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Half of all French marriages end in divorce. In an attempt to address this problem, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government recently unveiled plans for longer civil ceremonies and a “marriage preparation kit” that will remind soon-to-be husbands and wives what they are signing up for. Civil marriages in France take place in town halls under a portrait of the President and the bust of Marianne, the personification of the French republic. Announcing the new plans, minister of state for family affairs Claude Greff said the existing ceremonies were too impersonal, too short (some take as little as five minutes) and failed to give couples a sense of their rights and responsibilities.
 
“Many citizens discover much later what the civil code involves, but by then it’s too late. I want to make the risks clear,” she said. France’s divorce rate in 2010 was 50 per cent, according to the national statistics office, and rose to 66 per cent in the Paris region. The “preparation kit” was suggested by an official working group charged with finding ways of reducing the marriage breakdown numbers. The group discovered that many married couples knew little about their commitments to their in-laws or their financial obligations after divorce. “We have to make sure people know what they’re getting into,” agreed the national federation of Catholic family associations.
 
With a presidential election in four months, every move by the government is being parsed for strategic meaning. Some will see this latest initiative as an attempt to appeal to voters concerned about family values whose support Mr Sarkozy risks losing to more conservative rivals. President Sarkozy, who has himself been divorced twice, dismissed reports that he might include same-sex marriage in his election manifesto. 
The Irish Times. January 21.