logo
France is the main military power in the EU, but is it ready for the future?

France is the main military power in the EU, but is it ready for the future?

France 2414-07-2025
02:10
14/07/2025
The 'Bleuet de France' play a newly composed song to remember veterans
France
14/07/2025
France Bastille Day: Youth volunteers at centre stage of military parade
France
14/07/2025
Bastille Day parade: France's annual show of military might
France
14/07/2025
France Bastille Day: 5,618 troops march on the Champs-Élysées
France
14/07/2025
Troops from all over the world parade alongside the French army on Bastille Day
France
14/07/2025
French military parades on national holiday after a ramp up in defence spendings
France
14/07/2025
France Bastille Day: Military troups start arriving at Place the la Concorde
France
14/07/2025
France Bastille Day: Indonesia opens military parade as the guest of honour
France
14/07/2025
Bastille Day: French-built rafale jets soar over Paris
France
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati's dangerous game
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati's dangerous game

LeMonde

time24 minutes ago

  • LeMonde

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati's dangerous game

Rachida Dati wants to become the next mayor of Paris. It is her obsession. The more obstacles she faces, the more France's culture minister embraces transgression. On Monday, July 28, she announced she would run for the Assemblée Nationale's open seat in Paris's 2 nd constituency, without waiting for the decision of the conservative Les Républicains (LR) party, which chose to nominate Michel Barnier. It was an unelegant snub of the former prime minister under whom she served last year, reigniting the French right's old poison of division. It is hard to say whether she is still a member of LR or has now joined President Emmanuel Macron's camp. The former protégée of Nicolas Sarkozy now works for herself, and herself alone. Among the many adversaries she likes to make, Dati also counts judges. On Tuesday, July 22, she was ordered to stand criminal trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, over suspicions that she engaged in illegal lobbying in the European Parliament on behalf of Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Renault-Nissan, in exchange for €900,000 in fees. Dati counterattacked in pure Sarkozy style. Criticizing what she called a "procedure marred by incidents," she tried to put the prosecutor for financial crimes, Jean-François Bohnert, in an awkward position with the office over which he has authority. Prime Minister François Bayrou had to remind her of what she should not have pretended to ignore: Respect for the judicial institution is "a state duty." Protected by the president and supported by the current justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, Dati has no fans on the left. But she is also divisive within the right, the government, the president's party and other groups in the governing bloc. To some, she is an electoral asset not to be overlooked; to others, a dangerous firebrand ready to exploit every populist sentiment of the time: distrust of judges, the media, the elites, the "system." If passed, the "Paris-Lyon-Marseille" law modifying the methods of electing mayors in the three cities, currently under review in Parliament, would allow her to limit the influence of local power brokers who have opposed her rise in Paris ever since she established herself as mayor of the 7 th arrondissement. The free rein she has managed to carve out for herself by being both popular and disruptive is undeniable, but there are limits that must not be crossed. There is a whiff of Trumpism in the way Dati fights her political battles: there is only one truth, her own; threats against those who dare to question her, such as against the journalist Patrick Cohen on June 18 on the television show C à vous; heavy artillery against the judiciary. A year ahead of the 2027 presidential campaign, next March's municipal elections will provide an important indication of the tone of the political debate, especially as much of the right and far right now also target the judiciary and the rule of law. Banned from running for office for five years following her conviction of embezzlement, far-right leader Marine Le Pen has just stated that, in the event of new snap legislative elections, she would still stand as a candidate, intending to rely on her electoral base to put maximum pressure on the electoral judge and the Constitutional Council. In the past, such a statement would have sparked an outcry, but that is no longer the case today.

French govt prepares new law to return colonial-era art
French govt prepares new law to return colonial-era art

France 24

time2 hours ago

  • France 24

French govt prepares new law to return colonial-era art

If approved, the law would make it easier for the country to return cultural goods in France's national collection "originating from states that, due to illicit appropriation, were deprived of them" between 1815 and 1972, said the culture ministry. It will cover works obtained through "theft, looting, transfer or donation obtained through coercion or violence, or from a person who was not entitled to dispose of them", the ministry added. The bill was presented during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a government spokeswoman told reporters. The Senate is due to discuss it September. Former colonial powers in Europe have been slowly moving to send back some artworks obtained during their imperial conquests, but France is hindered by its current legislation. The return of every item in the national collection must be voted on individually. Wednesday's draft law is designed to simplify and streamline the process. France returned 26 formerly royal artefacts including a throne to Benin in 2021. They were part of the collection of the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, which holds the majority of the 90,000 African works estimated to be in French museums, according to an expert report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. A "talking drum" that French colonial troops seized from the Ebrie tribe in 1916 was sent back to Ivory Coast earlier this year. In 2019, France's then prime minister Edouard Philippe handed over a sword to the Senegalese president that was believed to have belonged to the 19th-century West African Islamic scholar and leader, Omar Tall. Other European states, including Germany and the Netherlands, have handed back a limited number of artefacts in recent years Britain faces multiple high-profile claims but has refused to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece and the Kohinoor diamond to India, two of the best-known examples. The French draft law is the third and final part of legislative efforts to speed up the removal and return of artworks held in France's national collection. Two other laws -- one to return property looted by the Nazis, and a second to return human remains -- were approved in 2023.

Ryanair says dropping three French airports over 'harmful' tax
Ryanair says dropping three French airports over 'harmful' tax

France 24

time5 hours ago

  • France 24

Ryanair says dropping three French airports over 'harmful' tax

"This astronomical tax makes France less competitive compared to other EU countries such as Ireland, Spain and Poland, which do not impose any air taxes," the airline said in a statement. Ryanair said it was dropping airports in Brive and Bergerac in southwestern France as well as the eastern city of Strasbourg, from where it served Portugal and Scotland. Ryanair had already dropped Vatry airport in northeastern France in the spring. Ryanair urged the French government to abolish the "harmful" air tax in order to make French aviation more competitive. Ryanair said its decision follows "the French government's failure to cancel an excessive increase in air tax, which was raised by 180 percent in March 2025". The Solidarity Tax on Airline Tickets rose to 7.40 euros ($8.55) per passenger for domestic and European flights from 2.63 euros previously. "At a time when France should be focusing on recovery and growth, Ryanair has no choice but to reduce its capacity for winter 2025 by 13 percent due to the French government's failure to act against this harmful air tax," said Jason McGuinness, Ryanair's chief commercial officer. The airline said its decision followed numerous warnings from airlines and French airports that the tax hike would make many routes to France unprofitable, particularly at regional airports and during the winter season. Ryanair said its decision will mean the loss of 25 routes and 750,000 seats in France this winter. "This completely avoidable loss will have a severe impact on regional connectivity, tourism and local employment," it said. The airline said it would redirect capacity and investment to more competitive European markets such as Sweden, Hungary and Italy if the French government does not change course. In contrast, if the government decides to drop the tax, Ryanair said it would respond with an investment of $2.5 billion, 25 new aircraft, a doubling of traffic to over 30 million passengers per year, and the creation of 750 additional jobs in French regions. © 2025 AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store