A double tribute.
On December 2, the first anniversary of the death of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, France and Europe will salute the memory of the former President of the Republic in Strasbourg.
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A first European sequence is scheduled at the seat of Parliament at 11 a.m. It will be co-chaired by the president of the institution David Maria Sassoli, and the head of state Emmanuel Macron. In attendance will notably be Ursula von der Leyen (President of the Commission), Charles Michel (President of the Council) and Frank-Walter Steinmeir (President of Germany). The French Head of State will have the final word.
In addition to European heads of state and government, several personalities are also invited.
Among them are the former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, as a former member of the Constitutional Council who sat with Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
As for the former Prime Minister Alain Juppé, “Sage” since the beginning of the year 2019, he is also quoted knowing that he was a partner of the European campaign of Giscard in 1989.
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Also on December 2, at 3 p.m., the family of the former president and the VGE foundation took the initiative to pay him a second tribute, religious this time, during a public mass celebrated in Strasbourg Cathedral, by Mgr Luc Ravel, current archbishop of the Alsatian city and former bishop of the Armed Forces.
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"Very nice", "close to the people", "brilliant": the French remember Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
From the 2nd dragon regiment to the Elysée
“
This makes perfect sense because at 18, my father participated in the liberation of Alsace with the 2nd regiment of dragoons in which he volunteered before becoming head of the Armies by acceding to the presidency of the Republic. French,
”emphasizes Louis Giscard d'Estaing. The son of the former president also recalls that Alsace is the “
emblematic land
” of Christian democracy, the current on which he relied.
A distant successor to his father as mayor of Chamalières (Puy-de-Dôme), where he has been elected since 2005, Louis Giscard d'Estaing received Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Dominique Bussereau in his town last weekend for the “First day” issue of a memorial stamp. "
1974, the starting point of a seven-year term for the modernization of France
" was the theme of the conference organized on this occasion.
For Louis Giscard d'Estaing, such a tribute in the current context of a troubled Europe must be seen from two angles. "
It is first of all a matter of paying tribute to
someone who has advanced the European cause
, in particular through his joint action with Helmut Schmidt
", he explains, before recalling the election of the European Parliament by suffrage. universal, the first woman president with the French Simone Veil, and the launch of the European monetary system leading to the creation of the euro, all three in 1979.
Giscard was also entrusted with another mission: the convention for the European institutions aiming to advance Europe following its enlargement. "
This scheme resulted in the Treaty of Lisbon but my father himself had recognized that the institutions had not been revised in the right order and that it would have been preferable to initiate this revision before enlargement
", notes Louis. Giscard d'Estaing.
Finally, if Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was questioned today on the situation in Europe, jostled on several fronts, his son is convinced that his message would have been clear.
"
It would invite Europe to refocus on its essential missions by relying on the core of countries determined to move it forward together,
" he said.