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FRANCE

Two ‘Miss France’ winners amid battle over contest

A management student from Alsace was voted Miss France, 24 hours before another student from the south of France was elected Miss Prestige National.

Published: 5 December 2011 15:24 CET

France has two rival contests since the show’s one-time star presenter and the Miss France production company split.

Miss France, Delphine Wespier, 19, was elected on Saturday and told spectators she was proud on behalf of her region Alsace in the east of France, le Nouvel Observateur reports.  

French actor Alain Delon presided over the jury at the contest and accompanied Wespier at the end of the show.

Wespier was the first of two Misses to be elected this weekend. On Sunday, Christelle Roca, 20, was elected Miss Prestige National.

In her winner’s speech, she said she was very proud and would try to live up to expectations.

France has two competing beauty pageants since star presenter Geneviève de Fontenay left the production company Endemol, which owns the Miss France brand.

Last year, de Fontanay ran a rival contest called Miss National. However, a judge has since ruled she is not allowed to organise her own Miss France contest. This year the Miss Prestige National went ahead anyway in her absence.

POLITICS

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

France has vowed to prevent a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc from being signed with its current terms, as the country is rocked by farmer protests.

Published: 31 January 2024 15:46 CET
France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

The trade deal, which would include agricultural powers Argentina and Brazil, is among a litany of complaints by farmers in France and elsewhere in Europe who have been blocking roads to demand better conditions for their sector.

They fear it would further depress their produce prices amid increased competition from exporting nations that are not bound by strict and costly EU environmental laws.

READ ALSO Should I cancel my trip to France because of farmers’ protests?

“This Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not good for our farmers. It cannot be signed as is, it won’t be signed as is,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told broadcasters CNews and Europe 1.

The European Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that the conditions to conclude the deal with Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay, “are not quite there yet”.

The talks, however, are continuing, the commission said.

READ ALSO 5 minutes to understand French farmer protests

President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France opposes the deal because it “doesn’t make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours”.

The EU and the South American nations have been negotiating since 2000.

The contours of a deal were agreed in 2019, but a final version still needs to be ratified.

The accord aims to cut import tariffs on – mostly European – industrial and pharmaceutical goods, and on agricultural products.

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