FRANCE HAS responded angrily to scathing criticism by the European Commission over the expulsion of Roma migrants, calling remarks made by Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding “unacceptable” and “inappropriate”.
In Brussels, the commission pulled back from criticism of France yesterday when its chief José Manuel Barroso sought to distance himself from the links Ms Reding drew between the French expulsions and Nazi persecution of Jews and Roma.
As French officials absorbed the unusually strong attack, the Élysée Palace said president Nicolas Sarkozy found the remarks “simply unacceptable”, while prime minister François Fillon announced an unscheduled trip to Brussels to “defend and explain” the French position at a meeting of the European People’s Party.
The centre-right Le Figaroreported that Mr Sarkozy denounced the commissioner's remarks at a meeting of his party's senators, and mockingly suggested that Luxembourg – Ms Reding's home country – could host the Roma migrants instead.
“He said he was only applying European regulations, French laws, and France is irreproachable in the matter, but that if the Luxembourgers want to take them there was no problem,” senator Bruno Sido of Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party was quoted as saying.
Ms Reding spoke after consultations with him and with his support, Mr Barroso told reporters yesterday. “However, one of the other expression used in the heat of the moment may have given rise to misunderstandings,” he said.
“Vice-president Reding did not want to establish any parallelism between what happened in the second World Warand the present.” Ms Reding’s attack on France – the force of which surprised Brussels-based diplomats – drew criticism yesterday from the French member of the commission, Michel Barnier.
“I’d like everyone to calm down. We don’t want unnecessary polemics,” Mr Barnier said.
He declared he had no interest in “historical mishmashes in our debates” which had no meaning, but said the commission was fulfilling its function when it puts questions to member states and demands answers from them.
France’s European affairs minister, Pierre Lellouche, accused Ms Reding of unjustifiably drawing a parallel between the expulsions of Roma from France and the Nazi persecution of Gypsies. “There’s a limit to my patience,” Mr Lellouche said, referring to the commissioner’s criticism. “This kind of outburst is not appropriate.
“A plane ticket back to the European Union country of origin is not the same thing as death trains and the gas chambers,” he said.
“As a French minister, as a French citizen, as the son of somebody who fought in the Free French Forces, I cannot let Ms Reding say that the France of 2010, in dealing with the issue of the Roma, is the France of Vichy,” he said, referring to the collaborationist regime in place between 1940 and 1944.
The commission was angered by a leaked memo which showed the French interior ministry ordered police to single out Roma Gypsies in a campaign against illegal camps, something Ms Reding said was at odds with the claims of the French immigration and European ministers.
“The commission’s position is clear. Community law must be respected. The prohibition of discrimination based on racial and ethnic origin is one of the European Union’s fundamental principles,” Mr Barroso said.
“I very much hope that we can now have full transparency on this matter.” Earlier, Mr Barroso’s spokeswoman repeatedly declined to say whether he authorised Ms Reding’s statement.
Ms Reding said she was convinced that the commission would have no choice but to initiate legal action against France for two violations governing the right of EU citizens to move and reside freely within member states.
However, Mr Barnier emphasised that the decision to initiate proceedings had yet to be taken, and said it would be by a collective of the entire commission.
A simple majority of the college is required to trigger such actions. Officials say they could not recall when a decision to initiate infringement proceedings last went to a vote of the EU executive.