EU

I am really happy about the results reached at the Brussels Meeting regarding the future of the European Union. Apparently, the 27 members have reached an agreement on a formula that would allow the European Construction to go forward.

I had to say that I was disappointed with the Polish position that was blocking everything. The EU accepted Poland a couple of years ago and since then this country has only brought problems to the EU: Nationalism, racism, ultra conservative positions etc... Honestly, I am a great euro-enthousiast but I feel that I have nothing to do with the values this country has brought to the western countries of Europe.

I really don't understand why do you want to join a club if it is only to oppose everything the other members are trying to do.

Ok, French people were really dumb when they rejected the EU Constitution, but at least we were not actively trying to block the other members.

This agreement is a minima but I personally believe that it is still a great victory for Europe.

Regarding the way our new President conducted the negotiations, I tend to think that he did a great job. Comparing with Chirac, which was not capable to understand how Europe worked and had only in its mind the interests of the farmers' lobbies and nothing else, Sarkozy has so far demonstrated that he was capable to conduct marathon negotiations involving different types of participants, interests groups and cultures.

Bottom line, I am really happy with the conclusion of this agreement.

Passports

After the big mess surrounding the passports requirements imposed by the US to all the countries benefiting from the Visa Waiver Program (including France), the US imposed on all its citizens to present a Passport when entering the country by plane (for cars that should be for next year).
Of course, here too, things did not go well and the Passport Agency has not been able to meet the demand. Too much demand for new passports and not enough agents to process them. People had to cancel trips, go queue at the Passport Agency etc...
As a result, the rule has been suspended.

This drives me crazy. If the US want to secure their borders and control who enters and leaves this country, as they repeat constantly on TV, they should be able to produce the use of safe documents such as a passport.
This would make things so much easier.

The only good thing about this suspension is that it will annoy Lou Dobbs ;-)

Immigration

Unfortunately the immigration bill that was currently debated in the US Senate failed. Today more than 12 million illegal immigrants are in the US. Nobody really knows how they live and how they survive in America.

Although, as a newcomer in America, I have to say that there is a real hypocrisy here about this topic. One the hand, we ear all the time about how these people broke the law and that they should be deported. On the other hand, it's very easy for an illegal immigrant to come and settle in the US. They can open bank accounts, own property, cars, get insurance etc... (this is not the case in France)
For me, the greatest joke about this are the social security card. They are made of paper and are really easy to tamper. You wonder if this may not be on purpose. I don't know but this makes it very easy for illegal immigrants to forge them and almost impossible for employers to know if a person has or not a legal status.

What I liked about this bill was that it required the potential immigrant to know some English (not that I want to impose English as the unique language but but I have to admit that it makes me sad to talk to some people that have been here almost 20 years and not be able to get a good job because they don't speak the language), and to prioritize immigrants that have some technical skills the US needs the most. I understand that when you emigrate here you want to be close to your children and wife (I totally support that, I even think that parents of US citizens should not be deported) but I really don't see why the parents of a child that has reached its majority and its siblings should benefit of some kind of priority before other people that have a particular degree which might be helpful to the US economy.

Moreover, I also believe that you cannot have a good immigration bill without a secure border. I know this is completely political. But I believe that the US need to address this issue. I believe that a lot of people would be more willing to accept a comprehensive reform of the current law, if they knew that it would nearly be impossible to sneak in through the border.