France

Esteban Gas has written a blog about the French elections that took place during the French presidency. While Macron’s re-election at a glance enables another term of continuation of the existing French agenda in the Union, the tightening of the gap between the far-right and Macron will have to be acknowledged politically in the years to come and might affect the EU.

Rose Hartwig-Peillon commented for E15.cz on the upcoming presidential elections in France. The candidate of the far-right National Front, Marine Le Pen, is closing in on leader Emmanuel Macron (Republic on the Move) in the polls, which has spooked investors there. Nevertheless, the current French president remains the favourite to win.

Rose Hartwig-Peillon writes in her blog about the upcoming French elections. How does the war in Ukraine affect the French presidential election, is Macron already the clear winner of the election or is it not a certainty? Is there a lack of a proper national debate in France?

Our researcher Vojtěch Freitag, in his article "French presidency of the EU and Strategic Compass: More EU military missions to come?", writes about France and its presidency of the European Union. France has put forward its vision of the next year EU agenda with a strong emphasis on EU sovereignty.

Our researcher Zuzana Stuchlíková commented for Euractiv.cz on the upcoming French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. According to her, the French presidency will be more visible, unlike the Czech presidency, which is likely to choose the tactic of a "maintenance presidency".

The priorities of the French Presidency include the economic recovery of the Union after the pandemic, the climate agenda, European defence, relations with African countries and the Western Balkans. Our research fellow Vít Havelka also commented on the topic.

Zdeněk Beránek, director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, spoke to Czech Radio about Joe Biden's European tour and his meeting with Emmanuel Macron for the first time since the diplomatic row over the cancelled delivery of French submarines to Australia. He explained what the agenda of their meeting was, i.e. how this row has affected French-American relations, but also how cooperation is taking place in the light of the rise of China, or on the topics of economic recovery and climate change.

The director of our institute, Vladimír Bartovic, commented for the daily Pravda.sk on a meeting between the Slovak Prime Minister Matovič and the French President Macron.

Join a debate organised by Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ/CFA) with Institut Montaigne in cooperation with EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and other partners. The debate will take place on January 28 at 4 PM in Zoom, you have to register to be able to attend.

In his latest EU monitor, Adrian Blazquez examines the the European cooperation in the Sahel strip.

We're publishing the final policy report from the project: Charting a new path for V4-France cooperation, which was written by sixteen invited experts including our Martin Michelot.

Martin Michelot answered the questions of the 15 years of the Czech membership in the EU and the Czech and French relations.