French press review 25 February 2013

The French papers today are concerned with public spending, taxes and possible job losses in hospitals, among other stories...

Le Monde gives pride of place to the Italians, currently in the middle of their two-day bash to choose a new government. "Uncertainty" seems to be the key word, replacing the unspeakable "austerity", and with "instability" the term most likely to replace them both.

Le Figaro reports that the French government, struggling to save every last centime, may be planning to do away with the tax advantages allowed to parents of students under the age of 25.

CatholicLa Croix looks at the problem of security in retirement homes. In the past month, four elderly patients have died after "escaping" from the establishments where they were being looked after. There's a practical and ethical debate between the needs for individual freedom and the demands of care, especially for older people suffering from, say, dementia.

Left-leaning Libération assures us that the French Justice and Interior Ministers have kissed and made up. The two . . . Christiane Taubira and Manuel Valls . . . have very different political and personal styles, and their ministerial responsibilities obviously overlap since he has to make sure people obey the laws she instigates.

Libé says the partnership is going to face real strain over the next few months as Taubira presses ahead with plans for penal reform, plans which Valls feels are too soft.

The main story in business daily Les Echos says further tax increases are inevitable next year.

This is because, even when current cost-cutting is taken into account, French public spending is on the way towards an all-time record of 57% of gross domestic product. If that doesn't mean very much, compare the French 57% with the eurozone average of 49%, and then think how many Greeks, Portuguese, Irish and other denizens of deeply indebted nations go into the calculation of the eurozone figure.

The Hollande-led administration has had to warn Brussels that they won't, in fact, be getting the national debt down to 3% of GDP this year. In fact, Paris will be doing well if it can keep overspending down to even 4% next year. The Germans are currently just 0.2% off the perfect balance between what the state takes in and what it has to pay out every year. And the neighbours on the other bank of the Rhine will balance the books completely in the course of 2014.

Communist L'Humanité is worried about job losses in the national health service.

According to the main story in the communist paper, spending cut backs will lead to 20,000 lost jobs in the nation's hospitals this year, with a further 15,000 in 2014.

The paper claims that private clinics are being supported by at least 500 million euros in tax credits every year, while the public sector gets zilch, zero, nada, niente.

Says L'Humanité, the health service is no longer simply ill, it is in serious danger of terminal collapse.