considers the drawings so problematic, he is free to say so loud and clear after the program has been broadcast. Censorship is not an acceptable path."

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