French press review 14 June 2013

The corruption probe into a payout to businessman-turned-politician Bernard Tapie is fast becoming a thriller with the papers having a field day trying to catch up with the new revelations.

In the very latest development, Stéphane Richard, the head of telecoms company Orange and chief of staff to IMF chief Christine Lagarde during her time as French finance minister, charged with “fraud as part of an organised gang” has been telling speaking to the judges.

Libération says that the tycoon was present at a meeting chaired by Claude Guéant, secretary general to the presidency at the Elysée Palace in 2007, during which the issue of arbitration and a state payout for Tapie is said to have been discussed.

Aujourd’hui en France quotes Bernard Tapie backtracking on his earlier claim that he did not remember where he was on that memorable day. According to the paper, he has now admitted entering the Elysée at the time, “without hiding” and meeting with then-president Nicolas Sarkozy on several occasions. He states in an interview with Aujourd’hui en France that neither Stéphane Richard, Christine Lagarde nor Claude Guéant had the power to decide on the matter.

Libération looks back at the genesis of the six-year scandal and highlights remarks made on RTL Radio on Thursday by Digital Technology Minister Fleur Pellerin. The Tapie affair is “shedding light on a fraudulent system of personal enrichment and a mechanism put in place to facilitate illegal campaign funding”, she said.

Fraud as part of an organised gang is considered a very serious crime in France and it carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a million-euro fine.

Le Figaro says the government is preparing to file an injunction on behalf of French taxpayers, seeking a refund of the millions paid to Tapie if the arbitrators' decision is cancelled.

Richard’s time at Orange has become an issue of intense speculation in today’s papers.

Most national dailies quote aides to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault saying that the board of Orange, in which the state holds a majority stake, will meet in the next few days, to decide whether Richard will have to step down from his role as chairman and chief executive while he fights the charges.

Le Figaro looks at President François Hollande’s projected pension reform as he is set to receive an expert’s report prepared by Yannick Moreau this Friday. According to the paper, Moreau is recommending an explosive cocktail of measures including a recalculation of civil servants' pensions, an increase of the pension contribution period and a rise in the General Social Contribution tax.

The right-wing paper publishes the findings of a new OpinionWay survey showing massive support for the scrapping of the so-called special pension regimes. An estimated 56 per cent of people polled favour the harmonisation pension rights for public and private sector workers. Aujourd’hui en France has also seen an advanced copy of the report and says that there are no plans to scrap the special pension regimes of railworkers, energy workers, sailors and other strategic trades.