Hollande - not very good at logic or negotiations.

From the BBC:

French President Francois Hollande will tell Theresa May he wants to start talks on the UK's exit from the EU (1) as soon as possible, when they meet later. The UK's new prime minister has said she does not want to start the formal Brexit process until 2017.

But Mr Hollande has rejected any "pre-negotiations" (2) - and said the UK could not access the EU free market without accepting free movement of people(3).

... He said there should be no pre-negotiations before full and formal exit talks and added: "Access to the single market cannot be guaranteed unless free movement of workers is respected.(4)

... Pascal Lamy, a former World Trade Organization director general who was also chief of staff to ex-EU Commission president Jacques Delors, also said European leaders wanted to know what Mrs May was looking for. "What sort of relationship do you have in mind with the European Union?" he asked.(5)

Wot?

1. He can speak for France but he does not speak for the EU as a whole.

2. If he wants talks to begin, then why would it matter whether they are "formal" (meaning that the UK has applied to leave under Article 50) or "pre-negotiations" (meaning it hasn't)?

3. Free movement of people is an EU obsession, but is quite a separate concept from free trade in goods or services, which in turn could be dealt with separately.

We have plenty of precedents, such as the customs union between the EU and Turkey:

Goods may travel between the two entities without any customs restrictions. The Customs Union does not cover essential economic areas such as agriculture (to which bilateral trade concessions apply), services or public procurement.

They also agreed to a common foreign tariff, which sort of makes sense. If Turkish import tariff for Chinese goods is lower than the EU tariff, then people in the EU would import Chinese goods via Turkey.

UPDATE. The Fat Bigot points out in the comments: if Hollande has started harping on about free movement before Art 50 has been triggered, then he is engaging in pre-negotiations himself.

4. Real weasel words here. "[C]annot be guaranteed" is meaningless. A doctor cannot guarantee that a treatment will work, even though it usually does. "[U]nless free movement of workers is respected" is even vaguer. I can respect other people's places of worship and superstitions despite being an atheist who thinks it is all a load of cobblers and never takes part.

5. Lamy is not authorised to negotiate for the EU either. And I think the UK has made it pretty clear what it wants.

"Queen to make state visit to France"

From the BBC:

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are to make a three-day state visit to France this summer, Buckingham Palace has said.

The Queen is expected to arrive in France on 5 June and spend the following day cringeing while her husband puts his foot in it in Normandy for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The Prince will then travel on to cause more mirth and mayhem in Paris, with The Queen trying to keep a straight face.

The Queen, whose husband last offended the French on a state visit in April 2004, was invited by France's president Francois Hollande. In a short statement, the palace said:

"The Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by The Queen, will put a few noses out of joint on a state visit to France from 5 to 7 June.

"Her Majesty and His Royal Highness are visiting at the invitation of the President of France, President Hollande, who does not seem to realise what he has let himself in for.

"On 6 June the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend events in Normandy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

"Being entirely fair here, the old boy does have a bit of class and style about him, and whatever he blurts out will be a damn' sight more subtle than a certain former Prime Minister who was booed by veterans for referring to 'Omaha Beach' as 'Obama Beach'.

"On 6 and 7 June His Royal Highness will cause bafflement and awkwardness at state visit events in Paris and round off the festivities by chatting to President Hollande about The Queen's fondness for corgi dogs before enquiring politely about the Presidential Rottweiler."

Francois Hollande on top form

From The Metro:

The socialist leader batted away previous comments made by Mr Cameron that he would ‘roll out the red carpet’ for French bankers wanting to flee Mr Hollande’s 75 per cent top tax rate.

"I like British humour," he said. "The top rate of tax here is 45 per cent, in France it is 41 per cent. I do not think there is a rush of British people coming to France, except for holidays."

Carla Bruni has the last laugh

When Hollande was elected, his partner Valerie Trierweiler, aka
Rottweiler, wasted no time in showing off her arrogance:

One thing is certain Valérie Trierweiler, keen on politics from an early age, is not in unfamiliar territory... By taking the place of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Valérie Trierweiler inevitably exposes herself to comparisons with the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy... and she is the first to make them.

"I know politics, I know the media," she says. "Besides, I think it will be easier for me at the Elysée than it was for Carla Bruni. It came from a world totally alien to that of politics. She did not really understand the rules."

But if Valérie Trierweiler understands these famous rules, she has every intention of derogating from some of them. Starting with the move to the Elysee Palace, which the First Lady would prefer to avoid, even though their apartment in the 15th arrondissement of Paris may not match the safety standards for a president: "It requires blocking the street to control all the people living in the building, it's complicated," she says.

It seems as if Rottweiler has considerably less grasp of The Rules than Carla Bruni:

Trierweiler, nicknamed The Rottweiler, insisted she "made a mistake" by supporting Royal's election rival. Ms Royal, who is the mother of François Hollande's four children, had the president's backing to become speaker of the National Assembly.

A 'friend' of Ms Trierweiler – believed to be an Élysée Palace aide – told the Parisien newspaper: "She did not properly calculate the consequences her Tweet would have on the authority of the head of state, on the Socialist Party, her children and those of François Hollande."

Mr Hollande has refused to give his ex-partner a job because she lost the La Rochelle seat in western France so heavily. Ms Royal, 58, branded Ms Trierweiler a traitor and said she felt 'murdered' by her. The president's children allegedly have refused to speak to the 47-year-old first lady due to her public support of Olivier Falorni.

Prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told Ms Trierweiler, who has refused to close her Twitter account, to 'know her place'. An aide confirmed she was being encouraged to 'remain in the shadows' in future.

Haha, I hope that Carla Bruni is enjoying this as much as I am.

Currently running second in this week's Fun Online Poll

It's pretty ironic really. If Ségolène Royal hadn't dumped her partner (a certain M. François Hollande) five years ago, when she was candidate for the presidency herself, then she would now be France's First Lady, so she could have all the fun with none of the hassle:

Community generated land values

From City AM 14 May 2012:

Just six per cent thought Hollande would boost stability in the single currency bloc while 18 per cent said his election would have no effect.

But Hollande’s eye-catching pledge to tax those earning over €1m at 75 per cent could be good news for London’s prime property market, our panellists said. Sixty-eight per cent said they thought French millionaires would likely move to London to avoid the tax, against 29 per cent who thought such an exodus was unlikely.

From City AM 16 May 2012:

Land Securities, the biggest listed British property developer, said demand for office space in London was lower than expected due to the worsening turmoil in the Eurozone.

The joint developer of the Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City of London financial district said on Wednesday firms were delaying moves due to economic uncertainty.

Can anybody seriously say that the extra profits on residential are in any way earned, or indeed that the fall in profits on commercial is in any way 'earned', or are these changes down to impact of 'the community' in its widest sense?

"Carla Bruni... n'en connaissait pas nécessairement les codes".

"Les Britanniques ont été particulièrement... attentifs aux seuls intérêts de la City"