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EUROPEAN UNION

France removes EU flag from Arc de Triomphe after right-wing uproar

French authorities took down a temporary installation of the European Union flag from the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris on Sunday, after right-wing opponents of President Emmanuel Macron accused him of "erasing" French identity.

Published: 2 January 2022 17:21 CET
People gather at Paris' Arc de Triomphe lit up in blue to mark the French presidency of the European Union
People gather at Paris' Arc de Triomphe lit up in blue to mark the French presidency of the European Union on January 1st, 2022. The European Union flag was taken down on Sunday. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

The giant blue flag was raised in place of a French flag on New Year’s Eve to mark France’s turn at the rotating presidency of the EU Council, which it will hold for the next six months.

The arch, a monument to war dead, and other landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and the Pantheon are also being illuminated with blue lights for the remainder of this week.

But Macron’s right-wing rivals for the presidential election four months away seized on the removal of the French tricolour, calling it an affront to France’s heritage and its veterans.

“Preside over Europe, yes, erase French identity, no!” tweeted Valerie Pecresse, the conservative candidate who polls indicate could be the main challenger to Macron in the upcoming vote.

She urged him to restore the French flag, saying, “We owe it to our soldiers who spilled their blood for it.”

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who had vowed to file a complaint with the State Council, France’s highest court for administrative matters, also denounced the move, while Eric Zemmour, a far-right media pundit who is also running against Macron, called it “an insult”.

Le Pen on Sunday called the overnight removal of the EU flag “a great patriotic victory,” claiming on Twitter that a “massive mobilisation” had forced Macron to backpedal.

But an official in the French presidency said the flag’s removal before dawn was “in line with the planned schedule”, insisting that unlike the blue lights for monuments, it was only supposed to be at the Arc for two days.

Europe Minister Clement Beaune, who on Saturday accused Macron’s opponents of “desperately chasing after the sterile controversies of the far right,” also denied any “retreat”.

“We embrace Europe, but that doesn’t take anything away from our French identity,” Beaune told France Inter radio.

He said the decision to remove the flag during the night was made by officials at the agency in charge of national monuments.

The presidency official, who asked not to be named, could not say when the massive French flag would fly again under the Arc, but noted it was not a permanent feature for the monument.

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Member comments

      1. Britain came to support the French army and returned to Britain when the French decided to surrender after just 6 weeks. Britain then won the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic , allowing the US to then join them in freeing occupied Europe.

        1. A rather misguided and one-sided view of history but only to be expected from such an expert on France. No doubt another Daily Mail reader.

          1. Simple facts tell their own story – like 123000 of the 360000 troops evacuated from Dunkirk were French. 150000 British, American and Commonwealth troops landed on D-Day alongside 175 French troops. No doubt you have your own narrative, Boggy, but the numbers don’t lie.

  2. If that’s all the right wing can worry about, they are not very bright or as well-informed about the country as they say they are.

  3. Honestly, if their ego and ‘identity’ is that fragile it deserves to be lost (referring to the.right wingers idea of Frenchness…not the nation)…

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ECONOMY

France and Italy face spending rebuke from EU

The European Union was expected to issue warnings to France, Italy and several other governments over excessive spending after new budget rules came into force this year.

Published: 19 June 2024 08:59 CEST
France and Italy face spending rebuke from EU

The rebuke comes at a particularly difficult moment for France, where both the far left and far right are piling up spending promises ahead of snap polls triggered by President Emmanuel Macron’s crushing EU election defeat.

This will be the first time Brussels has reprimanded nations since the EU suspended the rules because of the 2020 Covid pandemic and the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as states propped up businesses and households with public money.

The EU spent two years during the suspension overhauling budget rules to make them more workable and give greater leeway for investment in critical areas, like defence.

But two sacred goals remain: a state’s debt must not go higher than 60 percent of national output, with a public deficit – the shortfall between government revenue and spending – of no more than three percent.

The European Commission will publish assessments of the 27 EU states’ budgets and economies on Wednesday, and is expected to point out that some 10 countries including Belgium, France and Italy, have deficits higher than three percent.

The EU’s executive arm has threatened to launch excessive deficit procedures, which kickstart a process forcing a debt-overloaded country to negotiate a plan with Brussels to get back on track.

Such a move would need approval by EU finance ministers in July.

Countries failing to remedy the situation can in theory be hit with fines of 0.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) a year, until action is taken to address the violation.

In practice, though, the commission has never gone as far as levying fines, fearing it could trigger unintended political consequences and hurt a state’s economy.

The EU countries with the highest deficit-to-GDP ratios last year were Italy (7.4 percent), Hungary (6.7 percent), Romania (6.6 percent), France (5.5 percent) and Poland (5.1 percent).

They may face the excessive deficit procedures, alongside Slovakia, Malta and Belgium, which also have deficits above three percent, according to Andreas Eisl, expert at the Jacques Delors Institute.

The picture is complicated for three other countries, Eisl said. Spain and the Czech Republic exceeded the three percent limit in 2023 but should be back in line this year.

Meanwhile, Estonia’s deficit-to-GDP ratio is above three percent – but its debt is around 20 percent of GDP, significantly below the 60 percent limit.

The commission will look at the states’ data in 2023 but “will also take into account the developments expected for 2024 and beyond”, the expert told AFP.

Member states must send their multi-annual spending plans by October for the EU to scrutinise and the commission will then publish its recommendations in November.

Under the new rules, countries with an excessive deficit must reduce it by 0.5 points each year, which would require a massive undertaking at a moment when states need to pour money into the green and digital transition, as well as defence.

Adopted in 1997 ahead of the arrival of the single currency in 1999, the rules known as the Stability and Growth Pact seek to prevent lax budgetary policies, a concern of Germany, by setting the strict goal of balanced accounts.

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