2003 in France

← 2002 2001 2000 2003 in France → 2004 2005 2006
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	Other events of 2003 Timeline of French history

Events from the year 2003 in France.

Incumbents

• President – Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister – Jean-Pierre Raffarin

Events

• 3 March – Speech of Dominique de Villepin, UN against war in Iraq.
• 10 March – President Jacques Chirac promises to veto any UN resolution authorising war in Iraq.^[1]
• May – Citroën launches the C3 Pluriel, a small convertible.
• 30 May – Last flight of Air France's Concorde between Paris and New York.
• 1 June – 29th G8 summit in Évian-les-Bains starts, with tight security and tens of thousands of protesters.
• 7 July – Corsica voters reject a referendum for increased autonomy from France by a very narrow margin.
• 11 August – A heat wave in Paris causes temperatures up to 44 °C (112 °F).
• September – Citroën cease production of the decade-old Saxo to be replaced by the 3-door C2. The Peugeot 106 also ceases production by this time.
• 24 October – The Concorde makes its last commercial flight.
• 24 December – At the request of the United States Embassy in Paris, the French Government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the U.S. in response to terrorist concerns.

Sport

• 18 June – FIFA Confederations Cup begins
• 29 June – Confederations Cup ends
• 5 July – Tour de France begins.
• 6 July – French Grand Prix won by Ralf Schumacher of Germany.
• 27 July – Tour de France ends, won by Lance Armstrong of the United States.

Births

• 6 August – Prince Pierre of Orléans, grandson of Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France, Orleanist claimant to the throne of France.
• 24 August – Alexandre Coste, illegitimate son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.

Deaths

January to March

• 11 January – Maurice Pialat, film director, screenwriter and actor (born 1925).
• 19 January – Françoise Giroud, journalist, screenwriter, writer and politician (born 1916).
• 30 January – Paul-André Meyer, mathematician (born 1934).
• 10 February – Alfred Aston, international soccer player (born 1912).
• 20 February – Maurice Blanchot, writer, philosopher, and literary theorist (born 1907).
• 22 February – Daniel Toscan du Plantier, film critic.
• 24 February – Bernard Loiseau, chef (born 1951).
• 28 February – Albert Batteux, international soccer player and manager (born 1919).
• 4 March – Sébastien Japrisot, author, screenwriter and film director (born 1931).
• 14 March – Jean-Luc Lagardère, engineer and businessman (born 1928).

April to June

• 7 April – Cecile de Brunhoff, storyteller (born 1903).
• 17 April – Jean-Pierre Dogliani, soccer player (born 1942).
• 18 April – Jean Drucker, journalist.
• 23 April – Fernand Fonssagrives, photographer (born 1910).
• 12 May – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (born 1933).
• 13 May – Jef Friboulet, painter and sculptor (born 1919).
• 23 May – Jean Yanne, humorist, actor and film director (born 1933).
• 24 May – François Boyer, screenwriter (born 1920).
• 25 May – Laurette Séjourné, archeologist and ethnologist (born 1911).
• 29 May – Pierre Restany, art critic and cultural philosopher (born 1930).
• 31 May – Nicolas Barone, cyclist (born 1931).
• 7 June – Georges Pichard, comics artist (born 1920).
• 13 June – Guy Lux, game show host and producer (born 1919).

July to September

• 4 July – André Claveau, singer (born 1915).
• 18 July – Marc Camoletti, playwright (born 1923).
• August – Christian Boussus, tennis player (born 1908).
• 1 August – Marie Trintignant, actress (born 1962).
• 9 August – Jacques Deray, film director (born 1929).
• 27 August – Pierre Poujade, politician (born 1920).
• 31 August – Pierre Cahuzac, soccer player (born 1927).
• 27 September – Jean Lucas, motor racing driver (born 1917).

October to December

• 15 October – Pierre Chanal, soldier and suspected serial killer (born 1946).
• 16 November – Bettina Goislard, United Nations worker (born 1974).
• 21 October – Jean Hélène, journalist (born 1953).
• 22 October – Philippe Ragueneau, journalist and writer (born 1917).
• 26 November – Stefan Wul, writer (born 1922).
• 6 December – Paul-Louis Halley, billionaire businessman (born 1934).
• 25 December – Francine Lancelot, dancer, choreographer and dance historian (born 1929).
• 26 December – Georges Boudarel, academic and Communist militant (born 1926).
• December – Guy Héraud, politician and lawyer (born 1920).

See also

• 2003 in French television
• List of French films of 2003

References

Years in France
18th century	1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799
19th century	1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
20th century	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
21st century	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029