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Empowering people and civil society was the main goal of En Marche movement founded by Emmanuel Macron. As president Macron has governed in the presidential style of De Gaulle, creating dissatisfaction. Macron is criticized for centralizing power and decision making process so that the style of governing is in sharp contrast to the way En Marche draws on grass roots support. En Marche itself was critical of how the older politicians had governed France. The Interior Minister and Environment Minister resigned with the Environment Minister saying he felt "all alone" in government. This is happening as the European Union election is approaching with the poll numbers of Macron dropping to about 26%. Marie Le Pen's RN is ahead of Macron's En Marche for the first time in polls taken in November 2018 for the May 2019 European Union elections. The think tank Friends of Europe shows 41 percent of French respondents in a survey saying life would be the same without the EU, while only 21 percent thought it would be worse.    ...

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France's rail strike goes into its second day with large stations such as the Gare de Lyon deserted, stations empty, platforms deserted and millions of travelers unable to get to work. French unions are testing the French government's effort to change the generous benefits granted in a different era for rail and other workers. Workers at SNCF France's rail system can retire in their fifties even as workers now live longer lives, as early as at age 52.  Workers are hired for life. Pensions are given at the highest salaries and housing is subsidized. SNCF is $68 billion in debt. Costs are much higher to run the system than in Germany. The unions are intent on preserving these benefits from a different period.  This issue came up in the election debates about how the pension system can be put on a good basis with proper funding. Macron has taken a firm stand and the centrist parties in parliament see this as a symbolic fight to changing the future of French society and the economy. The reforms will raise age for pensions, and affects only future hires not the current ones. Yet the unions have chosen to fight this.  Everything depends on how the public and commuters see this. One sign of the changes this time compared to successful strikes by unions in the nineties is that the percentage of employees of SNCF declined on the second day from 33 percent to 29 percent. Polls show a small majority of the French sees the strike as unjustified and Macron's popularity ratings going up slightly. The prestige of the labor union CGT and its strategy is also at risk. Macron's view is that overprotected entities in the French system- the "Statutory Society" referring to the Statute of Railway Workers from a different era- block changes in social and economic life that would increase social mobility. This and France's future is being put to the test.   ...

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Spiegel Online's interview with Emmanuel Macron, on the TGV 8434 train from Bordeaux to Paris. He is joined by Mrs. Macron. Macron says he is aware that he does not have a bloc of core support like Ms. Le Pen, yet he says this means he will try that much harder for voters on the right and the left. He says their is no political renewal in the political class in France and that it remains closed. He says particular attention must be paid to rural France outside big cities like Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Paris, where people have had a different encounter with globalization. On the European Union he sees the need to revitalize it by having a closer union focussed on countries that are interested in this. He sees the need for a joint finance minister and permanent head of Euro Group. This might be a smaller EU without countries such as Britain, and others who are not interested in a closer union. He does not agree with the idea that any member state of the EU can stop other member states from proceeding. Macron does not believe in moving to the right as in the Dutch election because he says people are "not idiots" and in France this has not worked for Nicholas Sarkozy, which has some truth to it as authenticity (and humility) matters to French voters. A personal approach worked for Fillon early on till the scandal over payments he received. Macron brings to this personal approach and relative youthfulness, his sense that he must appeal to all segments, rural and urban, educated and less educated, and at the same time be true to core values such as preserving the European Union, and authenticity in terms of views on Algeria. He also says he is aware he faces risks but that this is something he believes in deeply.   Macron has not hesitated to express his views on topics such as Algeria, calling it a crime against humanity, and later elaborating on what he meant. Macron says his movement En Marche is different in style and manner from the closed nature of French politics. He believes in transparency, term limits, and removing conflicts of interest in French politics, as a way to make a fresh start. The first round of voting is on April 23, 2017, followed by a second round of voting between two candidates.  ...

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Chancellor Merkel's now widely quoted words were made in Munich on May 27, 2017, after a NATO summit meeting in Brussels and a Group of 7 meeting in Italy, in which she was disconcerted by U.S. president Trump's positions on NATO, Russia, climate change, and trade. These words "the times in which we could rely fully on others - they are somewhat over." Merkel added "This is what I experienced in the last few days." After the election of Emmanuel Macron in France, Merkel expressed great relief at the outcome of the French election with Macron winning about two thirds of the vote, setting the stage for the election in Germany after several months of difficult watching and waiting. Now there is new confidence in Germany shaping its own future, with France and the rest of the European Union without Britain. Merkel says she "experienced this" meaning that she had undergone a transformation in these few months, and visibly in the last few days. She was also sending a message to Germans and people of the European Union - "we have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans." This also complements tactically to form the approach of Germany and France at the leadership of the EU, as French president Macron said at the end of the Group of 7 conference that multilateralism was intact, and the U.S. and EU shared many common goals.   ...

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The long and bruising process of exiting the European Union for Britain is being seen across EUrope as a lesson. Marie Le Pen in France and Salvini in Italy have dropped ideas of France or Italy leaving the EU. Nationalist politicians are now shifting to a new agenda of reforming the European Union from within. Voters are being reassured by politicians that it is best to remain inside the European Union. Chancellor Merkel has carefully guided the European Union through this crisis, first through the eurozone financial crisis, then through a period of migration to Europe from war torn Middle Easter and African countries, and more recently with president Macron of France facing the effort to get Britain to leave the EU. After Boris Johnson's win in British elections with 44% of the vote Britain now faces the difficult choice especially for hard line Brexiters such as Mr. Jacob-Lees Moog and Johnson, to either accept European rules, regulations and standards over which it has little control or lose market access to the EU. There is also the issue of Scotland which favors being inside the EU and a Scottish independence referendum. ...

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FR24 looks at the SPD's Olaf Scholz in German elections and the future leadership for the European Union with new leaders expected in Germany and France.

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In an effort to build closer ties with France and the European Union, president Biden will host president Macron in the first state visit of his presidency.

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The NYT's look at the televised debate between Macron and Le Pen for the presidential election. Macron has this to say in closing about Le Pen's shelving her plans for exit from the European Union compared to her position in the last election. "It's a project that doesn't say its name but entails leaving the European Union. I'm not lying about the goods, you are lying about the goods." Macron says Le Pen is being disingenuous about this, arguing that by reducing French contributions to the Eu budget and by ignoring fundamental rules of the EU such as freedom of movement and the single market, that would lead to a de facto exit from the European Union for France. Lyrarc has shown today on this page how the debate was covered in FR24, DW.com, The Guardian, BBC News, WSJ, and NYT. One of the key questions is what would she or some other candidate such as Mr. Melenchon done differently than Mr. Macron- For the once in a century pandemic? Macron is not faulted by any one for the work done by two prime ministers he appointed for the task. What would she or some other candidate done differently for today's surging inflation, considering that it is happening worldwide? Are their aspects of France's welfare state, and her economy and the currency that are better protected under the European Union than in a situation of de facto exit. The absolute power in the French presidency is something that happened after a weak system of prime ministers and coalition governments in the period between the two wars, and that power used wisely enabled De Gaulle to take decisive steps  over a decade for France in the post war modernization of France. This was a problem for Melenchon with his calls for a new Republic and a new constitution. Yet many of todays problems of decaying communities and once prosperous industrial towns in decay in the north, northeast and the south require a next generation industrial revolution to bring manufacturing back to France and back to the European Union, and large scale investment in France, as is happening today in the US which is confronting the same problem.    ...

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Walker of the WSJ describes how the new issues of immigration and identity are changing the way people vote in European Union countries. In the Dutch election there were other surprises. The Dutch Labor Party which won 25% of the vote in the 2012 elections fared badly and got only 6% of the vote. Much of this vote was picked up by antipopulist parties such as the Greens. Mr. Rutte, the prime minister under the current government, and his party centre right VVD won 21% of the vote. Social Democrats and Labor parties in Netherlands, France and Britain are doing badly, and even Martin Schulz's SPD's higher popularity is said to be reaching a peak and may not last till September, says Walker. Labor Party in Netherlands failed because of its participation as a junior party in a centre right government following austerity policies, say analysts. Overall as shown in Netherlands the tensions and loss of credibility of social democrats is playing out differently in each country. The Netherlands election shows that there is also an anti-populist shift that moves some of the vote from social democrats to parties such as Greens, or other parties or movements that have gained credibility as the social democrats faded.  ...

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The revival of De Gaulle who led post war France and created the Fifth Republic is taking place in France as France looks for renewal following the devastation caused by the pandemic and other crises. Following the crisis of the Second World War and the defeat of France in 1940, it was General Charles De Gaulle who brought modernization to France and the self-belief that led to France joining Germany in setting up the European Union. It was De Gaulle who set setup the presidential system in France after weak coalition governments persisted throughout the period between the tow wars. As Barber points out here in the Financial Times this has a good claim to be France's most stable political system since the absolute monarchy of the 18th century. It was also De Gaulle who set French agriculture on the path to modernization and started the infrastructure building that created the France we know today. De Gaulle also appealed to all segments of French society and engaged them in the process of national development unlike the different administrations of the last three decades. ...

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Five of eight unions in the German Confederation of Trade Unions DGB have increased membership. There is a shift to younger members as older workers retire. Membership is more engaged than ever before. More unions are taking up the issue of wage increases after workers were accomodative during the pandemic and Ukraine war. DW.com shows graphs of German workers having lost 18 days due to strikes coming ninth in the developed economies compared to 92 days in France, Canada 78, and the US 9 days. Cost of living action is seen as needed by workers for fair wages. There are 1.8 million open jobs and workers are now getting more confident to ask for better working conditions and higher pay, say experts. This is also happening in the US with president Biden's support. The problem is that only 50% of jobs in Germany are covered by collective bargaining agreements designed to ensure that companies pay decent wages. The EU directive in 2022 set a target of 80% for collective bargaining agreements. This makes it harder for unions yet the unions and workers are taking up the work with enthusiasm.   ...

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International aid arrives from the UK, France, US, and the European Union, as India faces a surge of the coronavirus in April 2021. A flight with oxygen and ventilators arrives from the UK. The EU is pooling resources, France is preparing flights with equipment. The United States Biden administration says it will release some of the 60 million doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine to India that remain unused in the US to address vaccine shortages.

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With high unemployment at 11% in France, only 41% of the people in a Pew Research Center poll gave favorable impressions about the European Union. This is down from 60% in 2012. In Germany 60% of those polled gave a favorable impression of the EU in 2013. The number remained steady in Britain at about 43%.

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Comment by a former Tory leader, Sir Ian Duncan Smith, on negotiations with the European Union's Ursula Leyen, show how much the term sovereignty has become the word on which everything depends. Smith said on December 10 about the EU demands that Britain adhere to EU environmental and other rules after leaving the EU, "either Britain is sovereign, or it is not."  The word sovereign is discussed in this context in this Times analysis. The word comes from the old French word "sovereinete" during the period when the King's authority was being contested by feudal lords in 16th century France. The Oxford dictionary defines it as the authority of a state to govern itself, and to do this without outside interference. Tory leaders such as David Davis and others including Smith see this as meaning making your own laws. For the European Union to insist on its laws being primary and British law asked to conform with EU law making it secondary, would not only be outside interference, but also divided authority. Older French and British political philosophers Hobbes and Rousseau see this as divided authority. Even though the meaning has changed in modern times, the essential definition in the Oxford Dictionary remains undivided authority. Which is why these Tory leaders insist on the original definition as the right one. Behind the wrangling there is the sense among Leavers that Britain could do better in economic terms by setting its own direction, and doing business its way. How would a new economic power in India by 2030 affect Britain, would it create many more opportunities for Britain to grow because of its history and cultural ties. Could the relationship with the U.S. provide more opportunities for growth? What about French indifference and even disdain of Britain, does Britain have other options? Isn't the European Union merely a Franco-German alliance led politically by France and economically by Germany, and propelled by their three wars since 1871, with a bunch of European countries added in, and what has Britain got to do with it? Closer to the negotiations with Leyen there is also the question - isn't France trying to make certain with its demand that Britain not violate EU law, that Britain's ingenuity and free wheeling spirit outside the European Union does not let it grow faster than France? Where one gets Boris Johnson's immediate reply that Britain is better off not being stuck inside "EU's regulatory orbit."   At the other end of the world you have India with "Atman Nirbhar Bharat" calling for a self-reliant economy and taking the time for transitioning out of the trade relationship with China, at short term cost and long term advantage. Britain is closely watching India as it makes big strides in developing infrastructure, in renewable energy, and setting a bold vision for the future. Even France is mapping out a pathway to self-reliant economy as it looks at ways to bring production home after the pandemic. The pandemic has only reinforced the drive to be self-reliant. ...

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Hassett and Baker suggest learning from the German experience of the last decade in reducing unemployment, including "kurzarbeit" programs, work sharing, and cooperation between industry, unions and government to reduce unemployment. France is already taking action to learn from the German experience.

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The cooperation between France and Italy helped persuade Germany to move forward with massive aid to the EU countries during the pandemic. Scholz, the new SPD chancellor of Germany sees the European Union with more voices from southern Europe, from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece as a good thing. Northern European countries are also moving in a different direction with Social Democrats governments elected in Denmark and Sweden, working on policies to reduce inequality, bring together different sections of society in a shared future, and the dignity of human beings.

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Voters in France's local government elections for 98 departments, gave the Union for a Popular Movement, led by former president Sarkozy, a decisive win with control of about two thirds of the departments. The departments are local units of government in France, and this is a preparation for the major parties before the 2017 presidential elections.

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The title about Indians in America as an Experiment is a misnomer, and reflects a loss of understanding of American and European civilization, the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions that created the Modern World starting in Britain and the US, and of India's aspirations for modernization. When both China and India aspire to the modern world that the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution have created.  India's Mohandas Gandhi read Emerson, had the support of FDR, of Christian missionary Charlie in the Bardoli Satyagraha, of a British Admiral's daughter at the Gandhi Ashram,  and Gandhi's prayer service included his favorite Christian hymns. This report shows no appreciation of this India and its relations with America. No country does that, what the US has done for 2 decades according to the National Science Foundation cited in this article, not the countries in the European Union, not France, Germany, Italy and Britain, not India, not China- provide tution and stipend and educate more foreign students than Americans or citizens of the home country in advanced engineering. It has never happened in the history of the world for the major nations that participated in the Renaissance in Europe and the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, that have created the Modern World. It puts at risk what we know as the Modern World. It also puts at risk the countries such as China and India in addition to the US, as either these Indian or Chinese engineers stay in the US and take jobs and lower wages for Americans, or go back to their home country and help the development of their home country which has invested vital resouces for their previous education. Only if they return to their home country can 2.4 billion people of China and India gain from the investment made in these engineers education. This is particularly true for India, which is now emerging as the fastest growing country in the world with the access to pools of capital, labor and technology needed to match the US and China in modernization and development. For India these computer and other engineers can play a vital role in development for 1.4 billion people.  India like Germany, Italy and France in Europe and Japan, Indonesia Philippines, need the US and Britain as the leader of parliamentary democracies with a long history of parliament since 1600. Need Britain and the US as the cradle of the scientific and Industrial Revolutions, and see their vital interests in the making of a strong Nation in the American continent that can fulfill this role through it's religious values, scientific spirit, pioneering spirit, and generous impulses towards other nations. ...

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France's Macron argues that relations of the European Union with Russia that deteriorated with the Ukraine conflict should now be restored. He calls for closer relations with Russia, as Germany under Merkel continues with existing policy and a robust NATO. Merkel sees peace in the Balkans preserved by allowing Balkan countries into the European Union. Macron thinks this is not a good idea and has called NATO brain dead. Merkel and Macron now disagree on goals of NATO.

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This leader in The Economist magazine says a hard Brexit of the sort announced by Theresa May at a Conservative Party conference is clearly bad for Britain. It also point out that half of British people voted to remain. It is not clear that voters have voted for a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, or voter alienation with elites and effects of years of austerity since the financial crisis have helped tilt the vote to Brexit. It points out that the rhetoric may be damaging Britain's chance of negotiating a Brexit that limits damage to GDP, which the Treasury estimates to be nearly twice the loss in GDP if a member of a single market as compared to leaving it. British government leaders may be overestimating the willingness of leaders of France, Germany and other countries to make concessions. By talking up to their party base politicians such as May may be putting German and French leaders to also toughen their positions on free movement as an integral principle of the European Union, and consequently of membership in a single market. ...

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Social unrest in France from student unions and worker unions of the SUD and CGT. The effects of the higher joblessness with unemployment moving upward from 7.9% and expected to hit 10% in 2010, is showing up in strikes and worker action in the streets as well as student union protests. Because of the way hiring practices have evolved, a 2 tier labor market has developed with overly protected permanent jobs and flexible short term contract labor. Its the jobs in flexible short term contracts that are the first to go, and as they are concentrated among the young, the joblessness among young people in France is much higher.

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A joint statement at the G-20 meetings in South Africa on November 20 signed by the leaders of Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Germany and Norway, and the European Union expresses concern about the 28 Point Plan put forward by US and Russian negotiators. It also says that it includes important elements that will be essential for aj ust and lasting peace. US president has set Nov 27 as a date for Ukraine to come to an agreement. 

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The results from the EU elections show neither traditional centre right or centre left parties are able to form a majority. The euroskeptic parties in Italy led by Mr. Salvini and in France by Marie Le Pen have not won with the kind of support they expected. Also important is that these parties in Italy and France have changed their position on membership in the European Union. They now support remaining with the single currency the Euro, and staying in the EU, hoping to change it from the inside. In Spain the Vxx party on the right has from its inception supported the Euro and the European Union. Only Nigel Farage's Brexit party is for Britain leaving the EU. These parties such as the League in Italy and the National Party in France are in accord with globalism and global capitalism. The changes they call for are now on immigration, migration, and against a single market for labour with social services for new immigrants or migrants. They are for ending multiculturalism in favor of nativist national ideas, sweeping indictments of bureaucracy and elites, curbing migration and building national pride. In Spain their is also concern for separatist movements such as in Catalonia for the Vox party, and interest in stronger federal structures. There is no coherent strategy for these new parties to tackle problems such as lack of growth, widening regional divide within the countries. Yet now the discussions will be about what the  EU will do, not about whether there should be a single currency the Euro or whether to remain in the EU.  In this sense the European Union is set for the task of regenerating from within. The European Union was itself an experiment that started with the effort to set up the initial arrangements to bring together the economies and political structures of European countries after a disastrous war. It accepted nation states and individual country differences even as it sought an ideal of a united Europe. This means there is room for more ideas and for differences within Europe and the European Union than allowed for by existing structures, politics or ideas. ...

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BBC's Europe Editor Katya Adler talks to EU officials and gives this assessment of how the situation in Britain after the elections looks from the European Union. The elections in France with pro-EU Macron winning with a large majority, the increasing support for Angela Merkel in Germany, the drubbing for the Five Star Movement in Italy, all point to increasing confidence in the EU, and willingness to let Britain sort its mess out while the EU focusses on more pressing issues. Adler calls the first day of talks on Brexit a Mad Hatters Tea Party, showing how Britain is seen in the EU as having a huge complicated mess to sort out. British politicians are seen from the outside as having ruffled up the electorate on migration, the European Court of Justice and other issues, just to make their own points and for their own ends, not necessarily having the best interests of Britain in mind.

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Krugman says voters in France, Greece, the UK and other countries are protesting against austerity measures imposed in the EU countries. The policies were based on the assumption made by the Chrisitian Democrats in Germany that the German model if applied in other countries would generate the kind of recovery Germany made in the last decade from the high unemployment under chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. German wage restraint agreement between unions, industry and government made this possible under the Hartz reforms, and France is already embarking on wage restraint, with the two major parties, unions and industry backing the plan. But for this to work France and other countries such as Spain and Italy have to be able to export to Germany or other countries. German workers are suffering from stagnant wages for many years, stemming from concessions made to reduce unemployment. Allowing wages to rise in Germany when there is a shortage of workers in industry, would benefit workers in Germany and help France and other EU countries increase exports. German industry is failing to make this normal adjustment in markets by insisting on smaller concessions, even though there is support within the government for higher wages. German growth was possible because of demand outside for its exporters. The "austerity measures" Germany supports would depress demand inside the domestic economies of France, Spain, Italy and other EU countries, and without the wage and inflation adjustments with Germany leave demand weak outside. Without needed demand output falls, unemployment rises and tax revenues decline, leaving deficits worse than before, and a dangerous downward spiral. Better management of finances as Germany has insisted has ceased to become the issue, as both Hollande in France and Rajoy in Spain, and Monti in Italy, are keen on getting control of finances, especially regional spending in Spain....