Former interior minister Manuel Valls officially took up office as France’s new prime minister on Tuesday in a handing over ceremony with the outgoing Jean-Marc Ayrault. The composition of the new government will be announced on Wednesday. President François Hollande’s nomination of Valls on Monday followed the Socialist Party’s historic debacle in local elections last weekend, but the move has met with mixed reaction among the ruling majority, divided into pro- and anti-Valls camps. Lénaïg Bredoux reports on the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring that preceded his appointment, and hears from insiders on how, over several months, worsening relations between Ayrault and Hollande reached a point of no return.
During his recent visit to Washington French president François Hollande surprised many observers by calling for a speeding up of the negotiations for a EU-US free trade agreement, the biggest deal of its kind in the world. The president's demands are in sharp contrast with France's earlier caution over the free trade zone, an issue which has provoked concern and opposition across Europe. For some, it also seems a curious stance to adopt just weeks before important European elections at which the proposed deal is set to be a controversial issue. Ludovic Lamant reports.
