Direct action in pursuit of sectional grievances has become an established principle of French social protest, irrespective of its direct impact on third parties. The latest example, a protest against soaring oil prices by French fishermen, closed ports to tourists, trucks and container traffic and severely disrupted British and Irish access to continental destinations and markets. Although it was called off yesterday following tax concessions by the French government, such action is quite incompatible with the European single market - and quite unacceptable in an era of the close interdependence it symbolises and expresses.
The fishermen's action was taken on the assumption of impunity from the French state and legal services - that has also become an established principle, part of the grand tradition of such protests in that country. Farmers and truck drivers have brought the technique to a fine art. It partly compensates for an organisational weakness in trade union and sectoral terms. Often it gains the support of the French public, whether concerning oil prices, working conditions for drivers or farmers squeezed out of a decent living by collapsing prices and markets. Nevertheless the effective impunity assumed to apply within the French political and legal systems is unsustainable when seen in a wider European context.
The fishermen's action was expressly directed against international travellers, workers and traders, despite being taken to influence the French government. Among those who protested about its effects yesterday was Mr John Bruton, leader of Fine Gael, in his capacity as vice-president of the European People's Party. He pointed out that no private group has the right to deprive EU citizens of the free movement laid down in the treaties - of which the French government is a founding signatory. Under existing law those responsible for the blockade "will not be liable to pay any compensation to those whose interests they have knowingly injured. As a result . . . there is an ongoing incentive to repeat blockades of this kind in France", Mr Bruton said.
He proposes that the EU should introduce special sanctions on those who blockade Europe's highways, airports or ports. These might include seizure of the vehicles or ships used, in order to pay compensation to victims; and the establishment of a link between eligibility for structural funds for such facilities and the ability and willingness to keep them open for EU travellers. These are practical and imaginative ideas, based on the real inter-connection between European and domestic law. They echo the anger expressed by governments yesterday, which should not be left hanging now that the immediate blockade has been called off.
The French government will have to come to terms with such frustration and expect proposals like these to be pressed home in future EU negotiations. That would give it an incentive to deal with these issues at European as well as national level. Soaring oil prices have affected all the EU economies by fuelling inflation, contributing to yesterday's decision by the European Central Bank to raise its base lending rate. The French government is fortunate to have the fiscal wherewithal - much of it arising from access to EU markets - enabling tax cuts such as those announced yesterday to address some of these problems.