Category Archives: Emmanuel Macron

Macron and Sunak ‘bromance’ signals intent to reset Franco-British ties

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Clear wish in Paris to thaw relations that plummeted to their worst state in decades under Boris Johnson

When Emmanuel Macron rushed to hug the new UK prime minister at their first meeting in Egypt this week, some called it a “bromance”.

Even though the French president’s hands-on embrace of world leaders is almost always called a “bromance” – from Justin Trudeau to Mohammed bin Salman and Donald Trump (a relationship which eventually soured), Macron and Rishi Sunak’s grinning and back-slapping stood out as symbolic.

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French-German friendship ‘still alive’ as Macron meets Scholz amid tensions

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Two leaders under pressure to repair relations after rifts over defence, energy and China

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for lunch on Wednesday as they sought to iron out significant differences on energy and defence that have weakened their relationship at a time of war in Ukraine.

Both leaders, whose countries are seen as the joint driving force of the European Union, made an effort to smile as Scholz emerged from his black Mercedes at the Élysée Palace to shake hands, but the German chancellor appeared to sidestep Macron’s attempts to put an arm around him.

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France becomes latest country to leave controversial energy charter treaty

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Quitting the ECT, which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits, was ‘coherent’ with Paris climate deal, Macron said

France has become the latest country to pull out of the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT), which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits.

Speaking after an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “France has decided to withdraw from the energy charter treaty.” Quitting the ECT was “coherent” with the Paris climate deal, he added.

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French government to use constitutional powers to force through budget

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President accused of authoritarianism as PM puts end to days of heated parliamentary debate

The French government is to use special constitutional powers to force through its 2023 budget without a parliamentary vote, sparking accusations of “authoritarianism” from the opposition and underlining President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened domestic position since his centrist grouping lost its absolute majority in elections last spring.

“It is our responsibility to make sure our country has a budget”, the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, told parliament as she put an end to several days of heated debate over the government’s pro-business budget, which ministers said would protect people from the cost of living crisis while avoiding tax increases.

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Emmanuel Macron’s top adviser charged with conflict of interest

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French president’s ‘right-hand man’ allegedly failed to reveal family ties to public investment agency

The top official in Emmanuel Macron’s office has been charged with a conflict of interest.

The move against Alexis Kohler, who holds one of France’s most powerful jobs as Élysée secretary general, came hours after another ally of the French president, the justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, was ordered to stand trial in a separate case, also over a conflict of interest.

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Liz Truss to attend first meeting of European Political Community

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Inaugural summit of EU initiative that aims to unite Europe on issues such as security and energy to take place in Prague

Liz Truss will attend the inaugural summit of the European Political Community (EPC) next week, an initiative by the EU aimed at uniting the continent to work together on security and other common projects.

The prime minister plans to attend the first EPC summit in Prague on 6 October, a No 10 source told the Guardian, despite her scepticism about the EU-led initiative.

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Luis Vuitton reduces thermostat and light use in shops to save energy

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LVMH announced measures after Emmanuel Macron urged France to reduce power consumption

LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton, plans to lower the thermostat at its stores around the world as part energy-saving measures this winter.

The French conglomerate will also turn off the lights at its stores earlier, starting in France in October before being deployed worldwide.

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EU to invite next UK PM to summit on new pan-European security body

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European leaders will head to Prague on 6 October to forge European Political Community

The EU will offer an olive branch to the new British prime minister with an invitation to a summit to discuss a new organisation uniting the democracies of the European continent.

Britain’s next prime minister, widely expected to be Liz Truss, will be invited to join fellow leaders across Europe at a summit in Prague on 6 October to forge a European Political Community, a body dedicated to advancing security across the continent.

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Trump boasted he had ‘intelligence’ on Macron’s sex life

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Inventory of what was seized at Mar-a-Lago caused ‘transatlantic freakout’ between Paris and Washington

Donald Trump boasted to close associates that he knew secrets about Emmanuel Macron’s sex life from US intelligence sources, it has been reported.

The report in Rolling Stone magazine comes in the wake of the release of court documents on the classified and national defence documents found in a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on 8 August, which mention a file referred to as “info re: President of France”.

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Call for crackdown on dirt-bike ‘urban rodeos’ in France after child critically injured

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Ten-year-old girl suffers major head injuries as motocross bike rider at meet-up in Pontoise hits two children

French politicians have called for a crackdown on urban dirt-bike riding as a 10-year-old girl was critically ill in hospital after being hit by a motocross bike while she played on a housing estate north-east of Paris.

An 18-year-old boy was being questioned by police on Sunday after he handed himself in at a police station, accompanied by his lawyer.

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Rights groups hit out at Macron decision to host Mohammed bin Salman

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Saudi crown prince accused of complicity in murder of Jamal Khashoggi is welcomed in Paris

Human rights campaigners have hit out at Emmanuel Macron’s decision to host Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris during the Saudi crown prince’s first visit to Europe since the murder nearly four years ago of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

On Thursday evening, Macron welcomed Prince Mohammed to talks at the Elysée Palace with a long handshake before the pair were due to dine together.

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Olympic organisers for Paris 2024 ‘in a cold sweat’ as problems mount

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Fears over financing, security and staffing threaten to take the shine off a showcase event and a national triumph for Emmanuel Macron’s presidency

Two years almost to the day before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, organisers are reportedly “in a cold sweat” over security, financial, venue and staffing concerns that could take the shine off Emmanuel Macron’s promised “national triumph”.

The reformist French president, who holds a meeting with key ministers on Monday for a progress report, has personally invested in the success of the Games, having energetically backed the city’s successful bid to host them for the first time in a century as an opportunity to showcase the best of modern France.

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The Uber files: how the leak prompted outrage across the world

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From Europe to India and the US, the revelations have fuelled anger from across the spectrum, from the drivers to politicians

The release of the Uber files has prompted a frenzy of reaction around the world, piling pressure on senior politicians, fuelling calls for a crackdown on corporate lobbying and drawing outrage from groups including traditional taxi drivers.

The fuse was lit with the publication of revelations from a trove of more than 124,000 documents about Uber spanning from 2013 to 2017, leaked to the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and international media.

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New French PM vows to nationalise EDF and tackle cost of living crisis

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In speech to divided parliament, Élisabeth Borne tries to court opposition parties to avoid deadlock

France is to renationalise its indebted electricity giant EDF in response to the energy crisis aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, has said.

Borne vowed to limit the impact of rising energy prices despite the political turmoil of Emmanuel Macron losing control of parliament in recent legislative elections.

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Three rescued from flood waters; abortion rights protests; 54 Covid deaths – as it happened

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SES warns of flooding across saturated NSW; airport chaos spreads from Sydney to Melbourne; Anthony Albanese meets Emmanuel Macron in Paris. This blog is now closed

Flights have been cancelled, ticket prices are through the roof and queues are out the door at Sydney airport as travellers looking to jet off have been caught up in more chaos.

More than two million passengers are expected to pass through Sydney airport during the July school holidays and it is not clear whether the airport will be able to handle the massive demand over the coming days.

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Nation records 33 Covid deaths as Victoria reports fifth monkeypox case – as it happened

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Mark Butler urges Australians to get boosters as new subvariant circulates; nation records 33 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Australia ‘deeply concerned by continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights’

Penny Wong, minister for foreign affairs, released a statement last night saying Australia remains “deeply concerned” by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights.

Australia remains deeply concerned by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights, freedoms and autonomy, two years since the imposition of the National Security Law.

The National Security Law has been applied broadly to arrest or pressure pro-democracy figures, opposition groups, the media, trade unions and civil society. The electoral reforms imposed by Beijing in 2021 have further eroded Hong Kong’s democratic governance.

This will be the fourth time the government has offered to make the changes, announced the changes, and then backtracked as a result of internal politics.

I’m just not sure where we go from here but our members are resolute. We are going to continue fighting to get these trains made safe, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

It’s going to be a very messy day. It’ll be a weekend timetable with other trains taken out of it.

The families of the railway workers right now could be having $3,000 deposited in their account, instead of having that money spent on modifying perfectly good trains.

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Liz Truss dismisses Macron suggestion UK might be keen on joining new European political community – UK politics live

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Foreign secretary tells Commons foreign affairs committee UK sees Nato as key defensive alliance for Europe and G7 as key economic alliance

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has just started giving evidence to the Commons foreign affairs committee. There is a live feed at the top of this blog.

On Sunday Emmanuel Macron, the French president, came away from a meeting with Boris Johnson under the impression that the UK was enthusiastic about his plan for a “European political community” - a proposed new grouping, taking in European countries in the EU and outside it.

That this house notes that UK economic growth is forecast to grind to a halt next year, with only Russia worse in the OECD; further notes that GDP has fallen in recent months while inflation has risen to 9.1% and that food prices, petrol costs and bills in general are soaring for millions across the country; believes that the government is leaving Britain with backlogs such as long waits for passports, driving licences, GP and hospital appointments, court dates, and at airports; and calls on the government to set out a new approach to the economy that will end 12 years of slow growth and high taxation under successive Conservative governments.

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PM says EU trade talks stalled over perception of Australia as ‘handbrake’ on climate action

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Anthony Albanese blames lack of climate leadership and relationship breakdown with France for hindering European deals

Negotiations for a “critical” trade deal with the EU have stalled over perceptions Australia isn’t “fair dinkum” on climate change action and due to a fractured relationship with France, Anthony Albanese said.

The prime minister met with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, on Tuesday in Madrid before the Nato summit, marking the first bilateral visit by an Australian prime minister.

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French lawmakers propose bill to inscribe abortion rights in constitution

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Constitutional law would cement abortion rights for future generations, says member of parliament

A group of lawmakers from the French president’s party will propose a bill to inscribe abortion rights into the country’s constitution, according to a statement by two members of parliament on Saturday.

The move comes after the US supreme court overturned a 50-year-old ruling and stripped women’s constitutional protections for abortion.

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Macron’s centrist grouping loses absolute majority in parliament

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Gains by new French left alliance and historic surge by far right cast uncertainty over Macron’s second term

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping has lost its absolute majority in parliament, amid gains by a new left alliance and a historic surge by the far right in legislative elections.

After five years of undisputed control of parliament, the recently re-elected Macron, known for his top-down approach to power, now enters his second term facing uncertainty over how he will deliver domestic policies such as raising the retirement age and overhauling state benefits. His centrists will need to strike compromises and expand alliances in parliament to be able to push forward his proposals to cut taxes and shake up the welfare system.

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