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Day: 11 October 2022

French government calls for “excessive” fuel blocks to be lifted

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/10/2022

The French government is threatening to intervene to unblock the country’s fuel depots that are being held for ransom by strikers who are demanding pay rises after record profits were announced by gas companies TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil’s.  

Long lines and shortages of supply are the hallmarks of France’s current situation at the pumps. The problem is not an actual lack of petrol, but an inability to get gas to the stations as workers at several of the nation’s refineries continue striking for better pay.

This comes on the heels of an announcement that, after a global surge in energy prices, France’s TotalEnergies group has made a staggering €8 billion dividend pay-out, as well as “special” dividends to investors. Total’s workers are demanding a 10% pay rise to offset the cost-of-living increase as well as to get their share of the pie.

The talks, which have been going on for two weeks, have stalled, and the government is now pressuring the company and the unions to sort it out and end the strike immediately.

ExxonMobil has also seen strike action, with wage talks going on for several weeks, but which were settled on Monday.

Budget Minister Gabriel Attal blamed hard-left union CGT, which has been leading the strikes. “The heart of this problem is the blocking of refineries and fuel depots by the CGT, which wants to have a number of discussions on wages,” Attal told FranceInter radio. “It has been a nightmare weekend for millions of motorists.”

On Tuesday, Minister Delegate for Relations with Parliament and Citizen Participation Olivier Veran told RTL,“We are doing everything we can to put an end to this situation,” adding that there is the possibility of making requisitions or reopening access to depots.

“The government is calling for all the blockages to be lifted without delay. Otherwise, we will take matters into our own hands, that is to say, we may have to lift them,” he said, adding “the CGT continues to call for blocking,” which “we consider excessive and abnormal.”

The spokesman went on to say that the government has had enough and threatened that it could “unblock, reopen access to depot centres and refineries, and then requisition the appropriate personnel to be able to allow the situation to normalise.”

Even President Macron got in on the show, telling reporters in a thinly-veiled attack on strikers that “Blockage is not a way of negotiating. Salary negotiations are legitimate … but they have to find a solution so that, somehow, our compatriots are not their victims.” He also noted that it’s not the government’s responsibility to find a compromise between oil companies and trade unions.

The hope is that things will be back to normal by the upcoming All Saint’s holiday.

For their part, Total has proposed moving forward annual wage talks from mid-November to now, in line with CGT demands. The company’s CEO said last week that the “time has come to reward” their workers but had not set solid dates to start negotiations.

The refinery strikes have seen France’s output slashed by over 60% and have prompted the government to extraordinary measures such as allowing fuel trucks to make Sunday deliveries to help alleviate pressures on the pumps. 

 

 

 

Photo by Monaco Life 

 

 

 

14th July trial: François Hollande’s government only “feared acts by isolated people”

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/10/2022

Former French President François Hollande and former Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve have given evidence in the trial of eight people accused of helping the murderer who drove a truck into a crowded beachfront in Nice six years ago.

Back in July 2016, then-French President François Hollande was no stranger to extremist acts aimed at the French population. His government had seen a wave of horrors through 2015, including the massacre at Charlie Hebdo and the coordinated attacks around Paris on 13th November, attacks which left 130 people dead and more than 350 injured.

So, when the former president was put on the stand to justify his actions, allowing major public events to go ahead in 2016 including the 14th July fireworks show on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, his answer seemed less than satisfactory.

“It had been agreed to continue to live, had it been to give in to the terrorist threat of no longer going out to bars or concert halls,” said Hollande, adding, “We could have cancelled all the local festivals, but nobody asked for it. We all considered it a sign that we could continue to live.”

In retrospect, he admits this was a “failure”, but went on to say that local authorities also believed they had things under control and that extra precautions had been put in place to try and ensure the safety of the public.

He also said the authorities were not looking at big plots, but at lone attackers. “What we feared was the acts of isolated people not necessarily supported by an organisation, with very few accomplices,” he said.

In the case of the 14th July attacks, former Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that “64 national police personnel were mobilised on the perimeter of the Prom Party,” 20% more than the previous year. Additionally, he said “The security methods were proposed by the departmental director of public security in consultation with the director of the municipal police during four meetings.”

Reports indicated there were 10 checkpoints along the Promenade, and a roving patrol of officers who were primarily on the lookout for knives or guns, but who could not have foreseen the attack by truck carried out by the attacker.

This is in direct conflict with eyewitness testimony who said they saw no evident extra security in place, as compared to that deployed during the Euro 2016 games just days earlier.

The minister explained this simply, declaring “This difference in perception is explained by the fact that the two events were not of the same nature. When you secure a fan zone, you secure an enclosed space.”

It was asked whether concrete barriers should have been set up to prevent the attack, to which the Cazeneuve replied, “The security forces do not reason knowing what is going to happen, but according to all the assumptions, it was essential that the emergency services could intervene, that the mobile patrols could circulate, and not to lock individuals in preventing them from circulating.” He added, “It would have taken a device much more robust than concrete blocks to prevent this intrusion.”

The case will continue later this month when Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi and First Deputy Mayor Philippe Pradal make their statements on 20th October.

 

 

By Monaco Life with BFMTV and France 3. Image of François Hollande giving evidence at the special assize court on October 10, 2022 by Benoit Peyrucq

 

 

 

Court deems Terminal 2 expansion “necessary” and environmentally sound

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/10/2022
flights strikes nice

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport got the thumbs up from the Administrative Court of Marseille to proceed with an expansion of Terminal 2, despite protests over its alleged environmental impact.

Nice Airport has been under fire for its proposed plans to expand Terminal 2, with opponents citing environmental impact concerns as well those over air traffic and excessive-tourism.

The Administrative Court of Marseille has now deemed the project worthy to continue, citing that it “does not have the effect of increasing air traffic significantly and with certainty”, nor is it adverse to protecting the environment.

The court agreed with the airport that an increase in the number of passengers “will essentially be allowed by continually optimising the aircraft load rate and increasing the capacity of aircraft” and not by increasing the number of aircraft circulating within the airport – an increase that the judges have described as “hypothetical”.

Nice Côte d’Azur’s plan will increase airport capacity to 18 million passengers per year, 1.75 million more than pre-pandemic, with an estimated 36% of travellers being residents and 24% frequent visitors, mainly for work purposes.

“There’s no other mode of transport that requires so little construction to allow travellers to directly connect two points that are several hundred or thousands of kilometres apart. Our Terminal 2 extension project, which doesn’t require soil artificialisation, represents the best construction-connection ratio,” said Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, in a statement.

As far as environmental concerns, the airport stresses it was the first in France to achieve carbon-neutrality by offsetting means back in 2016. It has furthermore pledged to achieve the same goal, without offsetting, by 2030, with the new Terminal 2 project included in the calculations.

The airport has also announced measures to accelerate the reduction of aircraft emissions when approaching, taxiing or taking off from the airport. It says it is working with the entire sector to facilitate innovation and the development of low carbon solutions in the air, by means of electric aviation or the integration of bio-fuel.

 

 

Photo source: Pixabay

 

 

 

Leclerc, Ferrari and the false prophecy of 2022

by: Luke Entwistle
11/10/2022

Under the floodlights of Sakhir, Ferrari fans worldwide revelled in a moment of catharsis. Pre-season expectations were realised; Charles Leclerc was atop the podium. But that was as good as it got.

Fans of the prancing horse went into this season with an unusual sensation: hope. Following over a decade of mediocrity, the signs from pre-season testing were more than encouraging. Pundits and experts alike had heavily tipped them for a strong season.

Having given up early on last year’s model, preparations for the sweeping set of rule changes that were brought in for the 2022 season were made early. The horse had essentially bolted out of the starting gate before their rivals, and the result was a car that looked unpeered at the opening race in Bahrain in late march.

The stars seemed to have aligned for Ferrari, and for Leclerc. The prophecy was written, the world title beckoned. But as the season wore on, it slowly and agonisingly became more apparent that this prophecy would not be fulfilled.

A visual metaphor

If one is looking for an explanation for Ferrari’s shortcomings, one needn’t look any further than the image of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and Leclerc’s Ferrari side-by-side following Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. For Leclerc, it was the race in which the bell finally tolled on his lifeless championship aspirations; for Max Verstappen, it represented a just reward for an imperious season.

The state of Ferrari’s heavily worn, degraded intermediate tyres, juxtaposed with the relatively fresh set on Perez’s Red Bull, provided the perfect visual metaphor. It is here, more so than elsewhere, where the title was won and lost, whilst the contrast only goes to highlight the development of the Red Bull, and the stasis of the Ferrari, which has struggled to keep pace with their ever-improving, run-away rivals. The Italian manufacturer may have had the edge in March, but that is certainly no longer the case.

Tyre degradation was a season-long thorn in Ferrari’s side. Whilst, at least at the beginning of the season, Ferrari had the pace over the Red Bull, their difficulties with tyre management have persisted. Unable to prolong their stints on any tyre compound, Ferrari essentially handed Red Bull a strategic carte blanche that they duly profited from over the course of the campaign.

Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at the Japanese Grand Prix. Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

Squandered opportunities 

The degradation issue is a mitigating factor for Ferrari, but it doesn’t wholly explain their inability to profit from a position of strength. On numerous occasions, most glaringly in Leclerc’s home Grand Prix in Monaco and then at Silverstone, Ferrari simply made the wrong calls at the wrong time.

Perhaps the most costly error, both in terms of morale and in tangible points-terms, was the one made during the British Grand Prix. Ferrari’s call to keep race leader Leclerc out, whilst everyone else pitted, was a moment of folie from the Italian manufacturer. Not only did it cost him a likely win, but at the mercy of a whole grid of cars on fresher tyres; he even lost his place on the podium. The Monégasque had looked set for a 23-point swing against championship rival Verstappen; ultimately the gap was closed by just six points. Verstappen had been let off the hook.

Looking to make up for those team errors, Leclerc was guilty of pushing too hard at the French Grand Prix three weeks later, as he lost the rear end whilst leading the race. Arguably, however, at that point, the championship was already gone.

Leclerc’s evolving tones 

For the first time, resignation started to seep into Leclerc’s post-race discourse. Gone was the start of season optimism, as was the anger and disappointment that was evident during the beginning of the European season, despite Leclerc’s attempted concealment of such emotions.

By the time the Belgian Grand Prix came around in late August, Leclerc admitted that the gap between him and Verstappen was “really big”. The Monégasque driver added that Ferrari would “take it race by race”, a trite comment synonymous with “the title race is over”.

Leclerc’s discourse has evolved further in recent weeks, perhaps just to give some semblance of meaning to the remainder of the season, or perhaps in genuine hope of launching a better title challenge in 2023.

“I want to use these last races to improve our execution and I think that we made a step in the right direction today,” said Leclerc following his second-place finish in Singapore.

For Leclerc therefore, the remaining four races on this season’s F1 calendar will be pedagogical experiences for himself and his team. Whilst the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled this year, there is no reason why Leclerc and Ferrari can’t learn from this season’s mistakes and construct a more lasting title challenge in 2023.

 

Photo by Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

 

 

 

 

Covid latest: Omicron-booster lands in Monaco amid spike in cases

by: Cassandra Tanti
11/10/2022

The government has announced the arrival of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5-targetting vaccine, available for citizens. It comes as the Principality continues to see a slow rise in circulation.

As the Prince’s Government had revealed last week, new booster shots had been ordered ahead of an expected autumn-surge. This booster vaccine, an mRNA Pfizer-BioNTech product, specifically targets the dominant Covid variant in circulation, Omicron BA.4 and BA.5.

The shot is now available to any citizen in Monaco who has already completed a full vaccination regime, or has had Covid and a vaccination.

The government is encouraging the most vulernable members of the community to take advantage of the free booster shot, namely people aged over 60, pregnant women, and those with immune deficiencies or comorbidities.

Residents aged 12 and under are inelligable for the vaccine at this stage.

The booster arrival comes as the government’s weekly coronavirus communication reveals that 92 new cases of the virus were detected in the Principality in the week ending Sunday 9th October.

1,161 PCR and antigen tests were conducted on residents and non-residents, with 14.5% coming back positive.

That is an increase on last week’s positivity rate of 10.2%.

The incidence rate has also jumped from 197 to 235. For now, it is still below the incidence rate of 390 in the neighbouring Alpes-Maritimes department, and well below the French incidence rate of 566.

Among the eight Covid-positive patients being treated at the CHPG, three are residents of Monaco. Currently no-one is in intensive care, while 37 people with mild symtops are being watched by the Home Monitoring Centre.

ISM to host second TedX Youth

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/10/2022

A TedX Youth event, organised by and for young people based on the successful Ted Talks model, will be held at the International School of Monaco, where kids can learn to confidently speak in public on the theme of ‘Dream it. Wish it. Do it.’

TEDx Youth is part of the global phenomenon of independently-organised TED talk-like conferences celebrating “ideas worth spreading”, but this one is exclusively for young people.

The International School of Monaco (ISM) will take part for the second time, after last year’s successful talk on ‘Mistakes that Changed the World’, which has been viewed over 11,000 times on YouTube.

This year’s event, the only TedX Youth one being held in the Principality, will take place on 15th October at 2pm in the ISM cafeteria in front of a live audience and on camera, and will feature nine students aged 10 to 17 years speaking on the theme, as well as a showing of selected TED videos and musical entertainment.

The benefits of the event are numerous, not only giving young people the opportunity to get used to public speaking, a valuable life skill, but also showing that Monaco’s educational landscape is producing innovators and educators for the future. Training of this sort helps in later life for university and job interviews, as well as in the professional realm where confidence in speech can make the difference in getting a project made or sealing the deal.

Registration and more information is available online at www.ismonaco.com

 

 

Photo source: ISM