April 2010

Dear Friends,

At this time of year the FBC has to make its annual bid for financial support and despite belt tightening being enforced in so many sectors, we can confirm that we are still very much in business for the coming financial year. Sir Peter Ricketts, the PUS at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has described the coming year as being a "big Franco-British year" and has taken a personal interest in ensuring that the FBC is closely involved in the important work that lies ahead. 

In 2010 the FBC will be looking at organising follow up seminars on Defence and Deforestation and a seminar on ‘Britain, France and China'. Dates and details will be posted on the website as and when they become available.

Seminars

Diversity 2.0 in January broke the usual FBC seminar mould. We took over a set of historic rooms in Somerset House and made them our own for the day.  Young people 'broke the ice' with their neighbours from across the Channel on the Somerset House ice rink and then had their say - future leaders from diverse backgrounds who we identified through organisations like the Prince's Trust and Young Foundation. Addressed by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, who expressed his desire to hear what they had to say, they got to work with 'experts' on some of the big issues facing our societies: How can we create opportunities in employment for ethnic minority youth? How can we open up access to higher education and training? And who are our role models? 

The Chairs of the event were Clive Myrie and Jacques Martial.  Keynote speeches were given by Yazid Sabeg, President Sarkozy's Commissioner for Diversity and Equal Opportunities and Shahid Malik, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government shown below. Trevor Philips, Oona King, and Shami Chakrabarti were amongst other British participants.  For a list of French participants click here.

There were few speeches. This day was more about debating the issues and generating new ideas. In a series of informal breakout rooms people were free to speak and debate.

The event isn't over as it continues on line.  Click on the link to our special Diversity 2.0 website http://fbcdiversity.ning.com/ and join the on-line debate or just throw an idea into the mix.  We want to hear from people who believe they have a positive or inspiring story to tell, or who think they may be a future leader. A year after the first black president of the United States was sworn in we're hoping to make a little bit of history of our own. A full report of the encounter will be published shortly.

Defence Cooperation Roundtable

Voting rights for French and British nationals living abroad

 The upcoming election has revived a smouldering fire of discontent amongst British expatriates, many of whom live in France, with regard to their voting rights in the UK. Their right to vote in a general election is dependent on their having been previously registered in the constituency of their last UK residence, and elapses after 15 years of residence abroad. Ex-pats cannot vote in local or mayoral elections, or elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales or the London Assembly (http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/). There is some compensation for this in the fact that British residents in France can of course invoke their rights as EU citizens and register to vote in their place of residence in both European and local French elections. But this does not placate the small but vociferous minority of ex-pats who claim to have been disenfranchised, because they left the UK more than 15 years ago. The blogosphere is currently buzzing with indignant and angry Brits who feel they should be able to maintain some kind of representation in the UK, and an application for judicial review of the relevant British law has just been lodged by lawyers for a British man living in Madrid, who is arguing that he is being penalised for exercising his fundamental right to move freely between European countries, and that Britain is thus infringing the guarantees of the European treaties, upheld by the ECJ. (http://lefourquet.net/Blog%20Challenge%20Disenfranchisement%20Law.pdf)

It is against this background that there have been increasing calls for Britain to emulate a proposal by President Sarkozy, currently being taken through Parliament, to give French overseas voters direct representation in the National Assembly, through députés des Français de l'Etranger.députés, who will be elected for the first time in 2012, will complement the existing system of representation for overseas voters, who currently elect members of the Assemblée des Français de l'Etranger (AFE http://www.assemblee-afe.fr/ ), which in turn elects 12 specific overseas members of the Senate. French ex-pats also retain, without time restrictions, their right to vote by proxy (or in person) in all elections in France, including local, and for presidential elections and referendums,  they can choose to cast their vote in the embassy or consulate of their country of residence as long as they have registered on the consular lists.(http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/elections/comment_voter/vote-francais-etranger) There will be 11 new constituencies created specifically for overseas voters, one of which will include the UK, Ireland and the Scandinavian and Baltic states. Given the fact that the number of French citizens registered in the UK (107,914 in 2007) far surpasses those in all the other countries put together, it is not surprising the British media have been reporting that this will mean ‘an MP for Britain'. These new

France's long republican tradition of encouraging the participation of ex-pats thus makes for a strong contrast with the British approach, though Denmark and Ireland have even more restrictive policies of attaching voting rights to residence in the home country. Others such as Austria, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands give unrestricted voting rights to their ex-pats, and Spain, Italy and Portugal provide theirs with representative bodies similar to the French. If the legal argument is won by the British man in Madrid, perhaps this would open the path to a ‘European policy on Europeans resident outside their country of origin', as called for in the Paris Declaration  of the Assemblée des Français de l'Etranger during the French Presidency of the EU in September 2008. This would involve persuading all member-states to allow their nationals to continue to vote in the national elections of their country, regardless of their place of residence, and without time restrictions: a challenging prospect, but one which could give new meaning to the concept and practice of European citizenship in the 21st century.

Dr Sue Collard, Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex.

Members News

AGM RESCHEDULED. Due to the general election The AGM of the FBC, originally planned for the the 11th May, has been postponed and will now take place at 1 Abbey Gardens at 3.00pm on Wednesday the 9th June. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We are pleased to announce that Sir Stephen Wall is being made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in a ceremony at the French Résidence in London on the 22nd April 2010.

It is with much sadness that we report the death of Honorary French member, François Crouzet. John Rogister is writing an obituary for the Guardian but his significant contributions to the FBC's seminars on the Teaching of History and Publishing in the two countries are fondly remembered.

Honorary member Andrew Robinson was recently made a Chevalier of the Legion D'Honneur by the French Ambassador Maurice Gourdault-Montagne at a special ceremony at the Mansion House in Newcastle. The Ambassador praised in particular the regional initiatives undertaken by Andrew as Honorary Consul for France in the North East of England.

NEW MEMBERS

We are delighted to welcome the following new members to the Franco-British Council:

Alistair Cole
Professor of European Politics, Cardiff University
With an established international reputation, Cole has published widely on a variety of issues including: French politics, comparative public policy, territorial governance, and the state and European integration.

Elena Crasta, Senior Policy Officer , TUC Brussels
Liaising with European institutions and other trade union organisations based in Brussels and providing information to UK trade unions on European issues. She has developed an extensive knowledge of European law and EU legislative processes

Denzil Davidson
Special Advisor to William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary, on EU issues since December 2005, Mr Davidson has worked for the Conservative Research Department since 2001, where he is also Head of the Intl Section.

Brian Gosschalk
Chairman Ipsos Global Public Affairs, CEO Western Europe
A social and political researcher by background, Brian worked at the BBC prior to joining MORI. Following the successful merger with Ipsos in 2005, Brian took on his current role.  

Dominic Grieve MP
Conservative MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Former Secretary of the Conservative Backbench Committee on the Constitution, Legal Affairs and Northern Ireland. He was a Member of the Select Committee on Environmental Audit and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments from 1997-1999.

A message of 'thanks, farewell and good luck' from the French section to Sylvie Blumenkrantz

For all organisations budget cut backs have a number of palpable consequences, the most frequent being an internal reorganisation. In 2010 the French Section of the Franco-British Council was subject to its own budget cut and as a result  the full-time post occupied by Sylvie Blumenkrantz since 1987 can no longer be sustained.

Sylvie's forthcoming departure is not only a reflection of the severity of the current economic climate, but it is also a significant moment in the history of the French Section which she has served with devotion and efficiency since 1987. We hope first and foremost that Sylvie finds a new post which will benefit from her professional and personal qualities just as the French section has for the past 23 years. 

For many of the French and British members, Sylvie represents an unquestionable and rare continuity since she arrived at the heart of the French Section. She is the only employee to have survived the successive phases of restructuring which the Section has undergone and in this respect she has become a living archive for the Council. This has permitted, on occasion, a greater reconciliation between past meetings and the projects launched, integrating our past history since our founding in 1972, with our present activities.  Thus she has positively aided the smooth  evolution of Franco-British relations in a wide-array of areas, including the economy, society, culture, education and research, journalism, law, agriculture, defence, in both of the two countries.

As the chief administrator of the French Section's output under successive Presidents, Sylvie has demonstrated a mastery of difficulties, practical constraints and details which is not to be underestimated.  She has worked with passion, conviction and firmness but also with great kindness and humour. In fact, Sylvie was often the first point of contact for those selected to participate in seminars, to whom she quickly appeared as an unflappable and dependable authority as the event approached and as the inevitable requests and questions flooded in. Always on hand and efficient, Sylvie never counted the hours she worked and always had a ready smile even during more trying situations. This dedication was rewarded by her nomination as Chevalier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite by the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères in 2009.

All of her personal qualities: enthusiasm, curiosity, a desire to resolve problems to the best interests of all concerned, and a great sense of humour at all times, only make her departure an even more bitter pill to swallow. And it is also because of these qualities that we wish to say: thank you Sylvie, for all that you have brought to the Franco-British Council, and best of luck!

Gérard Roubichou
General Secretary of the French-Section

Publications

The report on our seminar Media Revolution, Liberation or Bankruptcy? is now available to download or can be purchased by sending £5 to The FBC

The British Constitution, Continuity & Change - an inside view
A new book by Joyce Quin with a foreword by Roy Hattersley

Review by Sir Stephen Wall

How many of us know how our own constitution works? The BBC, it was recently reported, find that few television viewers could say, without help, what a ‘backbencher' is.

If the television set is the modern version of the medieval stocks, then we all sit in front of it throwing verbal tomatoes at our representatives and leaders. With no ideological differences between the main parties, and with all of them urging us to trust them to save the economy while concealing what pain lies in store if do if we do trust them, we are increasingly obliged to make judgements about the character of our leaders. And, as we all know, it is easy to get that one wrong.

Joyce Quin's book on the British constitution offers a rare insight into politics, politicians and policy-making beyond and behind the sound bites and the cringe-making competition for X- factor cuddliness. She has unique qualifications as academic, Member of the European Parliament, MP, Minister and Member of the House of Lords. Taking as her starting point Bagehot, who did for the Constitution what Dr Johnson had done for the English language, Joyce Quin demonstrates that change has been dramatic in form (the modern Press and internet media; our participation  in the EU; devolution) but evolutionary in substance. She does not hold back on necessary reforms, from media accuracy and restraint, to local democracy, to modernisation of parliament, including a largely elected second chamber. She reminds us that the monarchy depends on a uniquely British form of popular consent, rooted in part in the ill-defined, but crucial, separation between engagement and interference.

Joyce Quin's academic background ensures that she writes with precision and perspective, while her experience as a practitioner sheds bright light on our political system. That system turns out to be, less a dark art, than a serious effort by men and women of conscience and commitment to honour the values that brought them into politics in the first place. And make the trains run on time.

WIN A COPY OF HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT'S INFERNO ON DVD
In 1964 the great Clouzot was given an unlimited budget to make a film about a hotel manager who becomes possessed by the demons of jealousy. Three weeks into filming the production was beset by ill fortune and shut down. Decades later directors Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea have partly reconstructed the lost film while telling the tale of the ill fated production.

To celebrate the release of Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno we are giving away 5 copies of the DVD. Just answer the following question: What is the French title of Clouzot's masterpiece The Wages of Fear? Please send your answer by email to adampreston@francobritishcouncil.org.uk the first five correct answers will receive a DVD. Please include full postal address with your answer.

LEGACIES

In these difficult economic times, the Franco-British Council is constantly looking for additional sources of income. Friends of the FBC who want to contribute to our efforts in strengthening and deepening the Franco-British relationship can leave us a legacy gift in their wills.

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