Paris pushes flag, anthem to promote French identity

PARIS - The French flag will be hoisted at every school in France and the national anthem sung by students at least once a year as part of Government efforts to instil in citizens a sense of pride in being French, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said yesterday.

Language training and instruction on gender equality are foreseen for newly arrived immigrants, while new citizens will attend a solemn ceremony and sign a pact listing the duties that go with being French once a law is adjusted to make that possible.

Many of the measures are more symbolic than concrete, but all are the fruit of an often noisy government-sponsored nationwide debate on the French identity that on occasion plunged into racial slurs, often directed at France's estimated five million Muslims.

Minus a few exceptions, the Socialist Party boycotted the debates. Party spokesman Benoit Hamon said that the measures in the works were mostly devoid of substance. He claimed that the exercise divided more than united the country.

A poll published on February 1 showed that more than one French in two were critical of the debate and nearly 62 per cent said it did not help them "define what it is to be French".

However, the Immigration Minister justified the debate with another poll that showed that 74 per cent of those polled think France's national identity is weakening.

The series of measures announced focuses on youth and on immigrants. Schools will be obliged to hang the French flag and post a copy of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 in each classroom. Schools also are to upgrade civics lessons.

Immigrants will be obliged to learn French - and take additional lessons if their progress is slow - to get their residence cards renewed.

A test measuring knowledge of French values is to be taken at the end of a training day that is already part of an integration contract for immigrants.

Gaining citizenship is to become a solemn event with a special ceremony at which candidates will sign a pact pledging respect for French values and laws.

An existing law must be modified to put this measure in place.

- AP