Creuse is still the safest place to live in France - The Bugle

FEBRUARY 2010 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu
6 ♦ NATIONAL NEWS
Government defeated over ‘carbon tax’
The Conseil
Constitutionnel,
the court that
examines the
legality of new French laws,
has dealt an embarrassing
blow to President Sarkozy
as it declared his proposed
taxe carbone (carbon tax)
‘unconstitutional’ just days
before it was due to come
into force.
The new carbon tax was
a key element of the 2010
budget and was the flagship
of President Sarkozy’s
attempts to put France on
the frontline of the fight
against global warming.
Its last minute rejection
was both unexpected and
embarrassing.
The proposals were
announced amid great
fanfare in September 2009
and were designed as a tax
on pollution. The tax was set
at €17 per tonne and would
have seen the price of petrol
rise by 4 centimes a litre
and diesel by 4.5 centimes.
The tax would also have
applied to domestic heating
oil adding an extra 4.5
centimes per litre and
another 0.35 centimes for
each kWh of natural gas.
France produces 90% of its
electricity through nuclear
power and electricity prices
would have remained
unchanged. The government
estimated that the average
household would have paid
an additional €74 a year.
The new regulations were
deemed unconstitutional
due to the large number
of exemptions that
would have resulted
in a disproportionally
heavy burden on ordinary
households, while the
largest industrial polluters
would have gone largely
untaxed. The court noted
that up to 1,000 of France’s
most polluting businesses -
including oil refineries and
cement works – would have
been exonerated.
“The large number of
exemptions from the carbon
tax runs counter to the goal
of fighting climate change
and violates the equality
enjoyed by all in terms of
public charges,” said the
constitutional council in its
last minute ruling.
Speaking on French radio,
the junior minister for trade
and consumption, Hervé
Novelli, admitted, “It was
perhaps shocking that the
sectors given exemptions
were those that polluted the
most. So we will have to put
that right.”
President Sarkozy has been
increasingly zealous in his
pursuit of environmental
causes since the strong
performance of the French
Green party in 2009’s
European elections,
claiming when the carbon
tax was unveiled: “It’s a
question of survival of the
human race”. There is little
he can now do to avoid the
huge embarrassment that
will follow the failure of a
highly publicised personal
crusade to push the tax
through.
The bill faced opposition
from the outset, with 2/3
of the public against the
new tax and environmental
groups warning the tax did
not go far enough to be
effective. The opposition
Socialist party was
understandably overjoyed
at the bloody nose given
to the president by the
constitutional court. “This
is a good decision and shows
once again that Sarkozy’s
way of doing things does not
work,” the Socialist party’s
parliamentary leader, Jean-
Marc Ayrault, told French
radio. “They announce a
reform, listen to no one and
produce a poor job. It’s a
real mess.”
The government is still
determined to push through
the taxe carbone and
will present an amended
proposal with a view to
it becoming law on 1st
July 2010. The last minute
rejection of the new tax is
not only an embarrassment
to the government, it will
also leave a large hole in
government coffers as it
was estimated it would raise
over €4 billion in its first
year. ■
New ‘triangle’ building to change Paris skyline
The Paris skyline could
be about to change
for the first time in
20 years as plans are moving
forward to build an enormous
triangular building in the Porte
de Versailles area of the capital.
The 50-storey office building
would break Paris’ 37-metre
height limit on new buildings.
Officials in Paris are voting
on whether to overturn this
rule that limits buildings to 37
metres with a view to six new
skyscrapers eventually being
built in the coming years. Paris
already has a controversial
pyramidal building: 1989’s
addition outside the Palais
du Louvre. At 180 metres tall,
The changes would have seen petrol and diesel rise by 4 and 4.5 centimes a litre respectively
‘Projet Triangle’ will dwarf its
dainty little sister.
Many felt the 20-meter high
Louvre addition clashed
with the palace. The new
triangle building is no less
controversial. Denis Baupin,
the Deputy Mayor of Paris
and a member of the Green
Party, has criticised the design
as “bling-bling architecture…
We have already got one tower
that adds to the city’s radiance:
the Eiffel Tower. No need for
another one.”
Constructed from glass and
metal, the 50 storeys will offer
88,000 square metres of office
space. An assistant to the mayor
of Paris, Anna Hidalgo, was
keen to point out the positive
aspects for the proposed
project. “Five thousand jobs
will be created and visitors will
be able to go up the tower and
look out over Paris. And there
will be a new 8,000-metre
public garden.”
The new building, which
will become the third highest
structure in Paris behind the
Eiffel Tower and the much
maligned Tour Montparnasse,
was designed by Swiss
architects Jacques Herzog and
Pierre de Meuron and is already
being called Paris’ answer to
Lord Foster’s ‘Gherkin’ in the
City of London. ■
Architect’s representation of the new building
Cost of
insurance on
the increase
Car insurance prices are
set to rise by almost 3% in
2010, according to price
comparison site, Stanislas Di
Vittorio.
A higher number of claims
and a decrease in revenue
due to lower interest rates
in 2009 have meant that
insurance companies will be
putting up premiums for the
first time in six years.
House insurance will also be
more expensive this year and
health top-up premiums will
see an average increase of
around 5%.
French urged
to take out pet
insurance
While being the European
country with the most pets
(7.8 millions dogs and 10.7
million cats), France is far
behind in terms of insuring
its animals. In Sweden 80%
of cats and dogs are insured,
in the UK 20% are covered
and in France just 2%.
Leading pet insurer SantéVet
is, however, noting a sharp
rise in the number of pets
being insured in France,
registering premiums of over
10 million euros in 2009.
The market for pet insurance
is relatively new in France.
The notion of keeping a pet
has evolved over the years;
in rural communities, where
it was once considered usual
to keep a dog on a chain
outside, now we find our
four-legged friends curled up
on the couch!
Grandson
for President
Sarkozy
The presidential couple,
Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla
Bruni, have welcomed
the arrival of a their first
grandson, named Solal. The
baby was born to President
Sarkozy’s second son from
his first marriage, Jean
Sarkozy and his wife Jessica,
heiress to a retail company.
Advertise in The Bugle
This banner advert costs from just €61/month
For more information contact The Bugle on 05.55.41.17.76