2004 in France: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

See also: 2003 in France, other events of 2004, 2005 in France and the list of 'years in France'.

Incumbents

• President - Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister - Jean-Pierre Raffarin
• Interior Minister - Nicolas Sarkozy then Dominique de Villepin
• Finance Minister - Francis Mer then Nicolas Sarkozy
• Foreign Minister - Dominique de Villepin then Michel Barnier

• January 2 - Flight 604 headed for Cairo crashes into the Red Sea. All 148 people on board are killed, of whom more than 120 were French tourists.
• January 30 - Former French Prime Minister and current Mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppe is convicted of a party funding scam in the 1980s and early 1990s.
• January 31 - Air France and British Airways cancel five upcoming US flights to Washington DC and Miami, Florida amid fears of Al-Qaida
• February 10 - The French National Assembly votes to pass a law banning religious items and clothing from schools.
• February 20 - The insecticide Regent (fipronil), from BASF, is banned in France for its implication in Pollinator decline.
• March 1 - French troops are deployed to Haiti.
• April 5 - Queen Elizabeth II begins a state visit to France in honour of the centennial of the Entente Cordiale. The following day, she is to address the French Senate.

Literary Awards:

• Prix Decembre:
• Prix Femina:
• Prix Goncourt:
• Prix Médicis French:
• Prix Médicis Non-Fiction:
• Prix Médicis International:

Television

Film

• January 8 - Franck Ténot, journalist and critic
• January 22 - Ticky Holgado, actor
• February 18 - Jean Rouch, filmmaker and ethnologist
• February 21 - Alex Métayer, comedian
• March 4 - Claude Nougaro, singer
• March 28 - Robert Merle, author
• April 28 - Patrick Berhault, mountain climber