The Editorial: C’est Maintenant?
As I flew into Place de La Bastille this weekend on a clunky Velib’, the entire square burst into jubilant cheers. Red flares. French and African and Latin American flags waved happily. The leftist candidate had won! And it always feels pretty great when the candidate who stands up unabashedly for the little guy wins. Plus Monsieur Hollande is a welcome change from the eminently smug, snarky Sarkozy and looks like a wholesome, kindly grandad.
As the odd political pundit and Socialist party member shuffled on and off stage, each giving short speeches about the momentous victory, familiar refrains were oft repeated with slight variations: “Banks will no longer order, they will obey!” “We’ll show Europe that exit from the crisis will come through growth, not austerity!” But as the night’s planned entertainment descended into a bewildering lineup of C and D grade non-sequiturs, parts of the crowd broke into feel-good chants of ”Sarkozy, en prison!” under Holland’s omnipresent slogan “C’est maintenant!” (“It’s now!”). And for at least one evening, France had found some swagger.
But surely enough, markets were down on Monday. A national leader can’t exactly rally against banks and expect them to rally around him. So, while a change of energy and a change of face was much needed, Europe this week is finding itself in a seriously precarious position. While Spain and Italy and even France itself face mounting problems of unemployment, increasing poverty and still uncontrolled levels of debt, one of Europe’s biggest economies will now be taking on (and advocating) even larger loads than before.
Political cartoonists and much of the blogosphere have been declaring the death of the love affair of economic restraint between Germany and France’s leaders, cutely dubbed “Merkozy” by many. So, what does the divorce mean for Europe? What kind of example does killing austerity set for Greece? Can the Euro survive it all?
France is already being crushed under the weight of its colossal bureaucracy. And as one of the two de facto titan stewards of Europe’s future, it also stands to be crushed by the weight of its own responsibility in the wider world. So here’s to you, Hollande: we like you, but you need all the luck you can get.
