FRANCE: The French prime minister Dominique de Villepin made no progress towards resolving the crisis over a youth jobs law in his monthly press conference yesterday.
Mr de Villepin did not give a clear answer to questions about his possible resignation, but three times alluded to his 'mission'. "The president has entrusted me with a mission - to lead the battle for jobs, to respond to the concerns of our compatriots . . . This battle, I will lead it until the end. All the rest is pure speculation and fantasy."
Nor did he respond to repeated questions about the future of the CPE or First Job Contract, which he announced in January. The legislation, which makes it easier for employers to fire youths under 26 during a long trial period, has provoked five national protest days, rioting and disturbances in the education and transport systems.
Mr de Villepin has stopped declaring that the CPE will come into force no matter what. He repeatedly used the word 'dialogue'. Parliamentary leaders from the right-wing UMP will complete three days of consultations with unions today.
"We have to open a dialogue without preconditions or taboos," Mr de Villepin said. "What we want, what is essential, is to win the battle of youth employment. Let's talk about it. I am ready to hear all proposals on the table."
Many politicians, including the former prime minister Edouard Balladur, have pronounced the CPE dead. On March 31st, President Chirac announced he was enacting the law, but at the same time suspending its application.
"One must be careful," Mr de Villepin said when asked if the CPE was dead.
"There is reticence expressed; let us talk about it. Let us not put the cart before the horse. Let us not pre-judge things." Though he implied he made a mistake by wanting to move too quickly on the CPE, he insisted that France must introduce greater flexibility in the labour market.
Union and opposition leaders criticised Mr de Villepin's performance. Francois Hollande, the leader of the socialist party, said: "It was expected of Dominique de Villepin that he provide a simple, clear response, that is to say the abrogation of the CPE. Instead of that, he is still making confused, complicated incantations."
Jean-Luc Parodi, research director at the National Political Science Foundation, said Villepin's credibility "has been strongly diminished" and that his popularity "will not recover" from the CPE debacle.
Mr de Villepin avoided mentioning the name of the interior minister and president of the UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy carried out what Le Monde called "a media coup d'état" by going on television immediately after President Chirac last Friday night, then initiating contacts with trade union leaders.
Mr de Villepin and Mr Sarkozy are rivals for next year's presidential nomination. "What is important in a government is the action we carry out together," Mr de Villepin said when asked about their reportedly execrable relationship.
Protests against the CPE continued yesterday with students blocking access to Orly airport and occupying tracks at the Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est stations. Roads in Limoges, Rennes and Nantes were also obstructed.
In a scathing editorial, Le Monde said that "France is suffering from a dangerous power vacuum. Jacques Chirac appears so diminished politically that he no longer even guarantees the institutions function . . . Dominique de Villepin, pushed to the sidelines in resolving the conflict, utters ambiguous sentences."