Pushed aside by the emerging swine flue pandemic and commemoration of President Obama’s first 100 days in office, media have downplayed an event critical to international business: the Word Trade Organization has reappointed Pascal Lamy as its Director-General for a second four-year term.
The WTO has been around only since 1995, but this is the first time that a D-G candidate has run unopposed.
Lamy made a presentation yesterday that recalled where the WTO stands today (and reiterated its aim to “open trade for the benefit of all”) and pointed to two areas where he seeks future action:
- Regional trade agreements. RTAs present a dilemma because they run counter to the longstanding multilateral approach behind WTO (and GATT). Lamy wants to “collectively think about some way of gradually ‘multilateralising’ concessions made in [regional] free trade agreements.”
- Rules of origin. Determining where goods come from (their origin) has become increasingly complicated. Lamy aspires to “simplify the lives of trade and economic operators.”
French society loves anniversaries. 28 April 2009 marks the fortieth anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's resignation as French president.
De Gaulle's announcement was simple: "I shall cease to hold the office of president of the Republic. This decision shall take effect today at noon."
I never knew de Gaulle's France. Times have changed, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge. I reckon that France under Sarkozy bears as little or less of a resemblance to de Gaulle's France, as Obama's America resembles Nixon's.
Little memorials to de Gaulle pepper the French landscape. The larger Paris airport (code: CDG) is named in his honor. Atop the Champs-Elysées, the large circle that hosts the Arc de Triomphe bears de Gaulle's name. There is a Charles de Gaulle bridge over the Seine (near the gare de Lyon). An avenue Charles de Gaulle can be found in Neuilly-sur-Seine (west of the Arc de Triomphe), and in many French towns.
En lisant The Wall Street Journal (édition de vendredi 24 avril), je suis tombé sur un article qui m'a fait bondir : l'Etat français finance des étrangers qui veulent faire la fête chez eux.
Est-ce possible ? De quoi s'agit-il ?
En effet, le Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche a délégué à la société Sopexa une mission de service public : favoriser l'export de produits culinaires français.
Dans le cadre de cette mission, Sopexa organise l'apéritif à la française, "un rituel familier de l'art de vivre à la française". Cette année, 38 villes dans 24 pays sont concernés.
Aux Etats-Unis, Sopexa a passé un contrat avec House Party Inc., société qui "lie les gens par la fête" ("connects people through parties").
Aux Etats-Unis, l'apéritif à la française –devenu le French cocktail hour, ringardisant à mon oreille le slogan français– aura lieu le 4 juin prochain. House Party Inc. invite dès à présent les américains à s'inscire sur son site web. Si vous avez la bonne fortune de faire partie des mille foyers sélectionnés, vous donnerez l'apéritif le 4 juin, et vous enverrez à House Party Inc. photos et vidéos de votre cockatil hour. (Je ne comprends pas bien ce que fait House Party Inc. des images reçues, à part vérifier que l'apéro ait bien eu lieu.)
Pour aider les foyers américains choisis à faire l'apéritif à la française, House Party Inc. offrira à chacun d'eux :
- des bons de réduction sur des produits français (vins, fromages) ;
- des serviettes (certainement décorées, probablement avec un motif français) ;
- un tablier (entre les serviettes et le tablier, le sponsor prévoit une soirée very messy) ;
- un tire-bouchon (comme si un américain n'en aurait pas …) ; et
- un CD de Carla Bruni !
One way in which life in France differs from America: in France, elections are always around the corner.
Elections for the European Parliament will be held in June. They are the high point for 2009 on the French electoral calendar. Both labor and conservatives have begun a get-out-the-vote drive to boost participation. The elections occur simultaneously throughout the European Union.
Political figures who elsewhere (such as the United States) would be viewed as marginal or as has-beens command significant attention and press coverage in France.
In France, a few ministers in prime minister Fillon's administration have volunteered as conservative party standard bearers. Michael Barnier has a long history in politics and as European Commissioner. At his side stands Rachida Dati, the justice minister who incessantly draws attention, not always flattering, and who has been considered in trouble politically for a long while, made headlines last week when she appeared to know nothing of the subject, and joked about her ignorance; subsequent explanation claims that the flub was itself a joke.
The European Parliament has also offered a forum or tribune to leaders of the losing party in national elections. Former president Giscard d'Estaing led the creation of a constitution for the European Union, rejected by voters in France (and the Netherlands). Former minister Rocard may have achieved a fuller and longer-lasting record at the European level than during his tenure as French prime minister.
Labor seems to have trouble finding its voice in the current campaign. This is surprising and disappointing, given that the current socialist party chair, Martine Aubry, is the daughter of Jacques Delors, who presided the European Commission for two terms, a feat unmatched before or since.
The French demographic institute, INED, released its monthly newsletter (no. 455) this week. It featured European comparisons about weight and impressions of being overweight.
The data are from Eurobarometer 59.0, from 2003, but deliver confirmation of what many have long suspected: the French are thin. In fact, when comparing body mass index (which takes account of weight and height), French men and women turn out to be thinner than their European cohorts. Of all the Europeans, the French are thinnest.
The comparison among Europeans’ BMI reserves more surprises, especially for women. Countries adjacent to France, such as Spain or Belgium, have populations that look different from the French (but much like each other).
There’s a French fixation on being thin. Marketing is especially aggressive for products that target women. The products include slenderizing supplements –my favorite supposedly burns fat while you sleep– and creams that supposedly work on specific body areas. These products are sold in pharmacies and frequently back up their claims with data (much of which is based on small samples or subjective assessments, but the data are put forth all the same); there’s a real effort to present the products with seriousness. Dieting seems to be a necessary evil, but exercise receives comparatively little promotion (in other words, from my anecdotal experience, French people don’t seem to exercise solely to lead weight).