by Multidimension Paris | Oct 21, 2022 | France Today
Multidimension desk:
On September 15, in a meeting with the prefects (high level administrative officers), the president Emmanuel Macron spoke about a bill on immigration that will be presented in early 2023.
According to the Head of State, the current policy is “absurd, ineffective and inhumane”. Thus, he proposes that in the future, it will be essential that the procedures are differentiated so that the instructions can be given more quickly. Requests must be processed much more quickly while respecting everyone’s rights to avoid “all delaying practices”. This will speed up and allow better integration of “those who have a temporary stay permit, through language and work”. That is to say, to allow the latter to take language training to learn the French language better and help them in their integration into the world of work. He also proposes a better distribution of foreigners on French territory by sending them to “rural areas which are losing population”.
That’s not all, Emmanuel Macron promises to improve deportation policies for foreigners in an irregular situation. He hopes to send “a clear message” to the world that France is strengthening its policies on granting of visas. He counts on the cooperation of the countries whose nationals are staying illegally in France or who have been expelled by France for disturbing public order, to take them back and grant them consular passes.
The immigration bill was to be presented in the fall according to the Home Minister, Gérald Darmanin. In the beginning of August, it was postponed on the pretext that there will be consultations on the subject within his ministry in the first place and then a big debate will take place in Parliament in October.
According to Marine Le Pen, ex-president of the National Rally, migration is a scourge that must be fought because “it is the origin of impoverishment, savagery and the weakening of national identity” of our country and our society.
During the presidential elections, the former candidate who came in second position had promised to “stop uncontrolled immigration by giving the voice to the French by referendum”.
Her party’s ambition is to put an end to the immigration of settlement and family reunification, to process only those applications for the right of asylum made from abroad, to reserve social benefits for French citizens and foreigners on the condition of having worked for 5 years, give priority to the French citizens for access to employment and social housing, systematic expulsion of illegal immigrants, delinquents and foreign criminals as well as the abolition of jus soli (right of nationality by birth in the territory of a country). Children born on French territory to foreign parents will be able to apply for naturalization when they turn 18 and show their desire to be French and their integration into France.
The acting president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, says that “Today’s France, everyone comes in and no one goes out”.
As for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of France Unbowed, he preaches a more “humanist and realistic” approach to the question of immigration. According to him, the first task would be to ensure that foreigners do not leave their countries of origin because it is also a suffering for them to be far from their countries, their families and friends.
His promises during the presidential elections were to strengthen the International Organization on Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to oppose unequal trade agreements to prevent migrants from leaving their countries, to act against the climatic consequences through transfer of technology, financial and material aid, guarantee the right of asylum by taking time to study each file and finally, facilitate access to visas, regularize workers, students, parents of school children and set up the ten-year residence permit as the reference residence permit.
by Multidimension Paris | Sep 12, 2022 | France Today
Multidimension desk
Potential power shortage and price hike
According to the government and specialists, France is probably heading towards a shortage of electricity supply and an increase in its price.Thanks to the tariff shield established in October 2021, within the framework of the 2022 finance law, the price increase is limited to 4%. To respect the limit, the Government has decided to lower the contribution to the public service of electricity (CSPE).
Indeed, because of the war in Ukraine, the price of gas has increased and its import from Russia may stop completely in France as in other European countries. The relationship between the two is that part of the electricity is produced with gas.
The second reason is that many nuclear power plants are closed due to the discovery of corrosion in some reactors and others due to maintenance that has been delayed because of the health crisis. Currently, 32 out of 56 plants are shut down.
According to the schedule, once the maintenance is completed and the corrosion problems are solved, the plants will be restarted little by little. 23 plants will apparently be running at the end of November, 4 in December, 3 in January and the 2 remaining ones in February. However, the 56 plants will not operate simultaneously, those in operation today will be shut down due to maintenance.
The shortage is due to the lack of anticipation. In 2000 it was decided that there were already too many nuclear power plants, so no new plants have been built since. A new reactor will not be built until the end of 2023.
To avoid shortage and any general and uncontrolled power cuts, the last resort would be load shedding. That is, a power cut (not more than 2 hours) between 8 am and 1 pm and 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Only a part of the households will have a power cut in turn. Nevertheless, sensitive establishments (hospitals, security, national defense etc.) and people on artificial respirators will not suffer a power cut.
In front of such a situation, President Emmanuel Macron has appealed to the citizens to be “sober” in their consumption of electricity. But can the sobriety of some be a viable solution on a national scale?
Inflation and Financial assistance measures
Due to the prolongation of the war in Ukraine has led to an inflation that amounted to 6.1% in July and the price of food has increased by 7%. The rate of inflation has come down to 5.8% in August thanks to a slowdown in the rise in energy prices. But consumer prices increased by 0.4% between July and August, compared to 0.3% between June and July.
Taking into account the needs of the common French population, the government has increased the minimum wage by 2.01% from 1st August, i.e. 26 euros net per month. It is to be noted that SMIC was already increased by 2.65%, i.e. 34 euros net on May 1, 2022.
On August 3, the Government also adopted social support revaluation of 4% in the “purchasing power” bill which includes family allowances, RSA (income support), work bonus and 3.5% personal housing benefits.
Recently, CAF (Family allowances fund) has announced that financially weaker families will receive new assistance from September 15 onwards as part of the exceptional solidarity support from the Government taking into account the purchasing power of those families. Every concerned household will receive a sum of 100 euros and additional 50 euros for each child.
No action is required to receive this assistance. It will be paid to the families by CAF automatically.
by Multidimension Paris | Aug 16, 2022 | France Today
Published on August 16, 2022
The war in Ukraine has led to an inflation that amounted to 6.1% last month and the price of food has increased by 7%. The French population despairs and wonders how they will make ends meet at the end of the month and in the months to come. Many people are forced to go shopping at hyper-discounts as opposed to the big distributors where prices are only increasing.
Faced with this price increase in all sectors, the Government has decided to increase the SMIC (minimum wage) by 2.01% from 1st August, i.e. 26 euros net per month.
On August 3, the Government also adopted social support revaluation of 4% in the “purchasing power” bill which includes family allowances, RSA (income support), work bonus and 3.5% personal housing benefits.
The revaluation transfer will be sent to the beneficiaries from August 18 onwards by CAF.
Multidimension Magazine
by Multidimension Paris | Aug 12, 2022 | France Today
Ref: le monde, francetvinfo, francebleu
Published on August 12, 2022
The drought is hitting the country, almost the entire country is under drought alert, including 22 departments which are under reinforced alert and 68 others in crisis.
France has not experienced such a drought according to Météo France from records dating back to 1959. July was the driest month on record.
Although thunderstorms are expected on Sunday, August 14, according to Geological and Mining Research Office (BRGM), they are unlikely to penetrate deeply.
This situation of drought concerns almost all the groundwater reserves of the country. It is apparently due to a recharge in water “lower than normal” during the summer and the heat that rages in France and the world.
This dry climate and the lack of water put farmers in difficulty, especially breeders. The heat burns the crops, the animals are hungry but there is scarcity of grass for grazing nor enough water to drink. Breeders are forced to use their winter provisions to feed their animals.
In the case of cows, not only is there an impact on milk production due to the heat, but also on their survival. Farmers try their best to relieve suffering of the livestock by watering them. They do the same for the poultry.
Multidimension Magazine
by Multidimension Paris | Aug 9, 2022 | France Today
Since June 15, 2022, France has experienced several episodes of heat waves, unprecedented in their intensity and their precocity.
In fact, the first round of heat waves occurred much earlier in June and lasted quite long. In July, it lasted for 9 days, from July 12 to 20.
The intensity of heat caused the death of two people according to Public Health (Santé Publique) France, including a death in Brittany on July 18, 2022 during the peak of the exceptional heat wave.
The heat continued in the southeast quarter of the country and persisted since this region was not affected by the storms from the west that refreshed the rest of the country.
Since then, temperatures across the country have remained above normal during day and night.
From August 5, 2022 to August 7, 2022, temperature dropped. On Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6 the maximum temperature was 27°C and on Sunday, August 7 it was recorded at 28°C.
From August 8 the temperature will rise again and will exceed 30°C all week.
Multidimension Magazine
by Multidimension Paris | Jul 25, 2022 | France Today
Ref: Le parisien, Prefecture of the Gironde, Sud Ouest
Published on 25 July, 2022
Gironde is experiencing forest fires never seen before in recent times. Indeed, since Tuesday, July 12, two fires broke out in the forest of La Teste-de-Buch in the district of Arcachon and Landiras in the district of Langon.
On July 23, 2022, after 11 days of fighting against the fire of Teste-de-Buch which burned 7 000 hectares, the fire was “fixed”. The fire near Landiras which burned nearly 13,800 hectares is no longer progressing but is considered “contained”
These fires forced the evacuation of more than 36,000 inhabitants and 6,500 people were able to return to their homes on July 22. The reintegration continued over the next few days.
According to the Prefect of Gironde, large land and air resources have been mobilised to fight these mega fires, a total of 1300 firefighters, 4 canadairs, 2 attack helicopters.
The origin of the fire in La Teste-de-Buch is not criminal. According to the public prosecutor’s office of Bordeaux, “a technical assistant from a campsite located in the area was heading towards the waste disposal site on 12 July with a Ford Transit vehicle equipped with a dumpster. A sudden breakdown affected the vehicle, the driver got out and noticed that flames were developing under the dumpster. He immediately alerted the fire department, but the fire was out of control and spread quickly. Although he had a fire extinguisher in his vehicle, the flames were too large and spread too quickly for him to put out the fire.
According to the public prosecutor, there is a criminal hypothesis behind the fire of Landiras. A 39-year-old man was even placed in police custody on July 18, under suspicion of having played a role in the origin of the fire. However, he was released two days later, on Wednesday, July 20, because “the expert reports, analyses of the elements collected and the hearings carried out” recognize him as innocent.
A new fire broke out in Gironde on Saturday August 6 in the morning, at the intersection of a forest track. All day the team of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service fought hard to fight this new fire. According to the Gironde SDIS, 120 firefighters, 2 DASH and 1 water bomber helicopter are mobilized.
By 4 p.m., it burned at least 30 hectares and the fire was declared “fixed” around 9:30 p.m. In addition, due to the wind, the smoke from the fires rose to Paris affecting the quality of the air. Many internet users on twitter reacted to the grey sky and the burning smell they noticed that day.
Other fires incidents such as in Ardèche, Jura, Isère, Finistère or in the forest of Brocéliande (Morbihan, in Brittany) are more or less fixed.
Although a stormy turbulence is expected to take place from Sunday according to Météo France, it does not mean the end of the fires. On the contrary it could be the cause of other new fires.
The episodes of heat waves in France have played a very important role in the persistence of these fires.
President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France would receive help from European countries (Italy, Germany, Poland, Greece, Austria and Romania) to put out all these fires.
Perhaps it is time to realise the importance of climate change and to take necessary action for the best interest of our future and future generations.
Multidimension Magazine
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