France is facing soaring debt, sharp spending cuts and rising public anger. Dr Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan from University College Cork explains what’s driving the change and what it could mean for European integration.
00:00France is wrestling with soaring debt, painful spending cuts and a public mood that is turning sharply against Europe.
00:09These pressures are fueling political unrest and reshaping the debate ahead.
00:15Dr. Emmanuel Sean Quinlivan, Senior Lecturer in European Politics at University College of Cork, explains what's driving the shift.
00:24I have to say that your scepticism is rising in Europe, because of course we've seen it in the European elections, but in France in particular.
00:35And Emmanuel Macron was the candidate, one of the very few with the green candidates at the time, to run on a really pro-European platform.
00:44This is a significant danger in French politics at the moment, that if you take each party's manifesto, they are from soft to hard, you're sceptic, except for Macron's policy and the Greens.
01:00France's strained finances are also putting pressure on its long-standing economic partnership with Germany, a key driver of European integration.
01:08France was the counterbalance to Germany's economic orthodoxy, for example.
01:17You know, France has been calling for common debt to be created by the European Union to fund investments in defence in particular, but also in green transition and innovation and etc.
01:32And Germany is very reluctant to this. And Germany will be even more reluctant to this now that it sees the state of France's financial situation.
01:44On the streets, domestic pressures are mounting. Trade unions staged a general strike this month to protest government budget plans and cuts to public spending.
01:53Tens of thousands took to the street in major cities, underscoring public frustration over rising costs and political gridlock.
01:59France's debt has really become a key issue now in the political kind of discourse in the country.
02:07Even voters are now taking it as a very serious problem.
02:13And you are right now, France is borrowing on the markets at nearly the same rates as Italy, which would have been unheard of a few years ago.
02:23So just to put it in context, three years ago, you know, or within the last three years, the debt in France has increased by one trillion euros.
02:36And this is a consequence of Macron's policy.
02:40And it's a it's a trend in French politics to just throw money at the problem.
02:46You know, the IMF isn't at our door yet, but it is certainly an issue that the French political class and the French voters are now focusing on.
Be the first to comment