Eric Besson

Eric Besson seems to be a man with two lives. Until the spring of 2007, he was an unknown socialist mayor and elected representative of a rather plain district in the south-east of France. Although not a famous official of the socialist party, from 2005, he took an important part in the campaign for the presidential election of 2007. 

Until he changed camps. 

In February 2007, two months before the election, as a fiasco was looming for the socialist candidate Ségolène Royal, Besson consecutively quit his responsibility as an official and left the party altogether. Then on the 22nd of April, shortly after the results of the first round were to be released, he joined Nicolas Sarkozy, the main rival of Ségolène Royal, who at this point had already become the President of France. You may debate whether this is treason or not - Besson's own ex-wife contests this interpretation, because, she says, he did not really feel or declare a special faithfulness to the socialists previously, whose ideas he never totally shared. She would rather call it opportunism. But I am not sure if that makes things better. It is, at any rate, a characteristic case of jumping on the bandwagon.

After two years of coordinating the so-called "left pole" or "progressives" of Nicolas Sarkozy's team, Besson decided in January 2009 to dive deeper into the very nervous centre of his politics in becoming Minister for "Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Solidarity-based Development" - yes, we have such a ministry in France. In June of the same year, he divorced his wife and the mother of his three children, who was a geography teacher at a university and was also active in international charities. And in September 2010, he married a 24-year-old student of the highest society: the great-granddaughter of Habib Bourghiba, the first Tunisian President.

Ever thought you could swap political sides and lifestyle so thoroughly in such a short time?

A "talented" Minister

As the Minister for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Solidarity-based Development, Eric Besson did exactly what is probably supposed to be done in this job: he displayed a talent for alternately lying to and insulting professionals working with migrants. In particular, he had repetitive and notorious altercations with the GISTI, an association of a lawyers and law professionals defending migrant workers.

The most epic incident of regular lying, especially on legal matters, took place in April 2009. The French Law condemns any direct or indirect help towards the transit, but also the movement or stay, of an illegal migrant. What seems to be a legitimate prosecution of smugglers, though, becomes a lot more problematic when used against humanitarian workers who give food or a bed to migrants in need of basic help. Faced with protests against this measure, nicknamed the "solidarity offence", Eric Besson just pretended it did not exist. When lawyers pointed out that actually, it did, he pretended it had never led to the conviction of well-meaning citizens or humanitarian workers. Later confronted with the documented answer that it had already happened several times, he resorted to media manipulation by attacking less well-known lawyers associations directly: "they are not trustworthy people; what they say is not credible" - that's it. A very good communication strategy: gambling (and winning) on the fact that appearing self-assured and waiting for people to forget all about the matter of discussion will save one's face. And poor morality or consideration for truth all together.

In August 2010, the Council of Europe and its Commissioner for Human Rights called the Minister, regarding the same problems of migrant rights and uncertain legislation, to respond to the threat that any French citizen can be punished for helping a migrant in need. Eric Besson chose to answer, once more, that there was no such problem.

A change of Mind on Freedom and the internet

Since November 2010, Eric Besson has been a minister associated to the Ministry of "industry, energy and numeric economy". Wikileaks, as well as the French regulation of the internet (LOPPSI 2), gave him ample opportunity to deal with matters of freedom of speech and internet regulation.

In his book, La République Numérique, published in 2008, Eric Besson described the internet as an opportunity and a useful tool not only for the economy, but also for personal development and democracy. But in an interview in 2010, he seemed to have (once more?) changed his mind very quickly. The internet is, he says, an industry, and on this matter, the interests of some internet providers, of device sellers and of the state converge for more control of the web. In the same interview, before a decision for the court, he identified Wikileaks as a "criminal organisation". Questioned about "censorship of a website," he explained that at any rate, "the state has something to say in deciding whether a website should be allowed or not".

From changing sides at the peak of the most important national election in France to endorsing any role beneficiary to his political career, Eric Besson promoted an image of politics that tells of a hunger for power, regardless of convictions. From disregarding human rights for migrants to blaming Europe's thirst for sovereignty, which is actually in defence of basic freedom principles, he gradually came to bring together values which I think are contrary to what Europe should be and claims to be. If all our politicians were that bad, it would not even be worth voting any more. And we don't want a world like that, which is why we declare him Flop European of this edition.

Cover illustration: Laura Hempel