Roma expulsions: EU to start legal action against France

[Hopeless Romantic]

European commission to officially ask France to apply EU rules as first step towards court case

The European Union has decided to launch legal action against France over its expulsions of Roma to poorer EU nations.

A European commission spokeswoman, Pia Ahrenkilde, said the commission believed France had not applied EU rules allowing free movement of EU citizens. She said the commission decided today to send an official notification letter to France asking it to apply the EU rules. The commission is also asking France for more details about the expulsions of hundreds of Roma.

These steps could eventually lead to a court case against France.

The commission stopped short of saying that France was discriminating against a specific ethnic group. France has come under wide criticism for the expulsions, from the EU as well as the United Nations and the Vatican.

more..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/29/roma-france

[non sociopath skin]

1. Always been a nasty piece of work, Sarko.

Hope the French get rid of him at the next Presidential.

The Skin

[Hopeless Romantic]

3. wouldn't mind a go on his wife though

[oldironside]

4. Ah, the lovely la Bruni.

The play button for a million fantasies. And I know I'm better looking than Sarko.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flmoa2dVOSU

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Anyone see 'Harry and Paul' earlier this week?

The Berlusconi character - "I can fix you up with a couple of women, look just like Carla Bruni and Michelle Obama, just sign this contract for an aircraft carrier ..."

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Backdown: France gets warning on Roma deportations

The European Commission gave France a warning over its recent deportation of more than 8,000 ethnic Roma, commonly referred to as gypsies.

The commission said France didn't specifically target the Roma when it conducted raids recently at camps in Lyon and other cities that forced out a total of 8,300 Romanian and Bulgarian nationals of Roma origin. The conclusions came after an inquiry into the issue.

French officials said the raids were part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration, and the commission said that "measures taken by the French authorities since this summer did not have the objective or the effect of targeting a specific ethnic minority, but treated all EU citizens in the same manner."

But the European Commission warned France that it must adopt European Union rules on freedom of movement soon.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/29/france.roma/