Find the original article in German at freiheit.org
To handle the current COVID-19 crisis, Germany can learn from the crisis management experience of the French constitutional bodies. Just in time, the Bundestag has taken a path to hopefully save us from a long-lasting legal exceptional situation. It could have been even stricter. Continue reading
In an interview with Freiheit.org, our France expert Carmen Descamps explains how the low voter turnout and losses for La République en Marche came about.
Last Sunday saw the first round of the local elections in France. The elections were to be a milestone for French President Macron and the second half of his term in office. The results on 15 and 22 March were also considered to be crucial for the future of his party La République en Marche. Until the tide turned with the sudden spread of the coronavirus in France. Our France expert Carmen Descamps analyses the situation. Continue reading
On Friday, 13 November 2015, Islamist assassins carried out a series of attacks on popular Parisian leisure destinations: a concert hall, a football stadium during the friendly match between Germany and France and a lively nightlife district near the Place de la République. The wounds heal only slowly. Four years later, the feeling of security has improved, but the threat of terrorism is still present throughout France. Continue reading
European elections have always been atypical in France. Most French citizens have never really understood proportional elections and single ballots. In addition, non-EU related debates and programmes always prevailed.
This year’s European elections were no exception: lack of interest by citizens and the media, lack of knowledge about the election, lack of a European programme for most of the candidates on the electoral lists.
What is different in 2019 is the context: For the past six months, the yellow vests’ movement has absorbed all the attention of the media, with protesters looking for work and riots occurring each Saturday. Some thought this movement would not even last a month; others argued it was a new beginning. Both were wrong. Continue reading
“Ca y est!” – “It’s done!”, is what many europhile liberals probably thought last weekend. After months of uncertainty about the political anchorage of the pro-European Renaissance list of French President Emmanuel Macron in the future European Parliament, the speculation should now have come to an end.
After first tentative cooperation attempts at the ALDE party congress in Madrid last November, European liberals and the French Renaissance list finally sealed their post-EU-election cooperation. The cooperation is based on a Memorandum of Understanding for a still nameless future faction. It is likely that the French name “Renaissance” will be retained, being in line with the ALDE election slogan “Renew Europe”.
With a seemingly shifting world order, expectations towards the European Union are growing with regards to its ability to transform.
French President Emmanuel Macron laid out his vision for a more integrated Europe early during his presidency and made clear that these ambitions could not be realised without Germany. Even though Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed calls for reform, she remained hesitant to some of Macron’s ideas.
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the second round of the French presidential election against Front National’s Marine Le Pen with 66.1% of the votes. The political differences of the two candidates couldn’t be more distinct. On the one hand Macron, who originates from the liberal left and seeks more European integration to resolve the current issues of both France and the European Union. On the other hand Le Pen, a right-wing and Euro-sceptic politician that wants to dismantle the European project and establish protectionist policies in the French Republic. Where Macron and his political movement stand and whether they can unite the French people again was thus up for debate at the Liberal Breakfast the Monday morning after the presidential election at the ALDE Party Headquarters in Brussels.
