May 25, 2014
The exit polls are now starting to roll in and there are already some interesting stories emerging.Turnout looks on course to be similar to 2009. The estimate for 2014 is 43.11% versus 43% in 2009. In Germany, turnout has increased from 43% to 48%…
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britain in europe, EP elections, EP2014, EU elections, european elections, european parliament, France, germany |
Three days ahead of the European Parliament elections in France, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has written a bombshell piece on Europe for French weekly Le Point and German daily Die Welt – calling for “at least half” of current EU powers to …
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#EUReform, david cameron, EP elections, EP2014, EU reform, EU renegotiation, France, repatriation, Sarkozy |
May 7, 2014
Henri Guaino, a French MP from the centre-right UMP party and a former special advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy, has an interesting interview on Europe in today’s Le Figaro. Here are some key excerpts:Q: What is the European Union, according to you…
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#EUReform, david cameron, EU reform, France, Henri Guaino, renegotiation, repatriation of powers, UK;, UMP |
Question: What’s the difference between these two opinion polls for this month’s European elections?Answer: Ok, the percentages in the bottom graph are slightly higher, but there is a striking similarity. The top graph plots the front runners in the Fr…
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britain in europe, EP elections, EP2014, european elections, France, Francois Hollande, Front National, Labour, Le Pen, MEPs, UKIP, UMP |
April 15, 2014
Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti may be out of Italian politics, but it’s fair to say he still likes to talk – especially when travelling abroad.In an interview with Belgian daily De Morgen and Dutch daily De Volkskrant, Monti seems to hint at…
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Draghi, ECB, eurozone crisis, France, Greece, italy, monti, OMT, Portugal, Spain, whatever it takes |
Die Welt’s Economic Editor Tobias Kaiser has an opinion piece in today’s paper entitled entitled “Stay with us, Brits”, in which he argues that:“Berlin needs London as a partner in the fight for fiscal reason [in the EU].” Kaiser highlight…
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angela merkel, anglo-german axis, Anglo-German relations, britain in europe, fiscal discipline, France, Francois Hollande, George Osborne, schauble, services liberalisation, single market safeguards |
April 4, 2014
The appointment of Arnaud Montebourg – an outspoken critic of German and EU-mandated austerity and pro-competitivenesses policies – as the new French Economy Minister has not gone down well in Germany.In a feature piece headlined, “He insults…
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devaluation, eurozone, France, franco-german axis, Francois Hollande, germany, Montebourg, quotes of the crisis, state aid |
April 2, 2014
The new French cabinet has just been unveiled (the picture comes from Le Figaro’s website). A few ministers have been re-shuffled around, but actually there are only two new entries compared to the previous team: Ségolène Royal as Environment and Ene…
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European Commission, eurozone crisis, Fabius, France, French government, Hollande, Moscovici, Rehn, reshuffle, Valls |
As expected, François Hollande yesterday named Interior Minister Manuel Valls, France’s ‘top cop’ (premier flic, hence the title of this blog), as new Prime Minister. The composition of the new cabinet is expected to be announced tomorrow.For the mome…
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Ayrault, EU reform, France, French economy, Hollande, reforms, Valls |
If you want to get a sense of how badly the latest French local elections went for President François Hollande, have a look at today’s front page of left-leaning French daily Libération: The headline means ‘The punishment’, and it summarises the…
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Ayrault, eurozone, eurozone crisis, France, French local elections, Front National, Hollande, Le Pen, Municipales 2014, Valls |
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