Category: articles
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30. Marine Le Pen and the French seism
Though opinion polls predicted that the National Front of Marine Le Pen would win this European Parliamentary election, the actual numbers came as a shock to the French political elite. Rethoric question: why? Then: what will be the reaction? First of all, the lead of Marine Le Pen’s party is not one or two percentage…
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29. Protectionism in France: what is the problem?
After my post about protectionism in France, a comment arrived in my mailbox. A good one. It practically said that it was rational and absolutely logical to “check out foreign capital” before it came into a country, especially when the government of the host country was a left-wing government. But of course! As I said,…
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28. National Front: the strongest French party?
This week might make the National Front the strongest or the second strongest party of France, even though its local grounding is not that deep and wide as it has been hyped after the local elections of March. Could the National Front win the European Parliamentary election? According to opinion polls, the National Front might…
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27. Political risk in France: back again?
The French government issued a new decree on Thursday that basically says that the government should okay foreign takeovers in a few strategic industries (including water, energy, telecoms and transport), effectively creating a veto right for the government. Does this imply a return of political risk in France? Political risk in France = negative image…
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26. Why do Americans hate the French?
“Why do Americans hate the French?” If you check Google (concerning Franco-American relations) for search results, the quote above is a suggestion that you get. Kind of surprising, isn’t it? Because first of all, it is absolutely not true that Americans hate the French. According to a 2014 Gallup poll, for instance, 78% of American…
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25. All eyes on French party leaders
After two weeks of commemoration (and two long holidays), the French political elite begins a whole, long week – of campaigning for the European Parliamentary elections. Meetings and campaign events All parties and all party leaders are out campaigning: the Socialist Party will even host a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Martin…