“BY FORCE IF NECESSARY”
The classification, Dati said on X, formerly Twitter, would give the French government the power to override the city of Paris and “undertake construction work, by force if necessary”.
“The Eiffel Tower is not sufficiently protected,” she said.
Dati recently confirmed she wants to run for Paris mayor in 2026, having failed to dislodge Hidalgo in the 2020 election for the powerful post.
In addition to her job as culture minister, Dati is already mayor of the capital’s wealthy 7th district, where the Eiffel Tower is located.
On the Paris city council, the conservative politician is the leader of the opposition to Hidalgo, a Socialist.
“(Dati) doesn’t intend to give up her war against her eternal rival,” commented Gala magazine, while broadcaster TF1 said the minister was launching “a fresh tug-of-war” with Hidalgo.
The mayor responded by saying she saw no reason to change the Eiffel Tower’s status.
Instead, she said Dati should come up with “the 1.4 million euros (US$1.5 billion) that the government owes for work on the Eiffel Tower”.
A major facelift for the monument, launched in 2019, was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the discovery of significant levels of lead, a poisonous heavy metal, in existing layers of paint.
Following the week-long strike, the Eiffel Tower reopened at the weekend when its operator, SETE, reached an agreement with the unions.
The deal stipulates that “the parties will regularly monitor the company’s business model, investment in works and revenue through a body that will meet every six months”.
Both sides also agreed on an investment of some 380 million euros up to 2031 toward the works and maintenance of the tower.
The Eiffel Tower booked a shortfall of around 120 million euros during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when visitor numbers dropped sharply due to closures and travel restrictions.
SETE has since benefitted from a recapitalisation of 60 million euros, which unions say is insufficient.
Visitor numbers recovered to 5.9 million in 2022 and 6.3 million last year.
Source: CNA
