Protesters win as Chirac surrenders on jobs law
Susan Bell in Paris
The Scotsman
IN THE country's biggest volte-face in decades, the French government was forced into an embarrassing climb-down yesterday as Jacques Chirac announced that a new youth job law which had sparked weeks of protests will be scrapped.
The president's decision was a personal blow to Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, who had championed the First Job Contract (CPE) as a vital job-creating reform of the French economy but who had seen his popularity slump as mass opposition grew.
Mr de Villepin publicly conceded his defeat in a four-minute televised address to the nation yesterday morning.
"The necessary conditions of confidence and serenity are not reunited, either among young people or businesses, to allow the application of the First Employment Contract," he said, admitting that even the employer's association MEDEF did not want his law.
He explained why he had proposed the law: "I wanted to act very quickly because the dramatic situation and the despair of a number of young people warranted it. This was not understood by everyone, I'm sorry to say," he added.
The withdrawal of the law was particularly humiliating for Mr de Villepin, who had staked much of his personal credibility on the measure and had long insisted he would not back down.
Union leaders had given the government an ultimatum of 17 April - the first day of the parliament's Easter break - to withdraw the law or face renewed strike action.
Trade union and student leaders who had led the protests hailed the government's defeat yesterday as "a great victory" but it was not immediately clear whether another day of protests scheduled for today would be cancelled.
"Perhaps we will drink a drop of champagne. This is an undeniable victory for a social movement," said Gérard Aschieri, the FSU union's secretary.
In one sign that student protests could be abating, the education ministry yesterday said only five universities were closed or disrupted by strikes and 30 others were now functioning normally. At the height of the protests, three-quarters of the country's universities were disrupted by protests.
Insiders reported that the offices of both Mr Chirac and the prime minister had spent the weekend fine-tuning a face-saving speech for Mr de Villepin, so he would not have to use the words "withdrawal" or "repeal".
Mr de Villepin had earlier ruled out the possibility that he might resign. He is believed to have the continued backing of Mr Chirac. The prime minister is one of Mr Chirac's last loyal allies in the face of growing support within the president's own Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) party for Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister and UMP leader.
Mr Chirac announced that the CPE would be replaced by other measures designed to tackle youth unemployment, including financial incentives for employers hiring young people who face the most difficulties in gaining access to the labour market.
That would apply to some 159,000 young people currently hired under government-subsidised job contracts. The cost to the state is expected to be £104 million in the second half of this year and will be financed by an increase in tobacco tax. The replacement bill is expected to be voted into law within the next few days.
Mr de Villepin had insisted for three months that the CPE was an essential tool to fight joblessnes. Unemployment among those aged 18 to 25 is currently 23 per cent - over twice the EU average - and rises as high as 50 per cent in the deprived French suburbs that were the focus for last year's rioting.
However the CPE, which allowed employers to fire young recruits without explanation at any time during a two-year trial period, triggered widespread anger among young people, who said they were being discriminated against.
Subsequent protests united students, trade unions, workers, secondary school pupils and the Socialist-led opposition. Millions took to the streets, universities and schools were closed due to blockades and trade unions called repeatedly for general strikes.
The biggest casualty of the crisis is Mr de Villepin. His popularity ratings have plunged to 25 per cent, from a high of 50 per cent in December.
The prime minister has lost support from within the UMP as MPs, fearful of the impact on the centre-right during next year's presidential elections, grew increasingly angry and frustrated with his refusal to back down over the CPE in the face of mass protests.
Mr de Villepin's political ambitions for 2007 look to be in tatters as Mr Sarkozy has outmanoeuvred him at every turn, thereby increasing his chances of becoming the centre-right's candidate in next year's elections. "The presidential hopeful Villepin is practically dead; the prime minister Villepin is in big difficulty," said the news magazine L'Express.
This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=551092006
Last updated: 11-Apr-06 01:13 BST
This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm