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Verbal spat heats up as French minister slams European Commission chief as useless

A French minister said Friday that European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has achieved nothing, in the latest episode of verbal jousting between France and Brussels. Trade Minister Nicole Bricq said Barroso was a poor choice for the job. 

Trade Minister Nicole Bricq
Trade Minister Nicole Bricq AFP/Farouk Batiche
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“I think he has done nothing during his term,” she said on LCI television.

The infighting originally stems from France’s bid to protect the European film and television industry from Hollywood control in free-trade talks with the United States.

But the dispute has escalated into a broader discussion with a stream of verbal jabs coming from both ends.

Earlier this month, Barroso infuriated the French by saying their approach was “extremely reactionary”, comparing it to the anti-globalisation movement.

In a subsequent interview with French daily Les Echos, Barroso said his comment had been taken out of context and that he was not targeting the French government, but rather critics with a nationalist agenda.

The French Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg also accused Barroso of inciting right-wing populism last Sunday.

But Barroso snapped back by accusing France of using Europe as a scapegoat.

Barroso, who will head the Commission until 2014, has become a symbol of discontent for a number of EU countries during turbulent economic times.

 

 

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