EU offers France ?50 million
The European Union has offered France up to ?50 million to help with regeneration following two weeks of violence and unrest.
EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso wrote to French prime minister Dominique de Villepin, saying “credits” had been rescheduled in order to send money to help rebuild France’s inner-cities.
Mr Barroso told Europe One radio yesterday: “If the French authorities want to do this with us, it is possible to do it with a rescheduling of credits.”
The money will go towards boosting job creation and the promotion of better social cohesion in deprived immigrant communities, where most of the violence originated.
Mr Barroso also proposed an EU “shock absorber” fund to help workers retrain should they be laid off as a result of “global restructuring”.
France is slowly getting back to normal after suffering 17 consecutive nights of violence in the suburbs of towns and cities.
Insurers estimate the damage from rioting may reach ?200 million.
