Where the myths are born

The European Commission website contains a page listing Myths and rumours about the EU. Go ahead, read it: it’s hilarious.

There you can learn that Europe tried to ban noise in bars and DIY , force pigs breeder to give toys to the animals, change the definition of an island, and the euro coins can make your sick…

This list is just a fantastic example of how, when it comes to critics against European Union, nothing is too big…

One can also notice that, even thought some of the presented myths come from France or Germany, most (like 90%) of the story originated on the other size of the channel ; not only from The Sun or The Daily Mail, … but some also from the BBC of the Guardian. It’s no too much of a surprise, let’s remember that a few months ago, rumors of the EU banning the selling of eggs by number has been spreading for about a week [*,*].

Anyway, we can forgive the (some) brits for the great laugh they give us.

Time for a Time Out

OK, we had some fun, but it’s definitely past the time for a pause. All this fuss about France, Roma, N. Sarkozy, Commissionner Reding, … So, let’s just list the important point to remember/act on:

• No, we won’t send all the Roma in Luxembourg, or in Paris, or in Bulgaria, that’s not the point
• The comparisons – direct or not – with the any past discriminatory time need to stop, from everybody, it’s just not helping
• Everybody in Europe has to understand/acknowledge the fact that Roma are facing integration problems in the whole Europe; and in some case are victim of discrimination.
• The problem of Roma integration will not be solved by moving them around.
• Governments have been slow, really slow, like dragging their feet and not caring – even France -, to address the issue.
• The European Union is willing to help, but if the member states don’t want to participate, that won’t happen.
• The center of the discussion must be the Roma population, it cannot be a trade between governments.
• It is more than time to act on this issue, but a unilateral action, worse, a stupid action, is useless and can have sad consequences.

Punissez-nous, Punissez-nous !

Ca y est. “Enfin” dirais-je même.

Viviane Reding, Commissaire Européen à la Justice a déclarer ce midi qu’elle souhaite une procédure judiciaire (à la Cour européenne de justice de Luxembourg) contre la France. Soyons précis, ce qui est en cause, c’est que la politique de la France semble être dirigée contre un certain groupe de population “sur la base de leur nationalité, race ou origine ethnique” – en bref, de la discrimination.

Cette nouvelle me réjouit. D’abord parce que je suis d’accord avec les soupçons de discrimination qui pèsent contre la France, et je commence à avoir une certaine honte d’être Francais.

Comme Socrate le dit, un homme injuste est malheureux s’il ne subit aucun châtiment (relisez le Gorgias), je ne suis pas certain que certains au gouvernements soient vraiment plus heureux de cette perspective, mais moi cela me redonne le sourire.

Et surtout, cela permet à l’Europe de clairement faire pression sur la France et s’affirmer comme défenseur des droits de l’Homme.