The second and final round of French parliamentary elections took place yesterday, and results are interesting : if, as expected, Sarkozy’s party (UMP) got a clear majority within the Parliament, the Socialists got a rather good result compared to the gloomy projections of one week ago.

The President Party got 314 seats, … Continue Reading…

The first round of French parliamentary elections took place yesterday:

• an abstention rate close to 40%, which means the lowest participation since 1958 for this kind of election. So apparently, people did not feel as concerned by this vote as they did early May when they elected Nicolas Sarkozy as new President with a … Continue Reading…

According to an IPSOS poll released today, the level of salary is the first and major preoccupation of more than half (52%) of the French employees, before the quality of work and the time spent at work. Only 33% of them declare to be happy at work (a drop … Continue Reading…

Nicolas Sarkozy has been elected on a strong political platform about reforms. He and his new government will have to wait for the results of parliamentary elections June 10th and 17th to make sure they will have a majority within the French national assembly, but reforms have already been announced … Continue Reading…

The beginning of the 21st century has been bad for transatlantic relations.  The past seven years have been among the worst since World War II.   Yet, there are now signs that this time of troubles may be drawing to a close.  The wheels of history are again … Continue Reading…

The French have a new Prime Minister and a new governement. The list is everywhere so let’s try to assess how it looks like and what it could mean.

First, this is a compact government compared to many previous ones: 20 Ministers and Secretaries of state, including the Prime Minister, François … Continue Reading…

Rumors are accelerating in Paris about the new government including a certain number of personalities coming from the left spectrum of the French political class. Different names are floating around, and everything can change in the next 3 days. But if this move on the part of the new President … Continue Reading…

Few days after Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory with 53% of the votes and waiting for the new government to be formed (May 17th), two main developments should be noticed.

• Talks are going on about offering non conservatives to become members of the future governement. Names such as Hubert Védrine, former Minister … Continue Reading…

Sarkozy was elected with 53/54% of the votes over Royal with 46/47%. Definitive results late in the night.

In his first speech as the new President of France, Sarkozy insisted on the need to “go back to work”, to restore authority and order, without leaving anyone on the side and by … Continue Reading…

“Those who were scared Sarkosy would lose his temper were reassured, those who feared Royal would not be able to sustain the exchange with such a difficult competitor were relieved”. This is the conclusion of a well known French political analyst following the debate which took place yesterday night between … Continue Reading…