A Channel 4 report: The latest opinion polls suggest Sarkozy's 10% deficit in the first round of voting has been eliminated and he's now either neck-and-neck at 30% with the Socialist candidate or even marginally in front. The Socialist François Hollande has a 6% lead in the second round, however. The election is a vital […]
By Tim Montgomerie In France they call him a cavier socialist because of his penchant for high living: "Over the past week or so, doubtless fed by the political right, the French media has been filled with reports about Mr Strauss-Kahn’s lifestyle, complete with photographs of his pad in Marrakech and swanky Paris flats. A […]
By Tim Montgomerie Public services throughout France have been affected. Trains and flights have been cancelled. Schoolchildren have boycotted classes. Most worryingly for the stability of France, oil refineries have been blockaded – threatening supplies to the nation's petrol stations. Protests – which the government estimates have involved 1.2 million strikers and which the unions […]
By Tim Montgomerie Over recent weeks the embattled French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has begun a programme of deporting Gypsies. He has claimed claimed that the illegal settlements are breeding grounds for criminality, including prostitution and common theft. The programme has so far involved riot police closing 100 illegal camps and remove approximately one thousand people. […]
Dominique de Villepin (pictured) is most famous outside of France for taking on George W Bush at the United Nations – representing France's then President, Jacques Chirac, in opposition to the Iraq war. M. de Villepin is not a big fan of America full stop. In a book of poetry entitled The Shark and the […]
According to Le Figaro, the French President is said to have said "He'll start out eurosceptic and finish up pro-European. It's the rule. He'll be like all the others." Other European leaders were less direct in their reaction to Mr Cameron becoming Prime Minister. Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission in Brussels […]
His Presidency began with such energy but battered in the first round of Sunday's regional elections there are now fears that reforms – already left too late in the presidential electoral cycle – will grind to a halt. The Wall Street Journal's Matthew Curtin examines the dangers: "Even before the financial crisis, reform was piecemeal; […]
British Conservatives have been irritated by President Sarkozy in recent times. He has fiercely opposed the decision of David Cameron to take Tory MEPs into a more free market, less federalist grouping in the European Parliament. He has celebrated the appointment of a French EU Commissioner who has the aim of "clamping down" on the […]
France may have Western Europe's largest Muslim population – five million – but it was also the country that, five years ago, banned the Muslim headscarf and other religious symbols from public schools. President Nicolas Sarkozy has now joined calls for the burkha to be banned: "We cannot accept to have in our country women […]
ComRes have begun to circulate a very interesting guide to public opinion across Europe. Here are some of the learnings from ComRes’ latest email: The Czech EU Presidency has produced an opinion poll boost for Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek’s coalition government. Denmark is split on joining the Euro. 55% of the French public profess to […]
In recent weeks Nicolas Sarkozy has worried free marketeers for his efforts to protect the French car industry. The Wall Street Journal accused the French President of "egregious patriotisme économique" after warning Peugeot Citreon and Renault to keep car plants out of the Czech Republic. He has also backed away from school reforms after fearing […]
Nicolas Sarkozy is pursuing an ambitious agenda at today’s EU summit as Mark Mardell blogs. At the heart of this summit though is the proposed deal on climate change. Leading the ‘awkward squad’ is Poland. Poland’s Donald Tusk wants a combination of more time or/ and money to help Poland convert from coal. A reporter […]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy – currently President of the EU – failed to win agreement from Central and Eastern European nations for support for EU-wide action on climate change although certain concessions have brought the possibility of agreement closer. "The EU," reports AFP, "has set a triple "20" objective for 2020: slashing greenhouse gas emissions […]
Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan.