Edito : Turbulences

Edito

Turbulences

by Robert ASSADOURIAN

In each camp the presidential desires of the big and small candidates dissimulate the problems under a chaste veil and postpone to a later date the decisions that are liable to irritate the French.

At the conclusion of the 3 debates to nominate the socialist candidate, it seems that Ségolène's star is losing its lustre, whereas the hopes of DSK and Laurent Fabius are awakening. All 3 have just realized that the decisions do not lie with the polls nor the sympathizers, but with the activists' votes. They will have to choose between Ségolène Royal's capacity to mobilise, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's social democracy or Laurent Fabius' anchorage to the left, to finally defend the program elaborated by the socialist party.

The situation is apparently quieter in the opposite camp; nevertheless, Chirac's supporters don't appreciate the lone rider, Nicolas Sarkozy. Indeed Dominique de Villepin, boosted by the reduction of the unemployment figures, considers that he is not the only possible candidate, whereas Michele Alliot-Marie considers she is capable of facing Ségolène. As for Jean-Louis Debré, he seems more sensitive to the candidature of the queen of the polls than to Sarkozy! All this promises an interesting situation because we are not yet in the presidential campaign and the choice of Nicolas Sarkozy remains to be confirmed.

During this time of debates and internal fighting within the UMP and the Socialist Party, the problems remain, files accumulate in the ministries and France is limping!

One year ago during the riots of Clichy-sous-bois , among a number of exactions a bus was burned. This week, the young arsonists of the Parisian suburbs commemorated the event and burned 6 buses. Nobody evoked the cost of the destroyed vehicles, which is in the region of 220 to 240.000 euros per bus. On the other hand, the politicians evoked the insecurity in these unlawful areas. They all consider that it is due to the deficiency of education. It is necessary «to reorientate the counsellors of school orientation" declared the Prime Minister. According to the opposition, it is caused by the absence of proximity police and the disappearance of community policing, whereas the others accuse the deficiency of the judges and the absence of punishment. At no time are these young people from 14 to 18 years, very often stemming from emigration, considered to be directly responsible for the acts they commit and the justice-police debate does not resolve anything.

Marseille, which escaped this social plague for a long time, caught up and overtook the Parisian suburb on Saturday evening. Unconscious youngsters set fire to a bus without considering the risks they caused to the passengers, and the unfortunate Mama Galledou was blocked inside the bus and burned to 70 %. If she manages to survive, she will be marked for life.

The comments which stigmatize the event are severe: crime, horror, appalling, premeditation, and call for exemplary punishment. We hope that this indignation will be just as vehement when the arsonists are judged. The unconsciousness and the irresponsibility of the father of one of the youngsters that was arrested 3 days later were obvious when he shouted after the police who had just arrested his youngest son. These shouts illustrate the attitude of the families which, too often exceeded, control nothing.

This drama traumatized a whole city, which gave proof of public-spiritedness. Indeed, the courage of the witnesses and the local residents who contributed to catching the delinquents deserves a special mention.

The French Railway Company (SNCF) has chosen the Quebec Bomber, which thereby wins the 1,85 billion euro contract for the manufacture of 172 rails for the French railway network, with in addition a clause for a 4 billion euro extension.

The Canadian railway constructor won the tender launched in February 2004 against the French Alsthom, because his proposition was considerably less expensive. These rails will be delivered in 2010 and be made in Valencienne. Considering the size of the order, Bomber intends subcontracting a part of the production to Alsthom Transport. This arouses a question: what will be the price of the subcontracted rails? Apparently around the price of Bomber. A second question then arises: why was Alsthom more expensive than Bomber during the call for tender to finally work for them in subcontracting? More specialized in high-speed trains, would it be incapable to make slower rails, therefore simpler ones?

This summer, the Canadian company Bomber obtained the right to begin exclusive negotiations with the subways of Toronto and Montreal. Alsthom protests against Bomber's exclusivity on their national market and consoles itself on the fluctuating Chinese market.

In the era of globalization, despite its successes the French economy cannot allow itself such a recession on its home market, for reasons of prestige.

The turbulences that shake Airbus risk weighing heavily on the European industrial cooperation while the creation of the A380, without defect until 2004, relies on an 11 billion euro investment granted by the shareholders of EADS.

These turbulences are largely the result of the application of the parity decided in 2000 but demanded by Manfred Bischoff in 2003 in the name of the French-German equilibrium. The Germans are to receive the interior equipment of the A380 which includes the problematic electric installations. Considering the errors noticed on 3 prototypes, it appears that the teams of Hamburg did not adopt Catia, the software adopted in Toulouse. They preferred their own, and this choice is at the origin of micro-errors minimised by Gustav Humbert, president of Airbus at that time, thereby entailing a delay of 2 years in the delivery program.

The consequences of this dysfunction, the desire to go too fast, and the presence of the State have generated dramas with the subcontractors and delayed the delivery of the A 380, the financial impact of which will amount to 2 billion euro by 2010.

Today, Louis Gallois holds the reins of EADS and Airbus to run this great European project, but if he seeks a perfect balance, he will only achieve it by sacrifying global efficiency.