Subject: Figures in French Scandals Could Derail Europe Unity Date: Published: 8/13/92 (118 lines) Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. International: Figures in French Scandals Could Derail Europe Unity ---- By Peter Gumbel Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal PARIS -- In a year of political surprises, a zealous French provincial magistrate and a disgraced Parisian doctor may hold the keys to the future of Europe. Renaud van Ruymbeke and Michel Garretta are at the center of two scandals that are outraging the public and further eroding the poor standing of President Francois Mitterrand and his government. The two affairs are unrelated, and purely domestic; one concerns illegal funding of the ruling Socialist Party, the other, the sale by a government agency of AIDS-tainted blood to hemophiliacs. But they are assuming unwelcome international significance as France prepares for a Sept. 20 referendum on the European Community's Maastricht treaties on political union and a single currency. A French rejection would deal the biggest setback to the cause of European unity since the mid-1950s, when the French parliament vetoed establishment of a European Defense Community, and would kill off plans to establish a common European currency by 1999. Government officials say their nightmare scenario is that French voters will reject Maastricht not because they oppose closer European integration but to show their irritation with Mr. Mitterrand and his scandal-ridden government. The tainted-blood and party-financing affairs are among the most damaging of these scandals, and both should continue to bubble in the crucial next few weeks. French and foreign analysts say it's difficult to estimate the extent to which the Maastricht vote will be affected by domestic French politics. But Patrick Klein, research director of France's Brule Ville Associes polling organization, concedes: "There is a general feeling of discontent in France, and the political classes overall have a very bad image. Since those politicians are largely in favor of Maastricht, it could tempt people to vote no. " European financial markets have been roiled over the past two weeks by the prospect of a no vote on Maastricht, reacting nervously to every new opinion poll. The latest have shown a 57%-43% margin in favor of Maastricht among those who are decided. But traders say concern over the fact that 25% of French voters are still undecided has helped drive up the German mark against the franc. French and foreign analysts still generally believe the outcome will be positive and, with a few notable exceptions, most mainstream French politicians are campaigning for a yes vote. But the Maastricht treaties are so technical and hard for the public to understand that the campaign remains vulnerable to domestic political factors. It doesn't help that the Mitterrand administration's popularity is at an alltime low, with a record 76% expressing dissatisfaction. The pro-Maastricht camp is seeking to steer the referendum campaign as far from domestic considerations as possible. But their efforts could be undermined by the timing of Mr. van Ruymbeke and Dr. Garretta. Mr. van Ruymbeke is a 40-year-old magistrate and father of seven children from the northwestern town of Rennes. His investigations into the murky world of political-party financing have brought him ever closer to the seat of power in Paris. France introduced new laws on the financing of political parties in 1988 and 1990 in an attempt to end opaque, illegal and corrupt practices that all agreed had become the norm. But a recent parliamentary report concluded that many of the old abuses continue unchecked. Mr. van Ruymbeke has been zealously investigating the illegal use of front organizations. In some cases, construction companies hoping to win lucrative public works contracts from municipal councils have been obliged to pay "consultants," who allegedly channel most of their fees to local and national party coffers. Mr. Mitterrand's Socialist Party is accused of having turned this practice into a fine art, and in recent months several provincial Socialist Party officials have been indicted. Mr. Ruymbeke is aiming high. In January, he raided the Socialist Party's headquarters in Paris, taking bags of documents. Press reports say he plans to interrogate Henri Emmanuelli, speaker of the French Parliament and a former treasurer of the Socialist Party, just days before the September referendum. Some press reports have speculated that Mr. Emmanuelli and other senior officials may be indicted, something that would greatly embarrass Mr. Mitterrand. The leaks have sparked uproar among the Socialists, with Foreign Minister Roland Dumas even describing the magistrate's actions as, "a veritable plot against the republic." All Mr. van Ruymbeke will say is, "I'm above all political polemics." The contaminated-blood scandal in which Dr. Garretta is involved isn't so much a party-political affair as a shocking human tragedy caused by bureaucratic ineptitude that has discredited the whole institution of government. Dr. Garretta, 48, was a high-flying government health official who became director of the National Blood Transfusion Center in 1981. He and three other officials have been on trial, charged with allowing the continued sale in 1985 of stocks of blood that they suspected of being contaminated with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. More than 1,200 hemophiliacs contracted AIDS from the blood, and so far 256 have died. Dr. Garretta has provided some startling reasons to justify his actions. Among other things, he said he was under government pressure not to destroy expensive blood stocks at a time of economic austerity. He also balked at importing U. S. equipment to test the blood so as to give French industry time to develop its own techniques. The trial finished last week in an emotional blaze of publicity, with the prosecutor calling for a four-year jail sentence and $100,000 fine for Dr. Garretta and lesser punishment for the other three defendants. The scandal is likely to linger over the summer, partly because sentencing isn't due until October, after the Maastricht referendum, and partly because of its unfinished political repercussions. "Not all those who are guilty were tried," raged one man infected by the tainted blood, Jean Peron-Garvanoff, after the trial ended. "Where are the political leaders? " [This article is made available here by Dow Jones Co. for the personal and non-commercial use of callers to this bbs, in the hope that it will be of some help to those who are suffering from the disease and others who are seeking to help them.]