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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Farmers, the far-right and fabulous French puns

From the gutting of France's new immigration law and what it all means for foreigners living here, via the fury of French farmers and some great French films and puns, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 27 January 2024 10:48 CET
Inside France: Farmers, the far-right and fabulous French puns
Isn't this a fabulous picture? Really says 'France' - by the very talented Ed JONES via AFP

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

It’s been a dramatic week in France with farmers blockading the roads and the new immigration law being virtually disembowelled by the country’s highest constitutional authority. 

Immigration law

As expected the Conseil Constitutionnel rejected many of the more high-profile additions to France’s new immigration law, including limits on benefits, family reunification and citizenship for foreigners.

READ ALSO What changes for foreigners in France under the new immigration law?

What has passed is much closer to the government’s original, significantly less right-wing, bill. The far-right are not happy, of course, with Rassemblement National leader Jordan Bardella describing the ruling as “coup by the judges, with the backing of the president”.

His point is nonsense, of course – there was no demographic mandate for the extra amendments that were added, they came about due to political horse-trading with no consultation whatsoever with ‘the people’. Marine Le Pen stood for president in 2022 on a platform including similar measures, and the people decided against them.

But we know from other countries around the world that populists attacking judges and the rule of law while framing themselves as ‘the voice of the people’ can be terrifyingly effective. 

On a brighter note, I was touched to see thousands of French people turn out to protest against the nastier aspects of the proposed law – even though they would have had no effect on the daily lives of most French citizens. Meanwhile many local mayors, including Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo had said they would simply refuse to apply new benefit laws, and would continue to help people in need without checking their nationality first. 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Anne Hidalgo (@annehidalgo)

Farmer fury

French farmers have this week been demonstrating that if you have enough tractors and heavy agricultural machinery (plus some manure) you don’t need many people to bring the country to a halt. 

The government, traditionally wary of the power of the agriculture lobby, has been quick to negotiate and the interior minister reportedly ordered the riot police to practice ‘light touch policing’ of the demos – not a sentence that you hear often in France. 

Farmers have real and legitimate grievances and agriculture is in something of a crisis – two fifths of farmers earn under €4,500 a year and over half of French farmers are aged 50 plus.

OPINION French farmers have legitimate grievances, but it’s not all the fault of the EU 

All in all France’s biggest agriculture event – the Salon de l’agriculture in Paris which starts next month – is predicted to be lively, even more than it usually is. If you haven’t been I really recommend it as a great day out with prize-winning cattle, lots of free cheese tasters and the chance to party with French farmers. 

5 things to know about France’s most famous farm show

Talking France

We are of course discussing the farmers’ protests and digging a little deeper into their grievances on the Talking France podcast – as well as chatting about France’s ‘forgotten département’, why Macron’s baby plans have sparked a war of words and whether French toast, French horns and French letters are really French at all. Listen here or on the link below.

Pun of the week 

French pun of the week goes to daily newspaper Libération, which managed to combine two big talking points into one headline.

Anatomie d’une lutte (anatomy of a struggle) references the farmers’ protests, but also puns on the French film Anatomie d’une chute (Anatomy of a Fall) which was this week nominated for five Oscars, a rare achievement for a film that’s not in English.

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Internet regulation, French language battles and 90-year-old barbers

From screen time to another French language controversy, via France's attitude to the internet and a few bad puns, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 4 May 2024 08:13 CEST
Inside France: Internet regulation, French language battles and 90-year-old barbers

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

Wild west web

This week a commission of experts produced a detailed report on the effect of screens on children, along with some far-reaching recommendations including a complete screen ban (including TV) for toddlers, no smartphones for under 13s and avoiding social media like Instagram or TikTok for all under 18s.

This is at this stage just a series of recommendations, but the intention is to draw up legislation on this topic – which is being discussed around the world as more people worry about the effects of too much screen time on youngsters.

As a relatively new technology, it’s not uncommon for legislation to lag behind the rapidly changing and developing online world. But while some countries seem to view the internet as a kind of natural phenomenon which cannot be legislated for – like the weather – France has a history of being more interventionist.

From the ‘GAFA’ legislation that eventually forced tech giants like Apple and Facebook to pay tax in the countries that they operate in to legislation to limit the pictures of children that parents can publish on social media – France has shown itself at least willing to try.

As Emmanuel Macron said this week, legislation is more effective if done on an EU-wide basis, and it’s notable that the EU Commissioner leading the charge to try and make social media companies clean up their act is a Frenchman – the charismatic (or should that be attention-seeking?) Thierry Breton.

Talking France

We discuss the screens report – and the reaction of French parents – on this week’s Talking France podcast, as well as French May traditions, changes to EU travel and France’s oldest barber.

That barber is 90 years old and still working, by the way, one of a growing number of French people who are not only living to a ripe old age, but choosing to carry on working – for all that the country still has the lowest official retirement age in Europe.

Listen here or on the link below.

Say non or not?

A parliamentary resolution to ‘say non to speaking English during the Paris Olympics’ gained worldwide media coverage this week – but there is more to this story.

One the one hand a small group of mostly right-wing MPs passed a completely non-binding resolution – on the other hand the people actually organising the Games have shown themselves more than happy to speak English if required and to provide all information in both English and French. Likewise signage on the public transport is being put out in multiple languages to make life easy for international visitors.

Without wanting to over-state things too much, you might almost see this as the face of the old France versus the new – and it’s certainly noticeable that younger French people tend to be happy and even excited by an opportunity to speak English, and don’t see speaking other languages as any kind of loss to French culture – which happily remains as strong as ever.

Wordplay

And as a dedicated fan of terrible puns, I couldn’t help but laugh/groan at this one (say the name out loud)*

The French are fond of puns and wordplay, which is one reason that French humour can be hard for foreigners to understand. Another reason is that it’s highly referential, so if you don’t get the political/sporting/cultural reference then you won’t get the joke.

READ ALSO Are the French really ‘not funny’?

But then, all humour is based on culture as much as it is on language – as witnessed by the number of British comedies that get remade for an American audience. 

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

* The name when said out loud sounds like ‘J’ai pas de riz’ or ‘I have no rice’ – hence the reply ‘no worries, just eat pasta’. 

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