No infamous quotes of Valérie Giscard d'Estaing misleading

ixtlan

Hi guys,

I read this in one of the Irish papers during the week and was expecting it to be mentioned in a new thread. If it was commented on in an existing thread and I missed it my apologies.

To summarise what happened... the infamous quote from d'estaing was accurate but taken out of context. Apparently in the article in Le Monde he was being very critical of the French decision to rewrite the constitutional treaty as the Lisbon treaty, say it was different and then not vote on it. His argument was that all the original content was there and the public would adopt it unknowingly. He then in the next sentence said... to paraphrase... this is what we should not do because we will be seen as trying to do it behind people's backs. In the new Irish interview he said he had only now become aware of the use of his quote in the no campaign... and to paraphrase him somewhat he says that his criticism does not have any meaning for Ireland which never voted on the older treaty and was voting on Lisbon.

Now, I have some comments to make.

The no side probably still would have an argument that the quote supports their view. D'Estaing was in effect criticising the lack of a vote in France (although I must repeat that he does not think that applies to the Irish vote). Also he was agreeing that the Lisbon treaty was far less readable than the constitutional treaty. However what is more worrying is the vilification of D'Estaing, especially considering that he was actually making a point they agreed with.

The yes side has a lot to answer for also. At no point it would seem did anyone actually read the original article or contact D'Estaing or anyone connected with him. Every time the quote was trotted out the yes response was along the lines of "just one man's view... he didn't create the treaty" and a general sort of dismissal of D'Estaing as an irrelevant and possibly senile old man.

When I heard that quote I assumed that it must have been true since no one was denying it. I also did not bother seeking the source, and assumed it was some off the cuff comment made in some informal setting. I guess if I had known it came from Le Monde I might have been more puzzled.

I was going to add the actual translated text, but sadly I cannot find the "this is not what we should do bit"... but only the omni-present quote which makes the poor guy sound like a devious manipulative liar.

Edit: The online Irish Times doesn't have the actual quote. This is the best I can do.
Mr Giscard said he was unaware until now that a passage from an opinion piece about the EU constitution published in Le Monde and The Irish Times in June 2007 was widely quoted on posters and by No campaigners. In an article in The Irish Times during the campaign, Declan Ganley, wrote that Mr Giscard had "boasted that 'public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals we dare not present to them directly'."

Mr Giscard's next, unquoted paragraph, however, makes clear that he regarded such an approach as "unworthy" and likely to "confirm European citizens in the idea that the construction of Europe is organised behind their backs by lawyers and diplomats".

And Mr Giscard insists that the passage quoted pertained only to France.

"The French had voted on a first treaty, and there was talk of a new one.

"[The government] wanted to tell them 'it's not the same' when, in reality, the content was the same. So [my] argumentation was for the French. It had no meaning for people who had not voted on the text, like the Irish." Mr Giscard (82) was president of France from 1974 until 1981.

Ix