French Senate to vote on bill Jan 23

BRUSSELS

Members of French lower house vote on the ‘genocide’ bill Dec 22 in this photo. AFP photo

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 Hürriyet 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.