Strasbourg Puts Sleep Before Jobs

In a country suffering record 12.5 per cent unemployment and economic stagnation, a company offering such a major investment, in preference to neighbouring Germany, might have expected a warm welcome.

But the project effectively died last Monday when mayor Catherine Trautmann and the chamber of commerce, which runs the airport, reversed their support and asked DHL to withdraw its application due to massive public opposition to night flights.

The project proposed by DHL is neither workable nor acceptable. In this case, economic development is incompatible with people's health, Trautmann said.

The DHL case epitomises the inflexibility of France, where citizens put the preservation of their lifestyle and acquired rights ahead of the creation of new jobs.

 

It also exemplified the reluctance of French politicians of all stripes to stand fast in the face of street protests.

At least 12,000 protesters marched through Strasbourg on Saturday to demand that the airport, close to residential suburbs, stay closed between 11pm and 6am.

DHL, whose main shareholders are Deutsche Lufthansa and Japan Airlines Ltd, had planned seven nightly flights from next year. Politicians of all mainstream parties initially supported the plan, citing the number of direct and indirect jobs it would create by making Strasbourg the freight centre of the southern Rhine Valley.

But they backed down equally unanimously in the face of public opposition. The Alsace region is France's biggest ecologist stronghold