CER podcast: Where will Macron now take France and Europe?

Centre for European Reform

In this week’s CER podcast, we discussed Macron’s re-election as French President. We strung together the audio from an event that we held just after the elections. Pascal Lamy of the Paris Peace Forum, journalist and broadcaster Christine Ockrent and the Atlantic Council’s Ben Haddad joined us to consider France’s domestic political landscape, Macron’s victory, his vision for French and EU policy this time around, and what the potential stumbling blocks might be. Presented and produced by our media co-ordinator Rosie Giorgi. Index 01:46 - Figures from the first round of voting and what they show about French society 03:38 - Demographic comparison between the Maastricht referendum in 1992 vs. the second round of these elections 05:01 - The diminished influence of socialists and conservatives in France 06:46 - June's legislative elections 08:37 - Climate policy as a priority 09:29 - Trade and economic policy under Macron 10:55 - Europe as central to Macron’s identity 13:19 - 'European sovereignty' vs. 'strategic autonomy' 15:13 - Energy security 18:00 - The French relationship with Central and Eastern European member-states 21:11 - The enlargement debate