• we cover more than 1,000 news per day, in 2 languages, and 83,000 stocks
Light Dark
it
italian it
english en

Emmanuel Macron was the great liberal hope for France and Europe. How did it all go so wrong? | Oliver Haynes

www.theguardian.com 02-01-2025 10:00 2 Minutes reading

The French president’s failures offer an object lesson in what happens when liberalism is stripped of its morality and values

When Emmanuel Macron was first elected in the spring of 2017, we were told that he was the future of liberal pluralism. The BBC said his victory was “a repudiation of the populist, antiestablishment wave of that time. He was “the next leader of Europe” according to a Time Magazine cover. The Economist went one further. Its cover asked if he was Europe’s “saviour” and declared that he was mounting a revolution in democratic politics “without pike or pitchfork”.

Seven years later, and Macron’s “peaceful”, “democratic” “revolution” is in ruins, as the president struggles to navigate a political crisis of his own making. In June, he called legislative elections that were unnecessary, lost them, and refused to concede defeat. Over the summer, France went through the second-longest period without a government in its recent history. The resulting Michel Barnier-led government was only able to survive for as long as it did thanks to a compact with the far right, before it crumbled after a vote of no confidence held on 4 December. Although Macron has now named François Bayrou as prime minister, it is unclear how this solves the fundamental problem that both the president and his agenda are widely hated in the country, and broadly opposed in the parliament.

Oliver Haynes is a journalist and the co-host of the Flep24 podcast

Continue reading...

Info

Related news
Rolls-Royce to invest £300m in expansion of Goodwo...
08.01.25 12:01
by theguardian.com

Rolls-Royce to invest £300m in expansion of Goodwood factory

Luxury carmaker driven to meet demand for bespoke upgrades, after recording third-highest annual sales in 2024

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has said it will invest £300m in expanding its Goodwood factory in West Sussex to meet the growing demand for bespoke upgrades, after the luxury carmaker recorded its third-highest annual sales in 2024.

The investment will extend the luxury carmaker’s manufacturing facility as it gradually moves away from V12 petrol engines to battery electric vehicles, as well as increasing its capacity to fulfil the whims of some of the world’s richest people.

Continue reading...

Sentiment
0.55
Bearish/Bullish
100