The recent arrest of a French citizen accused of a murderous attack at a Jewish museum in Belgium has highlighted the growing problem of jihadists returning from Syria to wage war in their own countries. More than 2,000 European citizens, including 630 French residents, have gone to fight against the Assad regime since 2011, according to recent figures. And some, at least, of those who return come back intending to use their combat training to carry out terrorists attacks at home. As Louise Fessard reports, the numbers involved are so great that European security forces, including those in France, are struggling to cope.
The British Queen Elizabeth II is in France for the D-Day commemorations, in what may prove to be her last trip to the country. At her side as usual – or rather, two paces behind – is her consort Prince Philip. Mediapart's Antoine Perraud takes a look at Philip's close connections with France as a child and comes up with a theory about why the gaffe-prone consort behaves and talks as he does. According to this theory Prince Philip has sought – not always entirely successfully – to suppress his colourful and varied family roots in order to conform to the demands of the British monarchy. And now, argues Perraud, Prince Philip has himself become a symbol of a once diverse and dynamic Europe that has lost its way.
After her party's successes in the recent European elections, the leader of the far-right Front National is striving to form her own multi-national political group at the European Parliament. The official reason is that such a grouping will strengthen the FN president’s political clout in the parliament. But as Ludovic Lamant and Marine Turchi report, there is another reason for setting up the group – and that is to enable the FN to get its hands on several million euros a year in EU funds. Thus this most eurosceptic of French politicians might end up using EU money to help support her attempt to win the French presidency in 2017.
When the man at the helm of the French bosses' organisation calls for wage restraint and suggests paying young workers less than the legal minimum wage, it would seem reasonable to expect him to be prepared to take a dose of his own medicine. Instead Pierre Gattaz, president of the employers' association MEDEF, has just awarded himself a 29% pay rise. He is far from being the only culprit in France's corporate world. But, says Martine Orange, the symbolism bodes ill for President François Hollande's bid to cut business costs in exchange for creating jobs, a policy on which the president has staked his political future.
May 6th, 2014 marks the second anniversary of François Hollande's election as president of the French Republic. Any celebrations, however, are likely to be muted. Six weeks after disastrous local election results that led to a government reshuffle, and just three weeks before European elections where his Socialist Party looks set to come third, the president is at a record low in opinion polls. Hated by the Right and mistrusted by sections of the Left, Hollande now has three years in which to recover from a near-total rejection by the French public. As Hubert Huertas argues, that will be no easy task.
Discrimination is alive and kicking in France, according to a study by the state's official statistical agency INSEE. Whether it involves education, career progression, pay or getting access to housing, there are obstacles and hurdles at all levels of society for disabled, women and gay people as well as those from immigrant backgrounds. Nor does having good qualifications always make the situation better - indeed, in some cases the inequality gets worse higher up the workplace ladder. As Carine Fouteau reports, the study suggests there is a real need for more concrete action despite the pledges and fine words from President Hollande and his government.
During the second part of his government reshuffle this week, President François Hollande did not just change his ministerial team and a key member of his private office – he also reshuffled the Socialist Party, forcing its widely-criticised first secretary Harlem Désir to quit. But to general astonishment Désir was immediately offered the post of junior minister for European Affairs. Political opponents and some allies described this as a bleak moment for French relations with Europe, with one senior figure even calling it an “insult”. Meanwhile the manner in which the president abruptly removed the party's leader has caused consternation among some members. Stéphane Alliès and Ludovic Lamant report.
The dust has settled after the first round of voting in nationwide municipal elections in France, and a new political landscape has emerged even before the final round of voting next Sunday. Amid an abstention rate of more than 36%, the ruling Socialist Party has suffered a heavy defeat, likely to become a debacle in the second round. But it is the far-right Front National party which can claim victory, and not the mainstream conservative opposition. Hubert Huertas analyses the first-round results which see the far-right now become a part of the fabric of local politics in France.
Paris is about to have its first woman mayor in the city's long history. But the certainty that either socialist Anne Hidalgo or right-wing candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet will take the reins of the French capital after the two rounds of local elections that start this Sunday masks the fact that most French towns and cities will be run by a man whichever of the main parties wins the local vote. An examination of the mayoral election candidates by Mediapart has revealed that the great majority are male, white – and not very young. Lénaïg Bredoux and Ellen Salvi report on the slow progress made by the country's two major mainstream parties in making their politicians more representative of the populace.
The former Luxembourg prime minister has just been voted by Europe's mainstream right-wing parties to be their lead candidate ahead of May's European elections. Under new EU rules now in place this means the veteran politician could well become the president of the European Commission later this year. But for many observers Jean-Claude Juncker is indelibly linked to a dated vision of Europe that belongs to the last century. And as Dan Israel and Ludovic Lamant report, he is also closely identified with the financial secrecy of his native country.
