Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

elationship explicitly questioned. This is apparent in
articles such as the following, which appeared in
Libération on November 25, “La France doit-elle imiter
l’Allemagne?” [Should France be imitating Germany?]
and on December 6, “France le lièvre, Allemagne la tortue.”
[France the hare, Germany the tortoise.] 35 The levels
of criticism varied depending on the political leaning
of the newspaper, but even the right-leaning Le Figaro
was at times critical of Franco-German cooperation.
36 In spite of these critical reports on the relationship
between France and Germany, the cooperation
between the two countries emerged as the dominant
narrative across all three major newspapers. Overall
the relationship between the two countries was portrayed
in a positive light, and as yielding positive results.
This was illustrated in an article from Le Figaro
on December 10, in which the term ‘Merkozy’ was used
to refer to the cooperation between the leaders of
France and Germany: “Le couple ‘Merkozy’ sort gagnant
du marathon à Bruxelles.” [The Merkozy couple leave as
winners of the marathon in Brussels.] 37 Franco-German
cooperation was also praised following the European
Council meeting on 9 December 2011, during which the
UK withdrew from plans aimed at increasing the centralization
of the financial union.
A secondary theme worth noting is the effort
made by France to renegotiate the Schengen agreement
after an influx of North African migrants arrived in
France via Italy, as a consequence of the Arab Spring.
France’s criticism of the Schengen agreement was reported
favourably by the right-wing media, and was
criticized by the left. Overall, the media coverage of this
event suggests that France does not support the EU unequivocally,
and is confident and willing to voice its
criticism. Although most of the criticism in this case
was aimed directly at Italy, rather than at the EU, this
case is indicative of France’s position as a leader of the
EU, and of its confidence to push its agenda forward, be
critical, and propose reforms.
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