No smiling please, we’re French!

FRANCE was officially even more miserable last night when a court ruled that people are not allowed to smile on their identity cards and passports.

In a long awaited ruling, judges in Paris ended any idea that the country might be able to present a more relaxed look to the world. It follows a fouryear campaign by a civil servant from the capital who said the current ‘sombre face’ was outdated and a danger to public morale.

Polls regularly portray France as the most pessimistic nation in the world, and the regulation confirms that fact, he argued.

The complainant, who has asked to remain anonymous, took action after his passport photo was rejected because he seemed to be grinning.

In a letter to the court shown to the AFP news agency, the man says: ‘Is it responsible for the authorities to reproach the French for smiling in a depressed France?’ The civil servant lost an initial case two years ago, when the Paris administrative court ruled: ‘The subject must look into the camera lens. He must adopt a neutral expression and have his mouth shut. He must notably not smile.’ Romain Boulet, the complainant’s lawyer, said the note had ‘no legal value’, and that all people needed to do was look at the camera and keep their mouths shut. ‘Thus no written regulation bans smiling on a photo,’ said the lawyer.

Referring to the Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece that is displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, Mr Boulet said it was easily possible to ‘smile with one’s mouth shut while keeping a neutral expression’.

But last night the administrative appeal court put out the suitably miserable ruling saying the legislation in place was perfectly adequate. ‘The court considers the request of the court inadmissible,’ it adds.

The complainant said a positive verdict would have changed the view of France abroad, but he remained happy.

In a statement issued through his lawyer, he said: ‘The journey started with a smile and ended, whatever happened, with a smile – frank, huge and communicative.

‘For many days, French people have contacted me and showed me their support. There is an army in the shadows. From now on there will be an army of smiles by my side.’

France is currently in the economic doldrums, and also officially in a State of Emergency following a series of terrorist attacks by Islamic State and al-Qaeda.