Why spend billions of tax dollars all these years for ego show?
French canceled their traditional national day celebration to cut cost for tax payers.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0626/1224273365950.html
Cigars out as Sarkozy cuts perks ahead of austerity plan
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RUADHÁN Mac CORMAIC in Paris
PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS, a lavish Bastille Day garden party and ministers’ Cuban cigars are to be sacrificed in the name of economic recovery as the French government seeks to show that ministers are sharing the pain of their austerity drive.
With his government attempting to raise the retirement age and bracing people for cuts of €45 billion in public spending, president Nicolas Sarkozy has said ministers must lead by example and reduce their own budgets. France has not yet set out a detailed austerity package, but the national auditing office recently called for urgent moves to trim the deficit.
It is widely believed that Mr Sarkozy will cancel the traditional July 14th garden party at the Elysée Palace, an annual event that was attended by 7,000 people last year and cost more than €700,000.
Ministers are also to be ordered to cut the number of people employed in their cabinets (private offices), while a reduction in the number of ministers is expected in the next reshuffle.
The government’s belt-tightening follows a series of damaging revelations about ministers’ extravagant lifestyles and waste of public money.
It was reported this week that prime minister François Fillon had asked junior minister Christian Blanc to reimburse the state €12,000 of taxpayers’ money which was used to buy expensive cigars.
Le Canard Enchaîné, which has specialised in publishing details of ministers’ expenses, had published receipts from a Paris cigar shop for high-end Cuban brands that were billed to the government.
Mr Blanc, a former head of Air France who is now junior minister for the greater Paris area, blamed a staff member for the purchases and has already reimbursed €3,500 for those he had smoked.
Further embarrassment followed when it was revealed that Christine Boutin, a minister sacked last year by Mr Sarkozy, was still earning €18,000 a month from the state thanks to a parliamentary pension and a special “mission” from the president to write a report on globalisation.
Ms Boutin said she would keep the pension and give up the € 9,000 a month for the report.
The Boutin controversy then led to five ministers who were drawing a parliamentary pension being ordered to forego them as long as they served in the cabinet.
Until recently, the generous perks and privileges given to France’s ruling class had attracted relatively little scrutiny, but the economic crisis, public disquiet and regular leaks have shone a harsh light on the system.
Two months ago, Mr Fillon ordered ministers to take only commercial flights after his state secretary for overseas development, Alain Joyandet, spent €116,500 chartering a private jet to attend a conference in Martinique.
Another perk in peril is the free Paris flat that goes automatically with cabinet rank, whether needed or not.
That one hit the headlines when industry minister Christian Estrosi was revealed to be occupying rooms at the Economics Ministry in eastern Paris while lending a relative his official apartment overlooking the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the city.
Fadela Amara, state secretary for urban affairs, admitted this month that family members sometimes used her official apartment in the same upmarket district while she stayed in her own more humble flat in a working-class part of the city.
The revelations about ministers’ royal-style perks have been especially damaging because they coincide with the government’s attempts to prepare the public for severe spending cuts.
Didier Migaud, the head of the national auditing office, said savings of €45 billion would be needed and that the government would be required to take a “very sharp turn” on public finances.
France, alone among the biggest European economies, has yet to set out details of a savings plan, but a spokesman for Mr Sarkozy said measures would be outlined in the coming weeks.
French canceled their traditional national day celebration to cut cost for tax payers.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0626/1224273365950.html
Cigars out as Sarkozy cuts perks ahead of austerity plan
In this section »
* Tension as Korean War is marked 60 years on
* BP accused of burning turtles amid oil clean-up
RUADHÁN Mac CORMAIC in Paris
PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS, a lavish Bastille Day garden party and ministers’ Cuban cigars are to be sacrificed in the name of economic recovery as the French government seeks to show that ministers are sharing the pain of their austerity drive.
With his government attempting to raise the retirement age and bracing people for cuts of €45 billion in public spending, president Nicolas Sarkozy has said ministers must lead by example and reduce their own budgets. France has not yet set out a detailed austerity package, but the national auditing office recently called for urgent moves to trim the deficit.
It is widely believed that Mr Sarkozy will cancel the traditional July 14th garden party at the Elysée Palace, an annual event that was attended by 7,000 people last year and cost more than €700,000.
Ministers are also to be ordered to cut the number of people employed in their cabinets (private offices), while a reduction in the number of ministers is expected in the next reshuffle.
The government’s belt-tightening follows a series of damaging revelations about ministers’ extravagant lifestyles and waste of public money.
It was reported this week that prime minister François Fillon had asked junior minister Christian Blanc to reimburse the state €12,000 of taxpayers’ money which was used to buy expensive cigars.
Le Canard Enchaîné, which has specialised in publishing details of ministers’ expenses, had published receipts from a Paris cigar shop for high-end Cuban brands that were billed to the government.
Mr Blanc, a former head of Air France who is now junior minister for the greater Paris area, blamed a staff member for the purchases and has already reimbursed €3,500 for those he had smoked.
Further embarrassment followed when it was revealed that Christine Boutin, a minister sacked last year by Mr Sarkozy, was still earning €18,000 a month from the state thanks to a parliamentary pension and a special “mission” from the president to write a report on globalisation.
Ms Boutin said she would keep the pension and give up the € 9,000 a month for the report.
The Boutin controversy then led to five ministers who were drawing a parliamentary pension being ordered to forego them as long as they served in the cabinet.
Until recently, the generous perks and privileges given to France’s ruling class had attracted relatively little scrutiny, but the economic crisis, public disquiet and regular leaks have shone a harsh light on the system.
Two months ago, Mr Fillon ordered ministers to take only commercial flights after his state secretary for overseas development, Alain Joyandet, spent €116,500 chartering a private jet to attend a conference in Martinique.
Another perk in peril is the free Paris flat that goes automatically with cabinet rank, whether needed or not.
That one hit the headlines when industry minister Christian Estrosi was revealed to be occupying rooms at the Economics Ministry in eastern Paris while lending a relative his official apartment overlooking the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the city.
Fadela Amara, state secretary for urban affairs, admitted this month that family members sometimes used her official apartment in the same upmarket district while she stayed in her own more humble flat in a working-class part of the city.
The revelations about ministers’ royal-style perks have been especially damaging because they coincide with the government’s attempts to prepare the public for severe spending cuts.
Didier Migaud, the head of the national auditing office, said savings of €45 billion would be needed and that the government would be required to take a “very sharp turn” on public finances.
France, alone among the biggest European economies, has yet to set out details of a savings plan, but a spokesman for Mr Sarkozy said measures would be outlined in the coming weeks.
