French press review 26 November 2013

Tax, pension and bullying in today's papers ...       

The left wing newspaper Libération actually refers to the plan for a complete overhaul of the tax system as the Government’s biggest bet on its front page today. Jean- Marc Ayrault, the French Prime Minister, began consultations yesterday on the project but the right wing opposition is calling the whole thing a politician diversion, says Libé.

France’s prime minister faced widespread scepticism as he talks began yesterday. The talks are aimed at overhauling a notoriously complex national tax system, with labour unions flatly rejecting changes to one of its cornerstones.

Jean-Marc Ayrault’s government, as you well know, is at record lows in opinion polls, and announced an overhaul of the tax system last week to try to stem growing anger over the tax burden and the government's own policy swings on the matter.

The Communist newspaper L’Humanité also headlines with the tax reform.

The Unions are expecting a confrontation with the company bosses and are determined the discussions should focus on the priorities of employees, says L’Humanité, adding that many far left parties, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Front de Gauche and the Communist Party; have called for a protest near the Ministry of the Economy next weekend. So you can be sure we’ll hear more about this in the upcoming days.

Right wing newspaper Le Figaro, while also headlining with the tax overhaul talk, takes a look at public servants’ pensions, and how they’re becoming a serious budget issue for the government. According to the newspaper, Contributions from those paying into the pension fund cover only one quarter of the money paid out in pensions to retired public sector employees. The government must fund the shortfall, a situation which Le Figaro says cannot last.

The economy daily Les Echos headlines with a change of power at the head of the French car manufacturer Peugeot. Renault’s former VP, Carlos Tavares, who was ousted last August after publicly announcing his ambition to lead a motor group, will be taking the head of PSA Peugeot Citroën in 2014, succeeding the current CEO Philippe Varin, explains Les Echos.

And in international news, Le Monde takes a look behind the scene of the negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme. As you know, after ten years of failures, a "temporary agreement" was reached on Sunday. While Iran will retain the right to nuclear technology, explains Le Monde, it will not be allowed to enrich uranium and the deal includes substantial limitations to prevent the creation of Iranian nuclear weapons.

Catholic newspaper La Croix today headlines with the aftermath of the Haiyan typhoon in the Philippines and takes a look at the slow and difficult reconstruction on the island of Leyte, which was badly hit on 8 November.

While thousands of displaced inhabitants are still not sure whether they will be able to return to their homes – or what’s left of them – the newspaper’s special correspondent interviewed locals who are already beginning to rebuild homes, schools and fishing facilities, to relaunch the island’s primary industry.

And finally, back in France, Aujourd’hui en France headlines with a growing issue: bullying among schoolchildren. An anti-bullying campaign is being launched today in France with the aim of tackling this growing problem.

According to the paper, one in ten children is or has been a victim of bullying, not only in school, but also on social media. The risk of suicide is four times greater among victims of bullying than among those who are not bullied, says the paper, and the ministry of education has decided to act with the launch of a free helpline and a system of student mediators in charge of dealing with daily conflicts at schools.

These students, who would receive special awareness training in the matter, would help deal with minor incidents and serve as intermediaries between bullied students and teachers or authorities in more serious cases.