French press review 3 November 2011

Greece and the G20 summit are the clear winners in this morning's editorial popularity stakes.

Le Monde says the eurozone crisis is likely to dominate the two-day meeting, a further indication of the global implications of the Greek tragedy. It is remarkable, says the centrist paper, that the entire European project can be threathened by a country which accounts for less than three per cent of Europe's gross domestic product.

Right-wing Le Figaro takes a different view, continuing to vaunt the efforts of French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to bring the pesky Greeks to heel. The limits of Franco-German influence have, of course, been humiliatingly underlined by the Greek decision to hold a referendum on the latest European offer.

The immediate problem for Athens is that, without the next slice of European bailout cash which is due later this month, the Greek government will run out of ready cash and will be bankrupt by early December. That could make holding the referendum difficult.

Business daily Les Echos says the Greek surprise has transformed the G20 summit into a crisis meeting. The heads of state of the 20 most industrialised nations will also try to find time to discuss the reform of the international monetary system, and the way in which the banking sector is regulated.

Libération says this G20 will be a sad affair as the leaders of the nations that account for 85 per cent of the world's economy find themselves stumped by a handful of unhappy Greeks.

The left-leaning paper also details the personal and political cost for Nicolas Sarkozy, who had hoped to make the French hosting of this summit a high point of his quest for serious international status, status which he could then use in his efforts to get reelected next year.

But that, of course, is only the second of Libération's two cover stories because they've given pride of place to a special combined edition with the staff of the satirical paper, Charlie Hebdo, who had their offices burned down yesterday as they prepared to publish a special issue, purportedly edited by the Prophet Mohammed.

Catholic La Croix asks a range of French political figures for their ideas on how best to engage the ordinary European citizen in deciding the future of the 27-member trading bloc.

The Greeks have completely upset the applecart by choosing to ask the people for their opinion, despite the fact that the political leaders of other countries have already decided what's good for those very Greeks.

We should remember, perhaps, that referenda have an unhappy history in modern Europe. The French, the Dutch and the Irish have all in the past rejected European proposals for their greater good. But each time Europe has managed to side-step the popular vote and get the result the politicians wanted ... in the long run.

The case of Greece may be fundamentally different, since a "no" will provoke bankruptcy and almost automatically result in expulsion from the eurozone, and also from the European Community. There won't be time for second thoughts.