France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said it was 'extremely' possible that the country will miss its target of bringing its public deficit down to 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, which is below the 3.0 percent threshold required by eurozone rules.
Through the havoc it wreaked on the established political system, the recent French presidential election showed the hunger that exists for democratic renewal. But if the Parliamentary elections later this month give Emmanuel Macron's government an absolute majority it would be a retrograde step to presidential supremacy and a compliant Parliament, argues Mediapart’s publishing editor and co-founder Edwy Plenel. That is why, he says, we need a pluralist National Assembly encompassing a diverse, democratic, social and environmental opposition.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who described the Manchester Arena suicide bombingwhich killed 22 people as an 'abominable crime', advised the French public 'to observe the utmost vigilance, confronted as we are with a threat which is more present than ever before'.
France's new prime minister Edouard Philippe, appointed last week by centrist president Emmanuel Macron, previously co-authored two novels of political satire, including one where the narrator explains that 'negotiating with a centrist is like trying to catch an eel in a bowl of olive oil', and how he enjoys fullsome women's breasts which allow 'to put one’s nose into the middle with jubilation'.
Among the notable moves was the naming of Nicolas Hulot, a former TV programme maker turned figurehead for the ecologist movement, at the environment ministry, outgoing socialist defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who supported President Emmanuel Macron's election campaign, as foreign affairs minister, conservative Bruno Le Maire as economy minister, centre-right MEP Sylvie Goulard as defence minister and centre-right leader François Bayrou, a key ally in Macron's presidential bid, as justice minister.
French President Emmanuel Macron postponed the planned unveiling of his new government from Tuesday to Wednesday as he and his new prime minister, Edouard Philippe, continue to ponder the makeup of ministers who he promised will represent a strict gender parity, a mix of political affiliations and also members of civil society.
French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe, until now the conservative mayor of Le Havre and MP, as his prime minister in a move regarded as an attempt to attract a slice of the conservative electorate in parliamentary elmections in June.
