FRENCH SENATE TO VOTE ON BILL JAN 23
Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 9 2012-01-10
France is prepared to require all EU countries to penalize the denial
of Armenian genocide allegations by using an EU framework decision on
the Fight against Racism and Xenophobia approved by the EU Justice and
Interior Affairs Council on April 19, 2007, daily Hurriyet reported
yesterday.
The Presidential Board of the French Senate will include the bill
penalizing denial of 1915 incidents as genocide in its agenda today.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave instructions to French
bureaucrats and diplomats in Brussels to start a new initiative in
the EU Council and Commission.
If the French Senate approves the bill at the end of this month, then
French bureaucrats will lobby to make Armenian genocide allegations
a part of the EU’s framework decision. According to the EU framework
decision, EU member countries made legal amendments to fight against
racism and penalize the denial of Jewish genocide.
French officials believe if the French Senate approves the bill at the
end of this month, the passage will be “legal ground” for allowing a
regulation in all EU countries. The French lower house approved the
genocide bill December 22 and the Senate is expected to vote on the
bill between Jan. 23 and 31.