France

April 30, 2018

How much does your neighbour earn?

John Egan takes a look at the complexities entailed in answering the question. If you would like to know how well off you are, you…

April 10, 2018

Shifting sands of scientific progress

The economic, commercial and geo-political status of nations is derived from their scientific and technological prowess. A new report charts how this balance of power…

January 25, 2018

Opération Séduction: a week in the life of the President

Emmanuel Macron continues to surf the wave that swept him to power in the French presidential election in 2017. John Egan reviews a week in…

October 5, 2017

Europe: two steps forward one step back

A slightly diminished Merkel could not have wished for anything better in her changed circumstances than an ambitious, reform-minded and determined French partner, Geoff Kitney…

October 2, 2017

Brexit: university manoeuvres

A French revolution sees a new grouping of top universities prepare to take on the world, Aban Contractor reports from Paris. The discussions that followed…

September 2, 2017

Macron returns to reform

C’est la rentrée. It is the time when France sees the annual migration of its people returning from rural or maritime retreats to the great…

July 17, 2017

The interests of nations determine economic alliances

Britain be warned: Donald Trump is beginning to understand that US interests are far greater in a market of 500 million people than 80 million,…

June 30, 2017

‘Consumptivity’: the heartbeat of a modern economy

At the heart of a modern economy there beats a pacemaker with a rhythm that in large part sets its productivity, its exchange rates and…

June 22, 2017

A good time to be young in Europe?

This is the time to future proof the European Union, writes Geoff Kitney. For Anglophiles, these are disconcerting times. In their worldview, recent political events…

June 1, 2017

Rejecting the future

The United States and Britian have turned inward and away from their places in the international order. Germany and France are preparing to take their…

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Hunt clarification: UK ‘would survive’ no-deal
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has clarified his comments about a no-deal Brexit, saying Britain “would survive and prosper” – but it would be a “big mistake for Europe”. On Thursday he told ITV News a “messy” no-deal Brexit “would be a mistake we would regret for generations”. But he later tweeted that his words “should not be misrepresented” and the UK would only “sign up to a deal that respects the referendum result”. BBC news, August 17

London planners must prepare for no-deal
Sadiq Khan is to instruct the body tasked with planning for terrorism attacks and disasters such as the Grenfell Tower fire to start making preparations for a no-deal Brexit, to assess whether London could face potential shortages of medicines and food. The London mayor said the government was dragging its feet and leaving businesses and EU citizens in limbo by refusing to guarantee their rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Khan said he would ask the London resilience forum to assess the impact of a no deal on the capital’s access to medicines, energy, food and emergency services, as well as on law and order. The forum is made up of 170 organisations including the emergency services, local authorities and the NHS. The Guardian, August 17

Clark: killing Brexit plan will harm continent
The European Commission will cause significant and lasting economic harm to millions of families across the continent if it rejects Britain’s Brexit plan, Greg Clark, the business secretary, has said. In a significant escalation of the government’s rhetoric Mr Clark used a meeting with his Austrian and Finnish counterparts to express dismay at what the government regards as EU intransigence to its proposals. Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, walked back on his suggestion last night that leaving the EU without a deal would be a mistake that both parties would “regret for generations”, saying instead that it would be a mis-step by Brussels. The Times, August 17

EU plan for capital markets union faces delay
The EU’s financial services chief has warned that the bloc’s flagship project to boost private sector investment in business is in jeopardy, with governments lagging in approving the necessary laws. Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president responsible for the euro, said the EU’s goal of creating a capital markets union by 2019 might not be reached. The CMU project aims to harmonise procedures within the bloc to improve cross-border investment, which has been held back for years despite EU treaties that guarantee free movement of capital. Financial Times, August 17

Apprentice slump sparks demand for levy reform
School leavers are being failed by the government’s apprenticeship levy because fewer are getting the training they need than before the scheme came into force, employers have said. After publication of the latest figures, business groups called once again for urgent reforms of the levy to help more young people into apprenticeships and equip the economy for the future. The Department for Education’s figures showed that the number of apprenticeship starts in the ten months to May had fallen by 31 per cent, compared with the same period last year, to 315,900. The levy came into effect in April last year and is charged at 0.5 per cent on annual pay bills of more than £3 million. The Times, August 17

Relaxing vaping laws would cut smoking deaths
The government is missing an important opportunity to cut deaths from smoking, says a committee of MPs who are calling for a cut in the tax on e-cigarettes. They are also urging the government to allow more advertising and to rethink the ban on vaping on buses, trains and in other public places. A hard-hitting report from the all-party select committee on science and technology says the risk to smokers who continue with their habit far outweighs the uncertainty around the possible harms of vaping. Public Health England has said e-cigarettes are 95 per cent safer than smoking. The Guardian, August 17

US threatens more action against Turkey
The US has threatened to impose more economic sanctions on Turkey if it does not free a detained American pastor. Andrew Brunson has been held in Turkey for nearly two years over alleged links to outlawed political groups. The dispute over his release has seen the two Nato allies impose tariffs on one another’s goods. This has worsened a crisis for Turkey’s currency, the lira, which has lost about a third of its value against the dollar since January. BBC news, August 17

Google staff criticise their China search engine
Hundreds of Google employees have written to the company to protest against plans to launch a “censored search engine” in China. They said the project raised “urgent moral and ethical questions” and urged the firm to be more transparent. “Currently we do not have the information required to make ethically-informed decisions about our work,” they added. Google, which has never spoken publicly about the plans, declined to comment. BBC news, August 17

Doctors step up warnings over no-deal Brexit
Doctors have stepped up their warnings about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit, suggesting it could have “potentially catastrophic consequences for patients, the health workforce, services and the nation’s health”. In a briefing paper published on Thursday, the British Medical Association suggested rare disease sufferers and cancer patients risk having their care disrupted, while the UK’s response to pandemics could also be weakened if the UK leaves the EU next March without an exit deal. Chaand Nagpaul, who chairs the BMA’s ruling council, acknowledged the UK government had started planning to ensure the health sector and industry were prepared in the short term. But he criticised their preparations as “too little, too late and quite frankly, proof that the impact on the NHS has not received the attention it deserves in the Brexit negotiations”. Financial Times, August 16