French press review 22 February 2012

There's no getting away from the Greeks this morning. Has the Catholic observation of Lent got something to teach us in the age of austerity? And did the Socialists hide in the toilets when it came to a vote on austere European legislation? 

The standard wisdom, since the legendary siege of Troy, has been "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts". That was because of the wooden horse full of military personnel which the Trojans thought was a present but which turned out to be their downfall. What we need, currently, is advice on what to do with Greeks bearing debts.

The eurozone has decided to give them more money, 237 billion euros to be precise, with a wooden horse full of accountants from Brussels as part of the deal.

Le Monde says the agreement breaks all records but does nothing to relieve doubt about the fundamental solidity of the Greek economy.

The small print explains that Athens used to owe its creditors no less than 160 per cent of its gross domestic product; yesterday's agreement means that the good Greeks will get their debt level down to a mere 121 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade. In non-technical terms, they are still going to drown but the level of the water they're drowning in has been reduced.

French Finance Minister François Baroin was delighted to escape from yesterday's 11-hour negotiation and assured waiting journalists that the compromise reached would ensure a fair sharing of the Greek load between Athens and the other eurozone governments, and between the public and private sectors. In non-technical terms, everyone gets screwed.

Baroin's idea of a fair share might not be to the liking of some in the private banking business. According to today's financial paper, Les Echos, private banks are to write off three-quarters of the money owed to them by Greece.

And Les Echos follows Le Monde in wondering whether the whole ball of wax is going to be enough to get Greece and the euro out of intensive care.

Catholic La Croix headlines its front page editorial "Austerity" but the article is really about Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and penance which starts for Catholics today. La Croix says that the current economic crisis makes the lenten message of sacrifice and restraint even more relevant.

Left-leaning Libération also has the financial crisis on its front page with a main headline reading "The left gets caught in the European trap".

The reference is to yesterday's parliamentary debate on the ratification of something called the European Stability Mechanism, the communal sack of cash which is supposed to ensure that nothing like Greece ever happens again.

There had been widespread calls for left-wing representatives to vote against the proposals, seen by their critics as giving legal sanction to the demands for ever more austerity from those who now run our financial affairs at the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

What did the left do?

The Green Party got lost in the windings of its own rhetoric (I'm quoting, more or less, from Libé's editorial), the Socialists, petrified by the prospect of a presidential battle in two months' time, decided to abstain. And the far left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon spent most of their time criticising their supposed Socialist allies.

Mélenchon had some very harsh words to say. "Every elected representative is obliged to express an opinion. It is just not acceptable to go and hide in the toilets."

Especially since the Socialists could have a majority in the next French parliament and governments are not allowed to hide, anywhere.