Focus on France 14 November 2009

This week in France

Article published on the 2009-11-14 Latest update 2009-11-14 13:53 TU

The week in which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad came to Paris, French Sports Minister Rama Yade waited to hear whether she would get the sack and new economic figures gave cause for concern.

 

A busy week for French President Nicolas Sarkozy who met with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But does warming relations between France and Syria really put Sarkozy in a good position to breathe new life into the stalled Middle East peace process?

Meanwhile, the French President also pondered firing Sports Minister Rama Yade this week. She was critical of the French President during the nepotism row and more recently hit-out over proposals to change tax breaks for athletes. But can he fire one of his most popular ministers, the proclaimed voice of the people?

The public spending deficit received a lot of attention this week following the release of new economic data. Growth didn’t meet expectations and unemployment is expected to rise to 10.1 per cent by the end of the year. So is increased public spending the answer and will a record deficit produce results?