The strategic hurdles for France-UK military cooperation
Renewing military ties remains a challenge, even though the two countries' armed forces shared mutual respect and a strong culture of engagement – in Afghanistan and Iraq for the British, in the Sahel region of West Africa for the French. In the face of renewed challenges in Europe, both governments are seeking to highlight the strength of their partnership. They will hold a meeting on Thursday of the "coalition of the willing," the group of around 30 countries prepared to deploy military resources in Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached. However, options for deepening defense cooperation, including support for Ukraine, now appear limited.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local France
2 hours ago
- Local France
Protest group calls for 'total blockade of France' in September
The prime minister's €40 billion cost-cutting budget proposals have drawn plenty of criticism from politicians, unions and members of the public, with some unions already floating the idea of demonstrations in the autumn. But a previously unknown online group has issued a call for a complete blockade of the country from September 10th, which appears to be rapidly gaining traction. The collection Mobilisation10septembre (demo September 10th) describe themselves as 20 "apolitical" people who are outraged over the budget proposals. Advertisement "We said to ourselves that we couldn't let this pass," one of the activists, who refused to give his name, told French media . "So we launched this appeal. It's not just a classic demonstration, but a real blockade." He added: "Across the country, care workers, students, low-wage workers, Yellow Vests etc, have started to organise locally." The group has shared no details of its exact plans for September 10th, saying only that the date had been picked because it's the time when everyone has returned to work or school after the summer holidays. Protest in France usually takes the form of either strikes called by unions or street demonstrations organised by political parties or established campaigning organisations such as Greenpeace. However the 'yellow vest' protests of 2018 and 2019 also began online and did not have an organised leadership or any affiliation with political parties. The unnamed activist told Le Parisien newspaper that the movement is "a call for disobedience, boycott and solidarity". "The movement doesn't depend on any party or organisation. It's a ras-le-bol général [a sense of being generally fed-up or angry]. "If people from all walks of life identify with it, it's precisely because the attacks in the budget affect everyone." Debates in parliament on the budget are due to take place in September and October, and it's possible that the prime minister could be toppled over the issue if he loses a vote of no confidence. You can find the latest details on all planned strikes and protests in France in our strike section here .
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
Macron-Merz to hold talks on NATO and EU-US trade row
Macron and Merz, who took power in May, have been at pains to boost the bilateral partnership at the heart of the European Union as US President Donald Trump has rocked transatlantic ties. "The most important message is: the Franco-German couple is back at work," the French presidency said ahead of Macron's planned dinner with Merz. Paris and Berlin, along with London and Warsaw, have pushed efforts to support Ukraine against Russia and build up the defence capabilities of NATO's European member states. But while Paris has signalled a willingness to send peacekeeping troops to monitor a possible Ukraine ceasefire, Berlin has so far voiced no plans to contribute. Merz and Macron were also expected to discuss the trade dispute with the United States after Trump threatened 30-percent tariffs against the EU if no deal is reached by August 1. Combat jet discord "In the tariff dispute with the USA, we are now approaching the decisive phase," Merz said Tuesday, urging "a fair and reliable agreement with low tariff rates" that strengthens the transatlantic market. The two leaders also have to discuss bilateral stumbling blocks, from a joint defence project to energy and trade policy. There has been disagreement over a combat aircraft to be made jointly with Spain. Merz has objected to the idea of a greater leadership role for France while expressing confidence an agreement can be reached. The head of French defence company Dassault, Eric Trappier, on Tuesday suggested that the viability of the project was in doubt. "We have to question the effectiveness of a project which is run by three countries ... where there isn't one real leader but three," he told a press conference. Another tricky area is energy, where France relies heavily on nuclear power, which Germany has decided to phase out as it shifts to solar and wind power. Paris wants Berlin to commit to "technology neutrality" and effectively classify nuclear energy as climate friendly. Germany's previous government of the Social Democrats and Greens rejected this, but Merz's centre-right CDU/CSU may be more open to the idea. In a joint newspaper article in May, both leaders pledged a "restart in energy policy" and "equal treatment at the EU level for all low-emission energies". Another area of discord has been an EU trade deal long in the works with South America's Mercosur bloc. While Germany strongly favours it, France has expressed fears it will badly impact its farming sector. French sources said a way forward is emerging, and that an additional protocol could add a "robust safeguard clause for agriculture". Merz will welcome Macron at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT) at Villa Borsig, the former residence of the commander of the post-war French occupation troops on the outskirts of Berlin. The programme includes press statements, without journalists' questions, a jazz performance and a working dinner.
Local France
14 hours ago
- Local France
Diets, TV and love: How the average Frenchman or Frenchwoman really lives
French is a good country when it comes to statistics - its population is regularly surveyed and polled, and the national statistics agency Insee does a good job of making data public. Which means that we can build a good picture of how the average Frenchman and Frenchwoman live their lives. With the obvious caveat that an average won't apply to the entire 67-million strong population, here's how the modern Frenchie lives, loves and laughs. Age and children The average (mean) age for Frenchmen in 2025 is 41.3, while the average Frenchwoman is 44.1. The population as a whole is getting older - back in 2014 the average man was 39.3, and the average woman was 42.1. Those average-age people aren't worrying about death any time soon - the average Frenchman has a life expectancy of 80, while women can expect to live to be 85.7. Advertisement They might be looking ahead to retirement, though - in 2021 the average retirement age in France was 63.1. The pension age is something of a political hot potato in France , it is currently gradually rising from 62 to 64 after Emmanuel Macron pushed through highly contentious reforms to the pension system. That age is when people most people can start to collect their pensions - lower pension ages exist for people in physically strenuous jobs, meanwhile some people enjoy work and choose to stay in the workforce past the legal pension age. Current prime minister François Bayrou is 74, while Senate leader Gérard Larcher is 75. Nevertheless, most people retire at or near the official pension age, with an average retirement age of 63.1 - giving an average retirement of 22.6 years for women and 16.9 years for men. At the other end of the life cycle, the average family size in France is now 1.6 children per couple, a fall from 2.0 in 2024. The average age of a French first-time mum is 29. While some people are choosing not to have children at all, smaller family sizes are the norm even for people who do have kids - a survey in 2024 found that the average 'ideal number of children' per family was 2.3, compared to 2.7 in 1998. Money The average French person is an employee, and not a well-paid one. Data from 2023 shows that 26.9 million French people work as salaried employees, while just 3.3 million are fully self-employed. Insee's 2023 data shows that the average full-time employee in the private sector earns €2,730 net per month, while the average public sector employee earns €2,600 net per month (although that falls to €2,340 if we take out relatively well-paid medics). Advertisement Of those 27 million employees, more than half - 17 million - are earning the minimum wage ( le smic ) of €1,426 net per month (€21,621.60 per year pre tax or €17,115.69 after tax). The most common job among men is being a driver - comprising bus drivers and hauliers but not couriers - while women are most likely to be teachers. France has a decent number of people out of the workforce - from a population of 67 million only 30.8 million are classed as 'economically active' - the rest are either children, pensioners (roughly 25 percent of the population, or 16.7 million people, are retired), job-seekers, students or not working for other reasons (eg stay-at-home parents or people with an illness or disability that leaves them unable to work). This large non-working population means that France can come out quite badly on international comparisons of work and productivity - although if you analyse the work done by the working population France come out higher than the European average, and even higher than the Germans . The average work week in France is 39.6 hours. Advertisement Education The average French person does not have a university degree - although only just. Across the entire population 45 percent of people have a degree while 55 percent of people don't. Higher education also contributes to late entry into the workforce - the average age for getting a first job in France is 19. A relatively generous grant system coupled with low tuition fees means that many students do not need to get part-time jobs while they are studying. Love life The average French person lives with a spouse or partner, although those living alone is a fast-growing group that is predicted to become the norm within the next few decades. At present France has a population of 67 million people living in 30.3 million households - a household includes couples, single parents living with children, house-shares or inter-generational family living. Advertisement Insee's most recent detailed breakdown of family living situations is from 2016 and it shows that half of the population of France is living with a partner - 25.5 percent of households are a couple without children, 25.3 percent are a couple with children. However 35.8 percent of households consist of a single person, while 9 percent are single-parent families and the remaining 4.4 percent are 'complex households' that don't fit in to the above patterns - that would include house-shares and homes where multiple generations are living together. The number of households is growing in France as more and more people choose to live alone - it is projected that there will be 32 million households in 2050, even though the population is not set to grow. But the average French person is not married - data from 2023 shows that just 42 percent of the population of France is married, with that number falling below the 50 percent bar in 2008 and continuing to decline - despite the fact that in 2024 24,000 weddings took place. The average age at marriage is also steadily rising, reaching 37.3 years for women and 39.8 years for men in 2022. Advertisement Of those who do choose to formalise their relationship, most (72 percent) opt for marriage with just eight percent choosing a civil partnership (Pacs), and most couples are opposite sex - in 2022 same-sex partnerships accounted for three percent of weddings and five percent of civil partnerships (Pacs). Your average French person is likely to have had sex at least once in the last year - but overall the population is getting less sexually active. In 2023, 77.2 percent of women aged 18 to 69 reported having sexual intercourse in the past year, a fall from 84 percent in 1992. In the same year 81.6 percent of men in the same age bracket said they had had sex - down from 92 percent in 1992. Crucially, women report being happier with the amount of sex that they are having. READ ALSO : Revealed - the real sex lives of the French✎ Lifestyle The average Frenchie is an urban creature - 79.2 percent of the population lives in towns. In total 10.7 million people live in Paris and its suburbs while 16 million people live in another large town such as Bordeaux, Marseille or Lyon (between 200,000 and 1.9 million inhabitants). Around 14 million people live in the country while the remaining 27 million live in smaller towns. The average household has 99 electrical appliances, six of which will be unused according to an in-depth survey done by an anti-waste charity in collaboration with the government's Ademe environment agency. The living room has the most appliances (24), followed by the bedroom with 22, the cellar, bathroom and other ancillary rooms (laundry room, storeroom etc) are next, with around 10 appliances followed by the attic (6) and the garden/terrace/balcony (3). The average French person has at least one holiday a year, although 40 percent of people surveyed said that they don't go away on holiday at least once, for financial reasons. When they turn on the TV, their choice will be quiz shows or reality TV - data on the most-watched programmes in 2024 (excluding special events like sports matches) showed that the daytime quiz show Les Douze Coups de Midi was the most-watched programme, followed by the reality TV shows Koh-Lanta and L'amour est dans le pré . Neither of them smoke - despite its smokey image, just 31.8 percent of French people actually smoke. Advertisement Food and drink You might imagine your average Frenchie feasting on French classics like coq au vin , but in fact for several years running the winner of the annual survey ' le plat préféres des français' (France's favourite dish), has been the North African staple of tagine and cous cous that is widely available at inexpensive restaurants in almost every French town. In 2025, the survey tried to ring the changes by asking respondents which dish best 'represents France to the world' - and the classic beef stew boeuf bourguignon came out top. A survey on the most-consumed dishes in France found that poulet rôti et frites (roast chicken and chips) came out on top, followed by cassoulet, pizza and then cous cous. Don't assume your Frenchman or Frenchwoman is drinking wine either - just one in 10 people in France drink alcohol every day and wine consumption dropped from 120 litres per year in 1980 to 40 litres per year in 2019. READ ALSO : ANALYSIS: Why the French are drinking less and less wine✎ They're highly likely to be eating bread though - some 10 billion baguettes are consumed every year in France - that's 320 every second. The average So there you have it - your average Frenchman is 41.3 years old and works as a driver - he'll work another 21.8 years and then retire, after which he'll live for another 16.9 years. He lives in a town with a female partner to whom he is not married and together they have 1.6 children. He will have had sex at least once within the last year (with his partner? Who can say, the data is not that detailed) and likes to eat cous cous . Your average Frenchwoman is 44.1 and is a teacher, a job she will stay in for another 19 years before enjoying 22.6 years of retirement. She lives with a male partner, she had her first child at the age of 29 and lives in a home with 99 electrical appliances. In her spare time she likes watching quiz shows and reality TV and she has at least one holiday per year. She eats bread every day. A note on the data Unless otherwise stated, all data comes from the French national statistics agency Insee. It includes mainland France and the French overseas territories, with the exception of Mayotte, and counts anyone legally resident in France, even if they are not French citizens.
