We are going to set here and watch France commit economic suicide. Terrible for them, and not good for us. Their "Liberalism" is our "Libertarianism."
The War On Liberalism
EURSOC Two
17 April, 2004
Fresh from its success in March's regional elections, France's Socialist Party has launched its campaign for June's European elections with a declaration of war on liberal values.
The Socialists (PS) put their differences on the EU Constitution aside in order to better exploit their winning streak against President Chirac's party.
At its national congress meeting today, the PS unveiled an election strategy which is unlikely to win them any friends in the European Union but will play well to France's depressed and reform-wary voters.
Calling for a "Europe of the left," party secretary Francois Hollande declared:
"We must make the elections of June 13 an instrument in the struggle against liberalism... Many see Europe as a risk. It must also be a protection: Protection of social systems and protection against war and terrorism."
The socialists made clear their determination to create an alternative avant-garde of European nations dedicated to policies promoting fiscal harmony, economic convergence and common social and welfare standards.
And what would those policies be? The PS "convergence criteria" include an EU-wide minimum wage and 35 hour week. Angry noises were also made at the conference about the relocation of factories from France to cheaper central European states, so we must assume that a ban on the movement of capital would also be a feature of the PS' "Europe of the left."
While their manifesto is a combination of wilful delusion, blatant populism and economic suicide, in France at least the Socialists obviously scent blood. Its defeat of president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's UMP last month provoked a drastic cabinet reshuffle, in which Raffarin resigned only to be reappointed.
Most commentators expect that Raffarin will only keep his job until the June elections. If, or more likely when his party gets another hammering from voters, Chirac will boot his prime minister out of office.
Deposing a prime minister - twice - will boost PS morale considerably and give the party something to build on for the next parliamentary and presidential elections. Observers believe that the PS is still in shock after its previous leader, Lionel Jospin, was beaten into third place in France's 2002 presidential election by far-right troublemaker Jean-Marie Le Pen.
The party's swing to the left will also open the way for negotiations between the PS and the French Communist Party, which is in terminal decline but still holds influence in the country's powerful unions.
Almost every French union opposes even tiny steps to liberal reform. Most have threatened massive disruption and public service strikes if the government continues with its modest program of reform. The PS would dearly love to have the unions' wreckers on their side in the build up to the next presidential and parliamentary elections - but should they win, they could come to regret further empowering France's dinosaurs.
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