César 2012 du Meilleur espoir féminin, Clotilde Hesme est en passe de devenir une figure incontournable du cinéma français.
C’est un oiseau qui se pose sur une branche. La fraîcheur et la délicatesse de Clotilde Hesme font d’elle une des plus gracieuses actrices du cinéma français. Jolie brune de trente-trois ans, elle a pris son temps avant de sortir du nid. Après avoir suivi des cours au Conservatoire national supérieur d’art dramatique, le Troyenne de naissance se lance dans le parcours classique de bien des comédiennes. De courts-métrages en pièces de théâtre, elle forme son jeu au gré de ses multiples rôles.
Puis vient 2002. Le réalisateur Jérôme Bonnell offre à Clotilde Hesme son premier rôle au cinéma avec Le chignon d’Olga. Trois ans plus tard, elle fait la rencontre d’un certain Louis Garrel. Le jeune homme ténébreux et son père réalisateur préparent à l’époque leur long-métrage en noir et blanc, Les amants réguliers. Elle y incarne la douce Lilie qui ne dit mot mais consent à la ferveur d’un mai 1968 brûlant. Louis Garrel qui murmure à l’oreille de Christophe Honoré lui conseille de mettre en scène Clotilde. Les deux amants se retrouvent donc, tout aussi proches, dans Les chansons d’amour sorti en 2007. Elle obtient pour ce rôle sa première nomination au César du meilleur espoir féminin. Forte de cette rencontre avec Christophe Honoré, Miss Hesme poursuit sa collaboration avec le réalisateur notamment dans La belle personne puis sur les planches dans Angelo, tyran de Padoue.
Devenue progressivement emblématique d’un certain cinéma de cinéastes, elle tourne aux côtés de Raoul Ruiz en 2010 dans Les mystères de Lisbonne puis pour Les lignes de Wellington. Clotilde Hesme mène sa carrière avec passion tout comme ses deux soeurs elles aussi comédiennes, Annelise et Élodie.
Une nouvelle rencontre va faire basculer le destin de la jeune femme. Avec Alix Delaporte, Clotilde Hesme travaille au scénario d’Angèle et Tony. Sans vraiment penser un jour incarner le rôle titre, l’actrice se prend d’affection pour le personnage d’Angèle. En acceptant finalement de devenir celle-ci à l’écran, Clotilde Hesme se révèle au grand jour. Elle remporte donc en 2012 ce César tant mérité de meilleur espoir féminin.
Clotilde Hesme connait déjà Cannes. En 2007, 2008 et 2011 elle à longé la Croisette pour promouvoir des films dont elle ne tenait pas encore le premier rôle. Avec la troupe de Christophe Honoré elle découvre le Festival lors de sa soixantième édition. L’année suivante elle y vient pour parler du film de Bertrand Bonello, De la guerre. En 2011 c’est en tant que marraine de la neuvième édition de la sélection Visions sociales qu’elle pose ses valises dans le sud de la France. Aujourd’hui, Clotilde Hesme vivra Cannes pleinement puisqu’elle présente le film Trois monde de Catherine Corsini retenu dans la sélection Un certain regard. L’actrice partage l’affiche avec une autre figure montante du cinéma français, Raphaël Personnaz.
Le moins qu’on puisse dire, c’est que les relations entre Angelina Jolie et George Clooney ne sont pas au beau fixe! Alors qu’on ignore toujours quand les amoureux, fiancés en avril dernier, convoleront enfin en justes noces, et que les préparatifs battent leur plein, Angelina Jolie n’a pas hésité à se montrer ferme avec le taquin George: pas de blague grivoise à son mariage.
Un mariage dans la plus stricte intimité pour le couple Brangelina? Contre toute attente, la liste des invités au mariage des anciens Mr et Mrs Smith, au lieu de s’allonger, ferait donc plutôt l’objet d’un choix méticuleux. Seule une vingtaine d’hôtes est prévue pour le jour J –compter les enfants du couple-, ni plus ni moins. C’est en tout cas ce que croit savoir Martin Poucher, cousin d’Angelina Jolie, cité par Celebuzz ce mardi et qui précise: «Croyez moi, ma cousine n’enverra aucune invitation de mariage! C’est même une blague que l’on se fait dans la famille, le jeu de ‘qui sera invité’».
Des invités qui seront donc plus que jamais VIP. Angie semble savoir user de son caractère bien trempé pour trier ses convives sur le volet. Le bon ami de Brad, George Clooney, en aurait même fait les frais en juin dernier. La rumeur court que l’actrice, qui n’apprécie guère les blagues douteuses et répétées de George –resté par ailleurs en très bons termes avec Jennifer Aniston-, aurait décidé de lui passer personnellement un coup de fil pour lui demander très sérieusement de garder ses blagues pour lui. Car rien, et surtout pas l’humour graveleux de George, ne doit venir gâcher sa très prochaine union avec Brad.
Pas sûr que George, qui ne semblait déjà pas porter la fiancée de Brad dans son cœur, ait beaucoup apprécié. En janvier dernier, George Clooney aurait en effet confié au magazine US Weekly que la future épouse de son ami était une femme «ennuyeuse, de mauvaise compagnie et méchante avec certaines personnes».
Mais si la liste des invités n’est pas encore arrêtée, le lieu du mariage lui, le serait enfin. Selon le cousin décidément très bien informé d’Angie, exit les noces à la Nouvelle Orléans: un mariage français, dans la propriété de Miraval (Var), serait bien au programme.
French Chairman of the European Convention Valery Giscard D'Estaing addresses members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on September 3, 2003, about the future constitution. | EPA
A French ‘non’ that still resonates
A decade after the European Constitution died, Brussels struggles to find its bearings.
It’s 10 years since France, in a shocker, voted down a proposed EU Constitution. The aftershocks can still be felt.
“As a Socialist, as a European, I am still wounded by the No in 2005,” wrote Pierre Moscovici, then a member of the European Parliament and now Commissioner for economic and financial affairs, on his blog last week.
On Sunday May 29, 2005, with a 69 percent turnout, 54.67 percent of French voters said “No” to the following question: “Do you approve the bill authorizing the ratification of the treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe?”
The referendum outcome was the first of two fatal blows to the European Constitutional Treaty drawn up, no less, than under the direction of former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The second came a couple of days later when 61 percent of Dutch voters rejected the project.
In the wake of the French and Dutch votes, a constitutional project that promised a better, simpler and more democratic Europe fell apart. The EU turned in a different direction. The votes were seen as a rejection of the ambitious vision for a Europe led from Brussels, building an ever-tightening club of a growing number of states, perhaps one day even Turkey. National capitals took back the political initiative from Brussels and Euroskepticism planted deeper roots, a process further accelerated with onset of the Greek economic crisis half a decade later.
“It was a traumatic experience,” said Bruno Cautrès of the Centre for Political Research at Sciences Po.
The first European vote
At the turn of the century, the EU was on a winning streak. The euro was born and in 2004 the bloc took in 10 new members, including seven from the former Soviet bloc. But it was also unsure about its future and questions remained even among long-time members about how much “ever-closer Union” was too much.
In 2001, EU leaders set up a Convention on the Future of Europe and put Giscard in charge. That group — made up of MEPs, senior national politicians, and thinkers and eminences grises like former Belgian prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene — took two years to write a new 482-page Constitution.
While many European countries considered the text in their national legislatures, 10 countries including France, the UK, Denmark, Poland and Spain, decided to hold national referendums.
“Unlike European elections, the referendum was a true European vote, not about the membership but about the content, the direction of the European project,” wrote Cautrès in a history of the debate.
Textbooks about the Treaty became best-sellers and there was something like a vigorous public discussion across Europe about the future of the EU.
“It was unbelievable to see all the debates, we truly desired to understand the Treaty,” recalled Karima Delli, a Green MEP who voted against the Treaty because the proposed text was too economically liberal.
In France, the Yes campaign was supposed to have an easy win, as polls initially suggested. The main political parties, non-governmental organizations and labor unions were all in favor.
Then, two months before the vote, the momentum shifted to the No camp, for good.
How did it happen? There were plenty of arguments feeding the No side, not all of them directly connected: to some voting No was a protest against the Chirac government; others said the text was too complicated; others blamed unemployment; others pointed to populist arguments against the possible EU membership of Turkey and the prospect of the famous “Polish plumbers” flooding the French labor market.
“Yes” supporter Joseph Daul, a French MEP and president of the European People’s Party (EPP), recalled that the EU was made into a scapegoat “for everything — including the size of French pensions.”
Cautrès underlined the role of voters on the French left, who had supported the Maastricht Treaty creating the European Union but opposed the Constitution, which they said would harm the French welfare state model.
“No” campaigners from the left “framed” the last crucial months of the campaign, Cautrès said, focusing their criticisms on a too-liberal Europe.
Aftermath Act I: Brussels moved on?
The day after the “No” vote, French Yes supporters tried to move on. “Most of my colleagues sympathized with us,” said Daul, speaking of fellow EPP members. “Now, the referendum does not have any consequences. Nobody ever talked to me about it.”
But in the Socialist Party the situation was more tense, with some who opposed the Constitution finding themselves isolated.
“I decided to go to Tallinn for a meeting with European Social Democrats, because I knew I would need to explain my positions to others,” said Pervenche Berès, a prominent Socialist MEP, who after abstaining from a vote on the final version of the Constitution in the Convention, decided to support the No side in the referendum. “But Martin Schul—z was truly angry and I was basically alone.”
After the French and Dutch rejections, most EU countries withdrew their referendum proposals (expect Luxembourg, which actually approved it) and the ratification process was frozen. A new text was considered but opponents of the treaty in France were unable to propose an alternative.
The proposal was stuck in limbo between countries that had already ratified the Treaty, countries that refused and countries such as the UK where the text had not even really been debated.
By January 2007, when Germany took over the presidency of the Council of Ministers, 18 countries had approved the European Constitution. By June of that year, EU leaders adopted the Lisbon Treaty, a soft version of the Constitution Treaty. The old voting rules and other institutional arrangements were too unwieldy to accommodate an EU of 27 members.
But approving that treaty required two separate Irish referendums, the second one called after the first one produced the wrong outcome — a no vote.
Aftermath Act II: France still lost in translation
France and the EU have both changed a lot in the 10 years since the No vote. Many of the main players from the French referendum drama have moved on: Jacques Chirac is long gone; so is José Manuel Barroso, who was then president of the Commission; and former French President Giscard has kept busy writing novels about his hypothetical affair with Lady Diana.
But the EU now finds itself confronting Brexit (with a UK referendum on EU membership) and Grexit (a possible result of the Greek financial crisis). Nobody is talking about a European Constitution. The EU has scaled back its ambitions. The focus is now on doing more with less and keeping itself together.
Ten years after the vote, French influence and “grandeur” in Brussels is seen as on the wane. Socialist François Hollande was elected in 2012 partly by promising to “redirect Europe,” but even members of his party complained when MPs voted for the 2012 Eurozone treaty on stability, coordination and governance. The treaty was adopted but mistrust of both Hollande and a liberal Europe was revived, as if the 2005 referendum had only just happened.
“We saw the same debates and divisions of the 2005 European Constitution debate.” said Cautrès.
The last upheaval for France’s relationship with the EU was last year, when the far-right National Front (FN) party took first place in the country’s elections to the European Parliament. That stunning outcome reflected the same frustrations with “Europe” as in 2005.
All the main parties in France are careful now about how they discuss the EU, if at all. But the FN has a clear and coherent approach, making sure to remind voters of the failed referendum at every every opportunity.
Leading figures in the European People’s Party are sheltering the Orbán regime in the name of partisan politics.
Since Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party swept to power in Hungary in 2010, his government has managed to rewrite the Hungarian constitution, eliminate checks and balances, undermine the independence of the judiciary, reduce media pluralism, place party loyalists in nearly all significant positions of public authority and introduce a new electoral system designed to favor his party.
The success of Orbán’s tactics was on full display in his victory in the April 2014 Hungarian parliamentary elections, which according to international election monitors, were held under conditions that gave “an undue advantage” to Orbán’s party.
Emboldened by his electoral victory, Orbán declared last July that he intended to abandon liberal democracy in favor of building an “illiberal state,” citing China, Russia, Singapore, and Turkey as role models. He cultivated closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, warmly hosting him in Budapest and pursuing bilateral gas and nuclear power deals with Russia while denouncing EU proposals to strengthen its common energy policy. Most recently, Orbán sparked controversy in the European Parliament when he said that Hungary should consider reintroducing the death penalty and launched a “national consultation” on immigration that critics argued was designed to promote xenophobia.
European institutions are pushing back. The European Parliament endorsed a highly critical report on Hungary in June 2013 and, earlier this month, again voted to condemn Orbán’s recent actions. The Council of Europe published a highly critical report on Hungary’s Constitutional Reforms in 2013, and this month published a new report criticizing xenophobia and violence against minorities and immigrants in Hungary. The European Commission has launched a series of legal actions against Hungary. But none of this has deterred Orbán.
To understand why the EU has been so ineffective in opposing Orbán’s drive to consolidate power, one must look first to the leadership of the European People’s Party (EPP), the center right faction in the European Parliament of which Orbán’s Fidesz party remains a member in good standing. Leading figures in the EPP are sheltering the Orbán regime in the name of partisan politics. In the interest of party loyalty and of maintaining their majority in the European Parliament, many EPP politicians have proven themselves willing to tolerate Orbán’s violations of democratic values.
For example, in July 2013, when the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (the LIBE Committee) issued the Tavares Report criticizing the erosion of fundamental rights in Hungary, EPP vice-chair Manfred Weber (who has since become the party’s chair), dismissed it as a politically motivated attack on the Orbán government by leftist parties.
In March 2014, EPP President Joseph Daul spoke at a Fidesz campaign rally in Budapest praising Orbán and endorsing his reelection bid. After Orbán’s victory, EPP leaders across Europe ignored international criticism of the election and warmly congratulated Orbán. The EPP has placed Fidesz politicians in key leadership posts in the Parliament where they can help deflect criticism of the Orbán regime. József Szájer, a close associate of Orbán’s who played a key role in Hungary’s controversial constitutional reforms, is a vice-chair of the EPP, while last year Fidesz MEP Kinga Gál was named vice-chair of the LIBE committee which had previously criticized the Fidesz government so harshly.
Most recently, this month when the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Orban’s statements on the death penalty and his migration consultation, only parties on the left voted in favor. EPP leadership publicly defended the Orban government.
To be fair, a few EPP politicians have spoken out against Orbán. Viviane Reding, a Luxembourger affiliated with the EPP, spoke out publicly against the Orbán regime’s “systematic” efforts to undermine the rule of law and constitutional values when she was European commissioner for justice from 2010 to 2014. Under her leadership, the Commission launched a series of infringement procedures targeting Orbán’s moves to centralize power.
Neither regular infringement cases nor action based on the so called “Rule of Law initiative” the Commission proposed in 2014 could hope to stop democratic backsliding in Hungary if politicians at the European level are willing to coddle the national leaders responsible. The experience of other democracies, such as Mexico, Argentina, and the United States in the era of the “Solid South,” suggests that so long as party leaders are willing to put partisan interests above democratic values, they may allow local pockets of autocracy to persist for decades within otherwise democratic systems.
For leaders of the EPP that means standing up to Orbán and his Fidesz party. German Chancellor Angela Merkel took a small step in the right direction during her visit to Budapest in February when she emphasized the importance in a democracy, “to appreciate the role of the opposition, civil society and the media” and questioned the very idea that a democracy could be “illiberal.” Most recently, the EPP-backed Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker greeted Orbán at the Riga summit in May by saying, “Hello dictator” and giving him a playful slap on the cheek.
But neither oblique criticisms nor ribbing at EU summits will stop Orbán. To discourage democratic backsliding in Hungary, EPP leaders need to stand together and firmly declare that Orbán and Fidesz’s actions have no place in the proud family of the democratic center-right.
Daniel Kelemen is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University.
The European Commission published on Tuesday (10 February) the legal texts of a proposal to set up a regulatory co-operation body to monitor the implementation of deals made as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The announcement was made following the conclusion of the eighth round of negotiations last Friday (6 February).
Ignacio Garcia Bercero, chief negotiator for the European Union, said that the regulatory body – which will be known as the intergovernmental oversight mechanism – should not delay the negotiation process and that its role was not to take decisions on trade agreements. Its sole function would be to ensure that the terms agreed are actually implemented.
Dan Mullaney, who leads the negotiations for the United States, said that the US will look at the EU proposal “to fully understand what it is about”. Mullaney stressed that the US also thinks that there needs to be a mechanism in place to address any future issues and that developments should be reviewed as the partnership takes shape.
The negotiators said that the talks, which are supposed to be concluded by the end of this year, will intensify over the coming months. The next two rounds, in April and July, will mainly focus on regulatory co-operation.
Mullaney said that it was important “not to measure the progress being made by the number of rounds of talks”, because much is being done at other levels and in other fora, such as during G20 meetings. On financial services for example, talks between the US and the EU are ongoing.
Garcia Bercero said progress on market access, regulatory issues and goods had been made, though the talks were mainly about getting “a better understanding” of the points of view. In the regulatory field, he stressed that “proposals on technical areas make sure that work on consolidated texts can now start”.
The EU is pushing for a chapter on sustainable development, which affects workers’ rights and environment. It is also yet to be decided whether there will be a separate chapter on energy, or whether energy-related issues can be sufficiently dealt with in other chapters.
As the vegan trend continues to grow both inside and outside of the
fashion industry, an increasing number of brands and retailers are jumping
aboard the movement and cutting down on the use of animals in their
products to meet ever-growing consumer demand.
Following Veganuary in January – a month promoting the use of
animal-free products – retail analyst firm Edited has published a report on
the rise of vegan fashion, called ‘Veganuary: strategies for success’,
exploring the growth of the trend and the ways in which retailers are
capitalising on it.
Long-time fashion epicentre France, whose capital Paris is expected to
become the sustainable capital of fashion by 2024, saw a 132 percent
year-on-year increase in products described as ‘vegan’ by the end of
January, according to Edited. In the US, that number was 63 percent and in
the UK, 43 percent. Denmark, which is home to leading sustainabile fashion event the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, is also expected to
become a vegan fashion trailblazer, with a 42 percent year-on-year increase
in products described as ‘vegan’ in the market.
Vegan beauty still dominates, but footwear and accessories growing
Beauty is still the leading fashion category when it comes to
cruelty-free products, with the sector making up 69 percent of vegan
products available online in the UK at the end of January, and 66 percent
in the US.
Vegan footwear and accessories are also fast-growing sectors, as fashion
companies increasingly look to animal-free alternatives to leather and
suede. The number of shoes available described as ‘vegan’ increased by 27
percent in the US year-on-year and 36 percent in the UK. The UK’s
accessories sector also saw a 56 percent increase in ‘vegan’ items stocked
year-on-year.
“Outside of these areas, incorporation of vegan materials into
categories is minimal, showing an apparent gap in the market for retailers
to test the water with alternative fabrications,” Edited said in its
report. “Animal-friendly outerwear is starting to gain momentum in the mass
market. Vegan leather jackets are a no-brainer, but also consider
alternatives to wool and down.”
Edited added that despite growth in certain sectors, “overall
merchandise promotions were minimal, with the majority of mentions relating
to food. This opens an opportunity for retailers to push
communications.”
Luxury goes vegan
Luxury fashion brands are also getting in on the vegan trend. In the
last few years, big-name brands such as Gucci, Chanel, Burberry, Versace
and Victoria Beckham have all pledged to go fur-free in their catwalks. In
the past three months, there has been a 36 percent year-on-year decline in
women’s fur arrivals in the US. Leather and skins have been less targeted
when it comes to vegan alternatives, with many luxury brands such as Hermes
and Louis Vuitton relying on the animal products for their collections.
Analysing womenswear luxury products currently in stock in the US and UK
market described as ‘vegan’, ’non-leather’ and ’faux leather’, Edited found
that these alternatives only made up around 2.3 percent of women’s leather
goods for luxury brands, driven largely by sustainable and vegan label
Stella McCartney.
Edited also noted that while skins, wool and fur are most commonly
associated with animal products in fashion, consumers are less aware of the
human and animal welfare issues involved in the silk trade. Animal welfare
organisation Peta is working on educating the public about the conditions
of workers in the silk trade and the controversial process in which the
silk fibre is collected from the cocoon by boiling the pupal alive.
Cruelty-free alternatives to conventional silk include peace silk, which is
woven from cocoons of the already hatched moth, though no certification to
guarantee the standard of this alternative currently exists.
While 100 percent leather products have long been known for their high
price points, animal-free alternatives come with considerably more
competitive price tags. Edited compared the full price of leather versus
non-leather products stocked in the US mass market at the end of January.
In every category, vegan leather was the cheaper alternative, while
interestingly, on average vegan leather outerwear, trousers and skirts come
in more than three times cheaper.
The Blaugrana official felt his team were unlucky to not get all three points at the home of their championship rival
Real Madrid did not deserve their 2-0 El Clasico victory over Barcelona, according to Guillermo Amor.
Madrid leapfrogged Barca atop the La Liga table thanks to second-half goals from Vinicius Junior and substitute Mariano Diaz on Sunday.
Vinicius opened the scoring in the 71st minute before Mariano sealed the win in the second minute of stoppage time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
More teams
Madrid moved a point clear in the league standings but Barca director Amor told Movistar: “They pushed up and they pressed us. Their idea was to stop the game. They pressed and created chances.
“It proved costly for us, but I don’t think they deserved the win. We were very dominant, they hit us quickly.”
Amor added: “If we consider the first half then I think it was a very good performance. Very good. We had the game under control and had chances, but missed them.
“If you forgive a team like Real Madrid they’ll have their chances. Once they scored they saw they could win and were encouraged.”
It was a quiet evening for Barca captain and superstar Lionel Messi in the Spanish capital, where the six-time Ballon d’Or winner struggled to make an impact.
“He was good,” Amor said. “He was great in the first half. He created, played and played.
“But when you lose, everything seems negative. We weren’t bad though. We had a great first half and were the better team. But then things went crazy and we lost control.”
Barca appeared to have weathered the storm into the second half and nearly scored against the run of play when Martin Braithwaite’s shot was cleared off the line by Raphael Varane.
But Vinicius deservedly fired the hosts in front after being played in behind by Toni Kroos and slotting past Marc-Andre ter Stegen with the aid of a telling deflection off Gerard Pique.
And after near-misses from Pique and Vinicius at either end, Mariano sprinted past Samuel Umtiti and scuffed a shot over Ter Stegen just 50 seconds after being introduced from the bench to seal a vital win.
Barcelona’s next match will come in La Liga against Real Sociedad on Saturday, while Real Madrid travel to Real Betis a day later.
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Auditors fault spending in EU’s diplomatic missions
Watchdog scrutinized property management at several delegations, including in New York.
The EU does not properly manage some of its foreign diplomatic missions by wasting funds on unused or inadequate office space, according to the bloc’s accounting watchdog.
In a report published Thursday, the European Court of Auditors highlighted several problems in the European External Action Service’s management of its buildings around the world — including at its delegation to the U.N. in New York — and called on the EU’s diplomatic arm to look for buildings “which provide good value for money.”
Among the problems found by auditors in their study of the 140 EEAS delegations were offices that were too large for its local needs or were being left vacant, as well as situations in Asia where EU employees were working in garages and pre-fabricated cabins.
“We are not saying that money has been wasted,” Pietro Russo, one of the report’s authors, told POLITICO. “We are saying that value for money can be improved and our recommendations identify opportunities for savings.”
The report comes at a time of austerity for the five-year-old EEAS, which is trying to build a European diplomatic corps with one of the smallest budgets among EU institutions, while reducing staff by 1 percent per year since 2013. Its expenditure on delegation buildings in 2014 amounted to €165 million, out of a total budget of €530 million.
The report noted the EEAS “has a long-term objective of purchasing more delegation office premises and arranged terms for borrowing up to €200 million … but it has not set up systems to manage its owned properties effectively.”
It found that the EEAS no longer uses 20 percent of the delegation buildings and residences it owns — 7 out of 33 office buildings and 6 out of 30 residences. Some are rented out to other organizations, other are simply unoccupied.
The report found other cases of financial mismanagement in which it said the EEAS has office space that is too big for its needs. In 2014, about 85 delegations exceeded the maximum space of 35 square meters per person, the report said. These included the delegation to the United Nations in New York, which has the highest office space per person (90 square meters).
“Reducing the average space per person would lead to savings on rent and running costs,” the report said.
Several buildings owned by the EEAS in Africa, including in Botswana and the Gambia, have been empty since 2004, while the EEAS has maintained unoccupied offices in South Africa and Cape Verde since 2012. In Tanzania, the report said, the ex-residence of the head of the delegation and a staff house have been unoccupied since 2009 at a cost of €25,000 per year for security, utilities, and gardening.
The most striking example of the EEAS’s mismanagement of its infrastructure is in Nepal, where a third of the EEAS staff have been working in “converted garages” since 2007 because of a “lack of space in the main building.” Another third have been working in secondhand, prefabricated cabins installed in the garden since 2009, “presenting a poor image of the delegation.”
In an official response included in the report, the EEAS acknowledged deficiencies in the management of its infrastructure, but argued that the institution needed to manage 180 office buildings and 140 official residences in 138 countries throughout the world, “each with its own specific legal system and property market.”
The institution also said it was operating under “well-known budget constraints.”
The auditors’ report urged the EEAS to implement its recommendations on improving spending “immediately” and to complete them “by the end of 2017.”
A la retraite forcée depuis quelques mois, Silvio Berlusconi en profite pour regarder un peu dans le rétroviseur. Afin de laisser une trace de tout son travail, il se verrait bien en héros d’un biopic sur sa vie.
N’est pas cavaliere qui veut. C’est donc sans surprise que Silvio Berlusconi s’imagine bien lui-même en premier conseiller sur le film de sa vie. A l’occasion de ses dix-huit années en politique, dont un troisième et dernier mandat de président du conseil avorté l’année dernière, le septuagénaire a déclaré vouloir participer à la réalisation de son propre biopic. Il ne manquerait, selon lui, plus qu’un «bon réalisateur».
Un bon réalisateur pour Silvio Berlusconi n’a sûrement pas l’audace de Nanni Moretti, déjà auteur du Caïman en 2006, ou l’humour de Roberto Benigni, mais plutôt pas mal de respect, voir de la fascination pour l’ancien président du conseil. Le cavaliere s’imagine donc à l’écran comme un héros des temps modernes qui a su redonner à l’Italie ses couleurs. Pas question d’entendre parler dans ce long-métrage des affaires judiciaires qui ont pourtant plombé le règne de Silvio Berlusconi. Il n’y aura pas non plus de rôle prévu pour incarner la sulfureuse Ruby, une très jeune danseuse qui a fréquenté les soirées chaudes du chef d’Etat.
De crooner en croisière à homme politique en passant par magnat de la presse et chef d’entreprise, la vie de Silvio Berlusconi pourrait bien valoir toute une série. Mais si le public en attend une comédie, l’ex-cavaliere se rêve plutôt en star d’une fresque historique…
Une grande figure de la Résistance s’en est allée, hier soir. Raymond Aubrac est décédé.
Il rejoint sa femme Lucie, morte en 2007 à l’âge de 92 ans. Raymond Aubrac s’est éteint hier soir, à l’hôpital militaire du Val de Grâce. Le couple était l’un des piliers de la Résistance, aux côtés de Jean Moulin. Il était également le symbole de l’amour victorieux en pleine guerre.
Raymond Aubrac, de son vrai nom Raymond Samuel, est né en 1914 à Vesoul. Fils de commerçants juif aisés, ils devient en 1937 ingénieur des Ponts et Chaussées.
Il fait son service militaire comme officier du génie sur la Ligne Maginot au moment où éclate la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.
Il épouse en 1939 Lucie Bernard, proche des milieux communistes. Fait prisonnier en 1940 par les Allemands, il s’évade avec l’aide de sa femme. Aux côtés de Jean Cavaillès et d’Emmanuel Astier de la Vigerie, Raymond et Lucie Aubrac s’engagent dans la Résistance. Ils consacrent tout leur temps à La Dernière Colonne, organisation anti-nazie et anti-vichyste, qui deviendra ensuite Libération Sud.
A l’arrivée en France de Jean Moulin, en 1942, les époux Aubrac s’impliquent dans l’unification des mouvements de Résistance. Un film retrace leur histoire, Lucie Aubrac, de Claude Berri, sorti en 1996, avec Carole Bouquet et Daniel Auteuil.
Au cours de l’année 1943, Raymond est arrêté deux fois. Par la police lyonnaise et par la Gestapo, en juin, à Caluire, où une réunion de Résistants se tenait autour de Jean Moulin. En octobre il s’évade à nouveau avec l’aide de sa femme.
Les Aubrac et leur fils aîné Jean-Pierre vont alors vivre de refuge en refuge avant de pouvoir rejoindre Londres en 1944. Les parents de Raymond et son frère, sont quant à eux arrêtés et déportés à Auschwitz.
En 1997, Raymond et Lucie font face à une polémique suite à la diffusion dans les rédactions du Testament de Barbie, un texte de 63 pages écrit par l’ancien chef de la Gestapo Klaus Barbie. Il affirmait qu’Aubrac était un agent double et que Lucie lui avait indiqué la date de la réunion de Caluire. Des accusations que Raymond réfute et qui donneront lieu à des cercles de réflexion sur le témoin dans l’Histoire.
Après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, Raymond Aubrac se fait connaître comme figure du communisme. Il créée en 1948 le Berim, bureau d’études investi dans les échanges Est-Ouest. A la demande d’Henry Kissinger, il établira des contacts avec le Nord Vietnam entre 1967 et 1972.
Jusqu’à sa mort, annoncée hier soir par sa fille Catherine (née à Londres en 1944), Raymond aura été une personnalité engagée. En 2003, il participe à l’appel « une autre voix juive » au sujet du conflit israelo-palestinien et devient parrain en 2009 de l’association des Citoyens résistants d’hier et d’aujourd’hui aux côtés de Stéphane Hessel(Indignez-vous!)