French election

[J Boyle]

Any comments?
By seemingly turning their back on austerity measures will France become the new Greece?

What does that mean for the UK?

[waco]

Its certainly a very interesting question. I think one of the keys could be the relationship between France and Germany. I feel that under Sarkozi the French were sticking very close to Germany.

Under the new leadership I can see France very much going it alone.

[J Boyle]

Under the new leadership I can see France very much going it alone.

Politically or economically? If ecnomically, is that possible under the EU?
Certainly, Airbus can't or won't change.

[TonyT]

There goes Cameron's plan of borrowing carriers etc straight out the window, one would imagine his sharing policy has just ended.

[waco]

I think France will become Uber "independant" in all matters. Whilst they remain a corner stone of the EU, should they come against something they dont like EU wise, they will just ignore it.

Speaking as a EU supporter, this is an approach the UK could do well to learn from. There is normally more than one way to overcome a "difficulty".

Having asked the question Mr Boyle.....what do you think ?

[J Boyle]

I'll readily admit I don't know.

Unlike Sean Penn sticking his nose into UK affairs or various UK pop stars voicing opinions on American politics, I keep my mouth shut on matters I don't think I know enough about.

Whilst they remain a corner stone of the EU, should they come against something they dont like EU wise, they will just ignore it.

According to some UK friends...they do that already.

[Andy in Beds]

According to some UK friends...they do that already.

John.
Well, I think we always need to differentiate between the actual people of a country and the government of a country.
If you were to believe the Daily Mail for instance, one would get the impression that the French were a totally homogenous Europhile race who see no further than the Euro, are happy to be ruled by Brussels and are all virulently anti-British.
My experience is somewhat different (having been there once or twice). I find many of my French friends are as anti EU as I am. They envy our resistance to the Euro and would have the Franc back tomorrow.
They also envied the fact our government (if one could call Cameron and his bunch of public school, upper class ****ers a government) did at one point hint at a referendum on the EU, as they would like one too. Many middle aged, middle income French people feel (as many here do too) that no one is listening or cares about them--even though they work, pay their taxes and generally abide by the law.
I can't see this new bloke being any different to the last bloke, who I most often heard of being sneeringly referred to as 'our little Napoleon'.

I suspect the real danger of collapse will be in Greece (currently looking very unstable again) or Spain, Italy or Portugal.
Bring it on I say, then after a lot of pain (for ordinary working class folk in every country), common sense may once again then get the upper hand and political experiments like the EU and the Euro might well be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Andy.

[ppp]

Any comments?
By seemingly turning their back on austerity measures will France become the new Greece?

It's their choice. We should get a choice too, particularly through an in/out referendum on the EU. Since the EU is such a great thing according to Europhiles, they should be enthusiastic about such a proposition, knowing that the majority of the British people will make the right choice. Of course if the EU were perhaps not so great, then it would make sense for them to oppose a referendum

[bazv]

The EU has no interest in democracy...all of its employees and beneficiaries are very happy on the gravy train

[Andy in Beds]

The EU has no interest in democracy...all of its employees and beneficiaries are very happy on the gravy train

Couldn't agree more.
However, if we wait a while, I think you might see the people of all these countries taking control of democracy.

[mrtotty]

Watering down the austerity policy in France might well facilitate growth and generate jobs, particularly for those groups in France over-represented in unemployment statistics. I don't think M Hollande is going to abandon austerity altogether - rather just water it down a little so that spending cuts are not so draconian and the national debt is still reduced over the longer term without the short and medium-term suffering slash-and-burn policies cause.

Osborne, please take note.

[PhantomII]

I have to say this news is certainly very interesting, and I'll be paying close attention to see what effects this has on France and the EU itself as well as French-U.S. relations.

I admit I don't have anything close to a full understanding of all of the issues going on in France at the moment so it should be interesting to see what happens...

On a similar note, I have to say that as each day goes by, I'm more and more surprised by the number of people around the world (including quite a vocal group here in the States) that just accept socialism in any of its various forms as an acceptable way to run a country...perhaps I'll never understand that point of view.

Socialism...yuck.

Best of luck to France though...hopefully the people are happy with who they elected.

[mrtotty]

Perhaps, but a system of government committed to fairness for all achieved via public ownership/provision of key services has got to be the right way. Our NHS is the pride of the world. It has its problems but free universal healthcare is the product of a celebrated post-war socialist government.

[ppp]

@mrtotty

Firstly, there is no such thing as "free" healthcare. Tax funded healthcare however... I'm sure you're aware of this, but it's important to remember the difference

Personally I agree with an NHS type system, simply because it could be argued that life should come before profit, and that no private company should have that sort of power without a state alternative. This makes sense when compared to our position on similar issues such as the military and police.

[bazv]

Yes it is only 'Free' healthcare for those who do not work (for whatever reason) and for our many 'health visitors' from abroad bless em

[Creaking Door]

So, Francois Hollande is the new president of France elected, by a small margin, on a platform of ‘ending’ austerity.

So far he seems to be stating that he will:

- Employ 60,000 new teachers

- Raise the minimum wage (always a vote winner)

- Raise the taxes paid by ‘big corporations’

- Raise income tax (to 75%?) on anybody earning more than a million euros

- Lower the retirement age form 62 to 60 for ‘certain workers’

But how will all this be paid for? France is already more in debt than the UK (but not by much) so these ‘growth’ plans can only be paid for by more borrowing. Is this socialist manifesto based firmly on capitalist foundations?

Will the ‘big corporations’ in France shed jobs to remain profitable (if they are in profit) to counter the higher taxes? How will the wealthy in France respond; will they move their wealth offshore or move abroad themselves?

It will be interesting to see as the UK has a very similar economy to France and (until now) a very similar strategy for coping with the economic crisis.

[Bob]

I bet the Dutch were loving the headlines the next day - "Hollande takes over France"...

[PhantomII]

I have to admit...I figured I was going to get jumped on for my comments about socalism...I always assumed I was a minority here in terms of my political beliefs.

Then again...maybe nobody has seen this thread.