CER podcast: Where will Macron now take France and Europe?

Charles Grant, Pascal Lamy, Christine Ockrent, Ben Haddad, Rosie Giorgi
11 May 2022

In this week’s CER podcast, we discussed Macron’s re-election as French President.

We strung together the audio from an event that we held just after the elections. Pascal Lamy of the Paris Peace Forum, journalist and broadcaster Christine Ockrent and the Atlantic Council’s Ben Haddad joined us to consider France’s domestic political landscape, Macron’s victory, his vision for French and EU policy this time around, and what the potential stumbling blocks might be.

Presented and produced by our media co-ordinator Rosie Giorgi.

Index

01:46 - Figures from the first round of voting and what they show about French society

03:38 - Demographic comparison between the referendum on the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 vs. the second round of these elections

05:01 - The diminished influence of socialists and conservatives in France

06:46 - June's legislative elections 

08:37 - Climate policy as a priority

09:29 - Trade and economic policy under Macron

10:55 - Europe as central to Macron’s identity

13:19 - 'European sovereignty' vs. 'strategic autonomy'

15:13 - Energy security

18:00 - The French relationship with Central and Eastern European member-states

21:11 - The enlargement debate 

Music by Edward Hipkins.