Pave: Ferme La Bouche VII

Le jour 55 de Sarko

Je dois dire que j'ai été profondément choqué de voir un Français s'exprimer à la table du Conseil en anglais.

[I must say that I was deeply shocked to see {sic} a Frenchman express himself in English at the Council table.]

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
recounting the trauma of encountering
a Frenchman who speaks to be understood
BRUSSELS March 24, 2006 (Le Monde/AFP)

FRANCE'S SARKOZY SELLS AN OPEN ECONOMY

PARIS July 6, 2007 (Forbes/AP) - Mesdames, Messieurs, France is now open for business. ... In their efforts to draw a thick line between Sarkozy and his predecessor, French officials are even delivering their message in the language fellow conservative Jacques Chirac fought so hard against: English.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon told the World Investment Conference in La Baule, western France, last week:

We too often gave you the image of a country with escalating social contributions, an increasingly complex legal system, and discouraging red tape.

Addressing his audience in the language of his British wife [Penelope, who is Welsh], he said:

That is all over! We are going to make France a country where it's easy to do business, where you can concentrate on running your company without hassle or pressure other than those of the market.

The contrast with Chirac, who distrusted unfettered markets and once stormed out of an EU summit because a French businessman addressed leaders in English [and here], couldn't be stronger.

Pave regulars may recall Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack's snit and exit at last year's EU summit, referenced and linked aboved. It didn't advance the cause of the French language, but dramatically brought to everyone's attention the language's decline, which was understood to be indicative of France's decline.

Sarko wants French messages to be understood in the Anglophonie, unlike Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack who preferred to be ignored in French.

PFFT (What is this?): En anglais, loud and clear 3½ | Rayonnement français 1½