The Ins and Outs of French Politics
By Stefan de Vries
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The Ins and Outs of French Politics #13
Although most polls are as reliable as the next crystal ball, they do give some idea of trends in voters’ opinions. I will, nevertheless, draw on statistics from the daily Baromètre, by Les Echos (for which I’m a correspondent in The Netherlands), and Opinion…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #12
Exactly five years ago, Emmanuel Macron started the En Marche ! movement in his home town of Amiens. The club, with the (very modest) founder's initials, promised to be neither left-wing nor right-wing. Enfin, a fresh, modern wind would blow through the entre…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #11
France’s corona policy is at best unpredictable, at worse messy. The vaccination pace is below the - already rather low - EU average and hospitals are overcrowded. The Government keeps changing the rules in an erratic manner. Last weekend, 16 departments went…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #10
'Faire barrage', to put up a blockade, has been a common thread in French elections since the National Front became a serious factor in French politics in the 1980s. This boiled down to that if an extreme-right candidate were to stand a chance, the left would…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #9
The missile strikes carried out overnight in Syria by Britain, France, and the US “destroyed a large part of [Damascus’s] stocks of chemical weapons”. France disclosed evidence that Bashar Al-Assad has used chemical weapons in the attack on Douma.Although not…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #8
The recently deceased genius Stephen Hawking warned that artificial intelligence (A.I.) could annihilate mankind. Maybe that's why France is to invest one-and-a-half billion euros ($1.8 billion/£1.15 billion) in this technology before we are all gone.Macron a…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #7
Thursday saw the first real test for Emmanuel Macron's reformist drive. Rail workers, hospital employees, school teachers, air traffic controllers and other government services took to the streets in protest. Although each group had different reasons for drop…
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #6
Two years after the Cop 21 Summit, Emmanuel Macron thought it would be a good idea to organise a new climate gathering in a Parisian suburb. Leonardo DiCaprio, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elon Musk and around 50 heads of state tried to raise the money to make the …
The Ins and Outs of French Politics #5
When he was a student at the ENA, he undertook an internship in Nigeria. This week, Emmanuel Macron is making his first trip to Africa as French President. Tuesday he went to Burkina Fasso, yesterday he attended the African Union-EU Summit in Abidjan, Ivory C…
French Politics #4
In his second month as President, Emmanuel Macron is slowly turning into a monarch. More and more people are criticising his authoritarian behaviour. The President does not seem particularly bothered by it, and Monday he chose the Versailles Palace as the loc…
French Politics #3
The man who founded a political movement a mere 14 months ago and who became president just last month (the first time he stood in an election) has now successfully blown up the French political system. The few remaining Socialists and Conservatives are fight…
French Politics #2
Two new presidents made their first move onto the international stage last week. The contrast between the two could not be bigger. In Brussels, at the NATO Summit and the EU, and then the next day in Italy at the G7, Donald Trump made a weary impression next …
French Politics #1
Emmanuel Macron took office as president of France last Sunday, taking over from François Hollande, the 'normal President'. A pompous ceremony followed the solemn moment at the Elysée Palace. The next day, he appointed Edouard Philippe as his PM (Prime Minist…