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Month: September 2022

ASM preview: “A win against Nice can launch our season”

by: Luke Entwistle
03/09/2022

AS Monaco head into the Côte d’Azur derby against Nice in need of a win, not just for tribal pride, but also to close the growing gap between themselves and the European-chasing competition.

Both Monaco and Nice have endured difficult starts to the season, and sit 16th and 15th respectively, tied on five points and separated only by goal difference. However, as manager Philippe Clement pointed out in Friday’s pre-match press conference, the Principality haven’t had an easy run.

“Our calendar was the most difficult of any team in France,” said the Belgian coach. The side have already had tough fixtures against four of last season’s top eight in the first five days. However, they come into the derby clash on the back of a surprising defeat against Troyes. The notable extenuating circumstance in that fixture is the refereeing performance, which elicited cries of indignation from within the club. Consequently, it is nowhere near time to press the panic button, and Clement sought to place the recent run of form into its context.

Asked about the eight-point gap to PSG, Clement says it is much too early to start drawing up any kind of report. “There are still 33 matches. You can do a review after the first half of the season, when everyone has played everyone else, but not now.”

Nonetheless, the club are looking to turn the page. Clement revealed that he sensed disappointment within the group as recently as yesterday, but he added, “Sunday is another match.”

Monaco left-back Caio Henrique told Monaco Life that the derby could represent a turning point for the side. “I think that the team has the correct mentality for this match. We know the importance of the game. I think if we win, it can set us on a run of victories, and launch our season because winning a classic against your rival can give you a good feeling.”

Monaco come up against a Nice side, who have been unpredictable in the opening gameweeks of the season. The club have seen massive upheaval during the summer break, losing their manager, sporting director, as well as reconstructing the team itself. Clement described Lucien Favre’s Nice as “a team in transition,” although he added that they remain a team with “European ambitions,” just like Monaco.

Clement will have almost a full-strength squad to pick from. He will be without Kevin Volland, who is likely to be sidelined for around a month, as well as Myron Boadu, who despite returning to training with the ball at his feet, is not yet ready to feature. Clement’s side may come up against a familiar face in the shape of Sofiane Diop, who only joined Les Aiglons from Monaco a matter of days ago, whilst a the re-formed Gaëtan Laborde-Andy Delort duo could pose Monaco’s back line issues, which will be without the suspended Guillermo Maripán.

Points and regional pride are up for grabs at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday, as both sides look to “launch” their stuttering seasons.

 

 

 

Photo of Caio Henrique by Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

France promises e-car rental for €100 a month

by: Stephanie Horsman
02/09/2022

Thousands of French car buyers could soon be able to buy an electric car for a mere €100 per month under a new scheme promised by President Emmanuel Macron.

The advent of electric vehicles as viable alternatives to petrol-run ones has been gaining momentum for years. Not only are they touted as being better for the environment, they also are a great foil to high petrol prices at the pump in a time when skyrocketing costs for even basics are escalating out of control.

In France, President Macron, as part of his re-election bid, declared his hopes to reduce CO2 emissions whilst starting to phase out petrol and diesel engine models. Several automakers, including Renault, MG and Hyundai, have recently launched long-term rental offers, which could go hand in hand with the government’s plan.

“We are going to deploy an offer of affordable electric vehicles, setting up leasing mechanisms to help low-income households,” proclaimed the President.

Though details on when the programme would take effect are still unknown, it is thought that at least 100,000 vehicles would be available to lease each year.

According Gabriel Attal, Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts, the intricacies will be presented before the end of 2022 and incorporated into the 2023 Finance Law for implementation next year. He did not reveal details, such as the number of people concerned, the income conditions to benefit from it, or the duration of the rentals, but he said clearly that this promise will be kept, mainly because it goes toward the CO2 reduction goals. On the other hand, he is aware there will be certain difficulties in implementation.

One big problem is supply. A shortage of parts has hampered production, but the minister announced that two “gigafactories” will be built in France to help alleviate those problems.

Cost is also a factor. Reaching a possible total of approximately €11,000 before taking into account any regional subsidies available, this funding currently only covers a fraction of the cost of these vehicles. Add in the gigantic rise in electricity prices forecast for this year and beyond, and e-vehicles suddenly lose a bit of value-added lustre, despite the benefits for the environment.

The rental programme was originally targeted at healthcare professionals and young people, although further details on how it will work have yet to be stated. This type of state aid, first proposed by Socialist Party candidate Anne Hidalgo, would add to a package of existing funding sources aimed at helping people buy an electric car.

 

 

 

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

EU greenlights first round of sustainable farming plan

by: Stephanie Horsman
02/09/2022

France is among seven countries to receive its share of a €270 billion EU package designed to boost and protect the agricultural sector in Europe, with a large emphasis on sustainable farming.

The summer of 2022 has been difficult for farmers. Droughts with water rationing, heat waves, floods and other natural disasters have marked the growing season, spurring calls for more resistant, less water-guzzling crops to be nurtured.

The European Union has quickly stepped up to create a way forward through the approval of the first Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plans for seven countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, which will start to be implemented in 2023.

This reformed policy will see funding more fairly distributed to small and medium sized family farms and to young farmers. These recipients will be encouraged and supported to use modern farming methods such as precision farming, growing drought-resistant crops and taking up agro-ecological production techniques.

Through CAP, the EU is hoping to increase food security as well as inspire farmers to use efficient and effective ways of working while contributing to the EU’s climate and environmental goals, including on animal welfare.

The plan will combine funding for income support, rural development and market measures.

“We are now one step closer to implementing a new CAP for the next five years,” said Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski. “This step comes at a crucial moment, when the importance of providing robust support for our farming sector has become abundantly clear. Farmers are facing a challenging environment, marked by the sharp increase in production costs due to the Russian aggression in Ukraine, as well as the recent summer drought.

“Farming is a long-term business and European farmers need to have a clear legal and financial framework for the future. The new CAP will help us to support stable farming livelihoods and long-term food security by fostering a smart, competitive, resilient and diversified agricultural sector. The Commission will continue to provide guidance to make the best use of what the CAP has to offer for our farmers, rural communities, and our citizens as a whole.”

More support for sustainable farming

Funding is set at €270 billion for the 2023 to 2027 period, with €120 billion allocated to the seven states whose plans have just been approved and include more than €34 billion dedicated wholly to environmental and climate objectives as well as eco-schemes. Such projects that fall into this category are the promotion of beneficial practices for soil or to improve water management and grassland quality, for example. CAP can also promote afforestation, fire prevention, restoration and adaptation of forests.

Farmers participating in eco-schemes may be rewarded for, amongst other things, banning or limiting the use of pesticides, and limiting soil erosion. Between 86% and 97% of the national utilised agricultural area will be farmed under good agricultural and environmental conditions. Substantial funding will also support the development of organic production, with most countries aiming to double or even triple their farming area. Areas under natural constraints, such as in mountains or on the coast, will continue to benefit from specific funding to maintain an agricultural activity.

The plan also encourages reducing dependence on chemical-based fertilisers and scaling up renewable energy production without reducing food output.

Additionally, it targets the young in an effort to make farming an attractive career choice.

Now that the first seven plans have been approved, the EC is moving ahead to gain quick approval for the plans for the 21 remaining bloc countries.

 

 

 

Photo by Raphael Rychetsky on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

Photos: Inside the OceanXplorer

by: Luke Entwistle
01/09/2022

Monaco Life was invited on-board the OceanXplorer on Wednesday, currently docked in Monaco, to get an exclusive tour of a hyper-modern boat that is revolutionising ocean exploration.

Prior to Monaco Life’s visit, Prince Albert II boarded the ship to see the extensive laboratories, diving equipment and media hubs that make the vessel so unique. As Vincent Pieribone, vice-chairman of OceanX told us, they are in fact working closely with the Principality, through their partnership with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, whilst they hope to further solidify those ties.

“We both have an almost identical mission: to explore the ocean and share it with the rest of the world. Sharing it with the world helps build stewardship. The Prince has led this for years, and we’re arriving late in the game so we’re here for his help, for his advice and his partnership,” said Pieribone. “He’s got a lot of experience, more than we honestly have, and he’s a real world leader on this stage. Given the size of Monaco, the Principality has an outsised role. At all the UN meetings he’s front and centre, he’s a trusted source of information.”

The scientist also revealed the future plans for collaboration with Monaco. “We’re hoping Prince Albert and his teams will join us on expeditions. That scientists, researchers and storytellers from Monaco will join us in our exploits. We’ve had discussions whilst we’ve been here about them potentially joining us when we go to the Pacific Ocean. He’s got interests in the Polar regions, and the Oceanographic Museum has a beautiful exhibit right now. So, we’ll soon be in the Antarctic and hopefully he’ll join us there,” he said.

From left to right: Ray Dalio, Prince Albert and Vincent Pieribone. Photo by Gaetan Luci, Prince’s Palace

The OceanXplorer is a game-changer in the field of ocean exploration, and it has already carried out ground-breaking research in the Red Sea, which allows experts to more comprehensively understand coral ecosystems. “We spent 18 weeks in the Saudi and the Jordanian Red Sea region. It’s a very understudied body of water. We weren’t very familiar with it when we started… It has very diverse coral and the water is extremely hot. That seems counterintuitive to what we’ve all been talking about with regards to global warming killing coral reefs. If you take coral from Australia and you put it into the water right now, the Red Sea will kill it immediately because of the temperature. Those coral in the Red Sea have had 10,000 years to evolve to a state of handling high temperatures,” said Pieribone.

He continued,” It’s clear that coral can withstand high temperatures, but only after a long period of adaptation. So, we’re studying those corals to understand, because unfortunately for our world, in 50 years when most coral reefs are dead because of climate change and increasing temperatures mainly, the corals of the Red Sea will probably be one of the only reserves of living coral that can populate the rest of the oceans, and it will take them tens of thousands of years to leave those areas and propagate to the rest of the ocean.”

The partnership between OceanX and the Principality will further expand the frontiers of our knowledge about the world’s oceans, hopefully engendering a more sustainable relationship between man and water.

 

Click on Monaco Life’s gallery below to see more pictures of the OceanXplorer…

 

 

Photo above by Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

Prince Albert’s Planetary Health Gala removed from 2022 calendar

by: Stephanie Horsman
01/09/2022

Monaco’s largest celebrity charity gala, organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, will not go ahead this year, with the war in Ukraine cited as the main reason.

An annual event since 2017 attracting A-list celebrities from around the world, the Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health has been a staple of the social season since its inception.

Organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to support ocean conservation and planetary health, it has been attended by the likes of such mega stars as Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, Katy Perry, Sharon Stone, Robert Redford, Sting, Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp and Uma Thurman. But due to an unusual series of events in 2022, the foundation has decided not to go ahead with the bash in 2022.

“This year, the decision was made not to hold the Monte-Carlo Gala due to the international crisis. It seemed reasonable to us to put it on hiatus at least this year in this context of war in Ukraine and international instability,” Olivier Wenden, Vice-President of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, announced through Monaco Matin. “We felt that the gala was perhaps a little too showy in this difficult international climate.”

In place of the lavish gala, which annually pulls in the biggest donations for the foundation, Olivier Wenden says, “We are going to do things differently” with “slightly more intimate, private events carried by philanthropists who support the foundation and whom we thank because they help us make it possible to avoid disruptions in the projects we carry out and to continue to honour our commitments.”

He revealed that the first “intimate” event will be a Venetian-themed dinner for a hundred or so patrons at the Hermitage Hotel on 1st October, with a concert by French singer Mika.

The second, to be held on the 28th October in Singapore, is the Ocean Ball. This will be organised through the support of Jacqueline Deromedi and her son Jean-Marc who will privatise the showrooms at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, holding an auction to finance projects in Asia.

 

SEE ALSO: 

SHARON STONE DAZZLES AS GUEST OF HONOUR AT MONTE-CARLO GALA

EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE PRINCE ALBERT’S EXTRAVAGANT FUNDRAISING GALA

 

 

Photo of the 2021 Monte-Carlo Gala by Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace

 

 

 

 

Telework to remain an option until end of year

by: Stephanie Horsman
01/09/2022

The government has decided to extend remote work until 31st December, giving employees and civil servants from Monaco, France or Italy the option to work from home if their job allows for it. 

Telecommuting was put into place as a matter of course in February 2020 as a way to allow at least some people to continue their usual activities during the pandemic whilst staying in compliance with national rules on confinement.

This version was a more flexible take on telework than governed by law 1429, which was the subject of an amendment to the Franco-Monegasque convention of 1952 on social security, and gave many employees and employers the chance to try out an alternative way of working, albeit in this case without any choice.

The pandemic-led requirement to work remotely was set to end on 1st June 2022, but was extended to continue until 31st August, with a notable caveat. Telecommuting would be limited to employees, civil servants, state or municipal employees whose place of residence is Italy.

This exception only for Italian-based workers meant that for the rest of the workforce in Monaco, it was back to the telework rules in the strictest sense of the law for those who preferred to see their employees on-site for work.

This summer, though, French and Monaco authorities held exchanges on the realities of the current situation and decided on 14th July that, due to the fact that the virus is still alive, well and contagious, and that new variants could spell big trouble, continuing remote work for certain jobs, no matter where the worker lived, was a prudent way forward, at least until 31st August.

By mid-August, the decision was up for review again, and it was declared that the extension for telework would last until 31st December, as published in the Journal de Monaco on 26th August.

 

 

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash