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This week

• 👍An updated French Dispatch

• 🔎Senate demands clarifications on pension reform

• 🌹PS first federal secretary suspended for racism

• 🎨Large increase in VAT on the art market

👍An updated French Dispatch

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🔎Senate demands clarifications on pension reform

Following the fiasco that was the debate on pension reform in the Assemblée National, which ended without a vote on the reform, the text has now moved over to the Senate, which Elizabeth Borne hopes will lend support and legitimacy to the project.

With 11 days of discussion planned for the Senate - from Thursday 2 March to midnight on Sunday 12 March - the Senators have stated that they intend to be “more responsible” than the deputies from the Assemblée, notably from La France Insoumise.

Gérard Larcher, the President of Les Républicains (LR) in the senate, already clarified that he intends to see more responsibility from his colleagues. However, he also made it clear they would be asking for clarifications from the government on the Social Security financing bill amendments.

“The Senate owes citizens and social partners a debate on the whole text”

With 145 senators from Les Republicains, 57 centrists (MoDEM and UDI) and 24 senators from the Rally of Democrats, Progressive and Independent group (RDPI, also known as ‘Renaissance & friends’), there is broad support for the reform.

However, the LR and Centrists have made it clear that they intend to make their mark on the process, with Larcher saying outright that “the text that will come out will not be that of the government but that of the Senate.”

Some of the expected amendments will likely aim to improve the situations of mothers and strengthen the employment of seniors, which the public has criticised as some of the major blind spots in the Borne government’s reform.

🌹PS first federal secretary suspended for racism

It sometimes feels like the Parti Socialiste can not catch a break at the moment, having to constantly deal with fight after fight, drama after drama, and always finds itself on the back foot as it attempts to reach its previous heights of power.

This time, we’ve seen the drama erupt from the results of the First Federal Secretary of the socialist federation of the Rhône, where Christiane Constant, upon winning, engaged in a revoltingly racist characterisation of her opponents.

“I slept three hours but we won. We're going to have a party… the thunder of Zeus. We eliminated all these macaques,” Constant said, in a leaked WhatsApp message accompanied by several emojis of monkeys.

Naturally, the reaction to this was justifiably quick, with many within the party quickly demanding her resignation, including Hélène Geoffroy, the mayor in Vaulx-en-Velin within the region.

In their official press release, the party was quick to restate its anti-racist credentials:

“The fight against racism is the foundation of the identity of the Socialist Party, which condemns in the strongest terms these unacceptable and criminally reprehensible remarks"

In a press release following the suspension, Geoffroy who originates from Guadeloupe, was scathing in her condemnation of the disgraced federal secretary:

“The remarks made by Christiane Constant, accustomed to approximations of language with regard to her comrades, are unacceptable and fall within the unthought that we can only strongly condemn to the Socialist Party.”

Her words were echoed by several other major regional politicians.

The mayor of Villeurbanne, Cédric Van Styvendael (PS) added that “these insulting and racist remarks are intolerable. I address my deep regrets and my full solidarity to the comrades of the Socialist Party targeted in this message”

With the increasingly regular dramas occurring within the party and the clear difficulties in steadying the boat, which is leading to an increase in internal conflicts and reducing the ability of the party to recover from the acrimonious leadership election.

Adding allegations of racism to former accusations of fraud, fractures caused by the compromise in the first secretary, and the infighting within the “collective” governance led by Olivier Faure, there are serious questions being asked about the future stability of the party and it’s increasing fragility.

🎨Large increase in VAT on French art Market

Let’s finish this Weely Dispatch with an interesting cultural conversation, with a debate ongoing within the French art world regarding the cost of selling works of art.

With a new European directive (2022/542) currently being implemented regarding VAT across the Union, some changes inbound will impact the Art world, with the current VAT rate paid on works of art (5.5%) needing to be increased to 20% before 2025.

The big concern? This could damage France’s position in the global art market, with gallery owners now stating that they will be less likely to “take on new artists” as there will be the risk that they can’t sell their work and would be left with their work.

There have even been questions about what will happen to French masterworks, which illicit a stronger, more emotional reaction in France due to the history of our country but which may be less attractive to buy and sell in France than elsewhere.

Luckily, French museums are protected from this and will not be subjected to this VAT rate when they purchase abroad, but other European purchasers will.

There are some very interesting discussions to be heard and had regarding how this could impact the French art market and the development of French artists, how this will impact (or not) the art gallery world and even potentially schools.

Questions will inevitably be raised about whether the European Union should have any competencies related to cultural and artistic domains and whether this could even damage the Union in the long term.

But what do you think? Do you have a strong opinion on this? And do you have any solutions to this issue that come to mind? Comment below!

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