Many French people may not view it that way. Those will retain but one image. That of a France called to order by Brussels for saying the obvious and uttering the annoying words; especially if they have reported the seventh burglary of their house and the police tell them, wrongly or rightly, that this is due to the Roma; if they see pictures of camps along highways; if they board their train at the Gare du Nord in Paris, where one is beset by aggressive begging.
Things were different three years ago. In a country that sees a chain of security laws, everything seems to be going the wrong way... Politics has its mysteries that only the policy of decay could account for.
Exasperated and white-heated from insecurity, many French people turn a deaf ear on what the supporters of complexity have to say; that police would be more effective against burglaries and begging if they were not understaffed or busy dismantling caravans; that there would have been fewer illegal camps if France had built sufficient legal camps to ensure smoother coexistence between sedentary and nomadic lives; that there is need to differentiate between Travellers (often French people) and the Roma (from Romania or Bulgaria).
However, many are likely to understand the rushed integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the European Union as a mistake. The Roma often flee abject living conditions in their countries of origin. The Union had to ensure that the millions in these countries improved their environment before opening the doors to a foreseeable exodus... Once again, the race for expansion guided by economic motives – a large market and low-cost workforce – has acted against political Europe.
Nationalisms
The result is there. Several EU countries, not just France, are struggling with it. In Italy, popular reactions are going up to pogroms; Sweden and Germany have the wisdom to act without pointing fingers. In France, the president, in fear of seeing his electorate migrate to the far right, makes a cynical bet; once again playing the role of the one who says out loud what everyone thinks to themselves, a spectacular policy and, the icing on the cake, appear as the France that stands up to Brussels.
Successful effect! A European Parliament going headwind against the French government; a commissioner evoking a “roundup”; a French president referring him to his Luxembourg origin. What a picture! What a mess! And what a bonus to extremes!
This is just the beginning. From 2011, free movement will unrestrictedly apply to citizens from Romania and Bulgaria. France will no longer be allowed – as it is today –to deport EU citizens on grounds of “insufficient resources”. The scenario and campaigning dialogue are: “You see. The left wing does not want to use the annoying words and Brussels is binding me!”
Nice rant! Not sure, however, whether in this register, the National Front has no better tragic figure. There are controlled skids that end up in the scenery...
France will not be the sole victim. A European issue par excellence, the Roma issue has undisputed potential to rouse nationalism. It can kill the European dream. Unless and until the EU is committed to urgently improving the situation of the Roma in Bulgaria and Romania, France will have to find strength to remain itself.
Caroline Fourest is a French writer and columnist, and United Nations Global Expert.
Source: Global Expert Finder, 20 October 2010