Macron to launch 'charm offensive' to try and win back the French
The French president will on Tuesday evening take part in a TV debate show, the first in a series of steps designed to be a 'reset' with the French public as he battles with low approval ratings and the loss of his parliamentary majority.
In the two-and-a-half hour show on primetime TV, the president will take part in a wide-ranging debate with the following people; union leader Sophie Binet, fitness influencer Tibo InShape, far-right mayor Robert Ménard, lobbyist Agnès Verdier-Molinié, and left-wing essayist Salomé Saqué.
Chaired by journalist Gilles Bouleau, the debate is set to cover subjects ranging from immigration to sport in schools, pension to reforms to changes in France's right-to-die laws. Broadcaster TF1 has moved its scheduled programme, the highly popular desert island survival show Koh-Lanta, to make room for the debate.
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It is also believed that Macron will announce a referendum or series of referendums on important questions facing France - possible topics include screen time for children, work legislation and changes to France's right-to-die laws (which are already making their way through parliament).
As
previously announced
, he also wants to set up a citizens' council to look at the organisation of the French school year and whether children get too much holiday time.
After several months where the president has seemed more active on the international than the domestic stage, his calendar for the next week includes multiple trips around France to meet members of the public - a trend that his office has indicated is likely to continue over the coming weeks.
In addition to attending the annual Choose France business summit in Paris, Macron will also visit Nanterre, Caen and Vendin-le-Vieil this week, with a focus on measures to tackle organise crime as he pays tribute to prison guards.
Macronist MP Karl Olive
told French newspaper Le Parisien
: "The president had donned the captain's armband at European level, and now he's making a comeback in France. I think he's been reinvigorated."
Since the loss of his parliamentary majority in disastrous snap elections in summer 2024, Macron has been facing a deadlocked parliament and
approval ratings of just 26 percent
.
In recent weeks early campaigning has stepped up for the next presidential elections, which are now less than two years away. Although Macron himself cannot stand for a third time, he is keen to make use of the final two years of his mandate, and secure a centrist successor.
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Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
EU launches global digital strategy to build tech alliances
The EU published a digital strategy on Thursday to diversify and expand digital alliances with "like-minded partners" such as Japan, South Korea, Canada and India, but no mention was made of the US. This year, digital trade agreements with Singapore and South Korea were signed to facilitate data flows - despite critics warning it could pave the way for threats to personal data. The bloc also plans to structure its growing diplomatic network through the creation of a Digital Partnership Network, aimed at connecting these relationships in a more strategic and coordinated way. But while the strategy highlights a wide array of partners, the absence of references to further meeting under the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) with the United States was notable. This forum of discussion between the two blocs on trade and technology was created in 2020 to de-escalate tensions during US President Donald Trump's first mandate. Quizzed by Euronews on the future of the TTC, Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen replied that trade negotiations were currently the priority - without elaborating. While the EU's other big tech competitor, China, is also absent from the strategy – Virkkunen said that digital cooperation will be discussed during the July 2025 EU-China summit. In its immediate neighbourhood, the bloc is prioritising integration with the EU Digital Single Market notably for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans – to assist integration into the EU. These countries will benefit from support to align with EU rules on areas such as digital identity, secure infrastructure and regulatory frameworks, paving the way for potential mutual recognition of digital services. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, the strategy builds on the Global Gateway initiative, the EU's strategic response to China's Belt and Road adopted in 2021. Through this framework, the EU is co-financing the deployment of secure submarine cables, AI factories, and digital public infrastructure, while, according to Commissioner Virkkunen, promoting European tech standards and regulatory models abroad. The Commission said that they will move forward with the implementation of new digital partnerships, including preparations for agreements with countries in the Southern Neighbourhood and sub-Saharan Africa. A dedicated Tech Business Offer, a mix of private and public EU investment, will be rolled out to support digital projects in partner countries. A first meeting of the new Digital Partnership Network is also planned, involving representatives from the EU and its partner countries. Meanwhile, joint research programmes are set to be launched with Japan, Canada and South Korea, notably in quantum technologies and semiconductors. Drones will be as key to Taiwan's national security as they have been for Ukraine, a Taiwanese legislator told Euronews Next. The embattled country's war efforts have boosted morale on the Asian island as it ramps up its own defences against the potential threat of a future Chinese invasion. "When the United States withdrew from Afghanistan [in 2020], it undermined the morals of Taiwan tremendously at the time," said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chen Kuan-ting, adding that some people at the time were even trying to transfer their money abroad. "But then after Russia initially launched the war against Ukraine… this is the first time in Taiwan that we have a common ground, we have consensus that we probably will prevail because of what Ukraine did". Taiwan, which is roughly 180 km from China, functions as an independent democracy with its own constitution and elected government. But China maintains that the island is a renegade province destined for reunification with the mainland, through military means if necessary. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday that "the threat China poses [to Taiwan] is real and it could be imminent". Beijing is "credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific". China's foreign minister warned the US against using Taiwan as a bargaining chip to contain China and is 'playing with fire". In April, China deployed its armed, naval, and air forces for drills around Taiwan. China said the manoeuvres were to practice a blockade of the island. Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te has called for peace with China while also saying in April that the island's defence budget would rise by 3 per cent of its gross economic output and would reform its national defence forces. US President Donald Trump has previously said Taiwan should increase its defence spending as high as 10 per cent of GDP. But spending wisely, like Ukraine has done with cheaper drones to counter the first line of attack, is a lesson that Taiwan can learn from, Kuan-ting argues. The lawmaker helped establish and became president of a so-called Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association in April, which aims to "send a signal to the world, including China, that superpowers may lose modern warfare" due to new technologies. The second reason for the group is to learn from Ukraine and be able to answer questions such as managing the logistics of delivering weapons or how decisions are made in warfare. "They have the experience we don't have," he said. Asked if Taiwan is using Ukrainian drones, Kuan-ting said he had no knowledge of this. According to the legislator, based on conversations he has had with Ukrainian think-tanks, China is doing the same thing in Europe and is learning "the techniques of the Russian soldiers" and is also "there to observe how Westerners react to their aggressions". Taiwan has "a moral obligation to help Ukraine because it's a strategic deterrence to superpowers to launch war against a peace-loving country such as Taiwan," he said. "It proves that even if you have those conventional weapons, even if you have a bigger economy, bigger troops, you might lose," he added. But China too has been working on asymmetric warfare for the last decade and is producing "thousands if not millions of drones every year," Kuan-ting said, such as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) and all kinds of weapons systems. "They're good at those [drones] because they believe conventional military equipment is not sufficient to counter the United States' super military power. So they were focusing on asymmetric warfare long before we did, because they were worried about America's intervention in the region,' he added. However, the difference between the war in Ukraine and Taiwan and China's tensions is that Taiwan is separated by sea, so China would have to conduct an 'amphibious attack'. "If they do so, I believe we will acquire the abilities and the quantity of the drones - UAV, UUV, and all kinds of asymmetric warfare equipment - to counter these kinds of aggressions". One of Taiwan's challenges is building enough drones to counter China, Kuan-ting said. "We are trying to reverse the situation, that they [China] have the quantity we don't. That's why in the past two, three years, the Ministry of Defence, and also most of the leadership of Taiwan, decided to try to include more public companies". "Instead of conventional equipment like big tanks, big aeroplanes, they probably couldn't adapt to modern warfare. We decided to buy smart and use a smart weapon system," he said. Taiwan has set itself the goal of manufacturing 15,000 domestically made drones a month by 2028. It is a tall order, but Taiwan is a strong manufacturing country known for its quality. However, Taiwan-made drones cost on average 25 per cent more to make than Chinese drones. Scaling Taiwan's defence tech companies is therefore paramount, and working with Europe and the US to expand the markets will be key, the legislator said. At Taiwan's biggest tech fair COMPUTEX in May, one Taiwanese defence company is using artificial intelligence (AI) to vastly improve thermal cameras that see in the dark and clarify the noise in its audio equipment. The company, Thunder Fortis, says its technology can detect enemies from 300 m away in the dark. "Our advantage is also our challenge. So we want to produce internally, but our cost will be very high if we don't rely on exports from other countries," sales manager Nancy Lin told Euronews Next. "Our challenge will be to try to sell to the market, but still keep a low cost. But we are very confident in manufacturing good quality products that not only serve the military market," she added. The company is so far partnering with tech giants such as Nvidia and Arm. "Everyone is aware that Taiwan is in a strategic position in the Taiwan Strait, and we have our allies from Japan, South Korea, and also from other countries," she said. "We don't want to make other countries an enemy, it's a bit sensitive, but we want to make ourselves strong enough so no one will try to violate our boundaries of our countries. "Especially many of our components are made in Taiwan, assembled in Taiwan manufactured in Taiwan so we can rely on our self-produced products and we don't need to rely on imports from other countries," she said. But to deter China, it is not just about building the best defence tech, it is also necessary to use cheap methods to eliminate military targets such as drones. "It's not just about drones to drones, it's about how to apply the best systems, the best equipment to make sure they cannot close the Taiwan Strait," Kuan-ting said. "I believe if there is any country that can stop China, Taiwan might be one of them, but it has to be collective actions with our partners. So we can't do this alone," the legislator added. Trump's America First trade policy has sent shockwaves around the world and raised questions over international relations. Despite this, Kuan-ting believes that Taiwan's ties to the US are still just as strong as before Trump's reelection. "I believe the Congress and the Senate of the United States are sending very firm and clear signals to Taiwan and China that the United States is staying with us and they are providing us more military equipment," he said. There has been speculation of Europe's rapprochement with China due to Trump's tariffs. However, the legislator believes that the bloc's connection with Taiwan is still close. "Most of our friends in Europe are aware of the situation and are also aware of how the Chinese government is trying to dump their EVs (electric vehicles) onto Europe, so we have pretty much the same common ground. They're facing economical [threats], we are facing both economic and militarised threats," he said. Marcin Jerzewski, head of the Taiwan Office of the European Values Center for Security Policy, said that "it's too early to say that Europe is distancing itself from Taiwan" and that he has "high hopes" related to the upcoming EU-China summit that will happen in Beijing. However, he said that this does not mean that Europe will move away from Taiwan. "I believe that a lot of signs of goodwill and openness that are coming out of the current European Commission towards China are also a signal to the United States that the EU is willing to continue down the path of strategic autonomy". He said that Europeans still has a tendency to look at Taiwan as only a difficult subset of overall relations with China, rather than trying to look at Taiwan as a partner in its own right. But he said there is a small shift in Europe looking at Taiwan as a partner on its own. "It doesn't mean that we're recognising Taiwan as an independent country or abandoning one-China policy, but it's about identifying spaces for engagement that are not just sub-engagements under this broader umbrella of dealings with China," he said. Jerzewski also said that Chinese information operations are playing a big role in stoking division in Taiwan. He said that this has two objectives. The first is sowing the seeds of anti-Americanism. "Definitely in the current climate, with unpredictability reigned in by Trump 2.0, China has been gifted many narratives on a silver platter because there is no longer a need for them to produce this information. They can just amplify the actual headlines that are coming out of DC," he said. The second objective has always been to undermine democratic processes, trust, and the public trust in democratic processes and institutions, he added. However, Taiwan is also using technology to boost its own foreign policy standing. During the a recent speech by the Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te, he highlighted a need to turn Taiwan into an "AI island" and use its advantage of semiconductors to be ahead of the curve and embed Taiwan very firmly in those AI supply chains, so that giving up on Taiwan is more difficult for countries around the world. Taiwan also, in its National Security Act, included specific provisions for protecting its talent and technology. "I think that this legal change is a very conspicuous manifestation of this realisation about the simultaneous pursuit of both technological advancement and beefing up its security strategies," Jerzewski said. Securing Taiwan and Ukraine is key to global security, the legislator said, urging Europe to continue its support for Taiwan and Ukraine. "It serves both national interests and values as well. If you want to stay, if you want to live the way you want, freely, then we must stop them. "Because they are trying to undermine everything we are standing for, the way we live. We should not let that happen, because if it happened in Ukraine, it could happen to Poland. "If it happened to Taiwan, it could happen to other neighbours. So we have to stop the domino here," he said.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
French grandmother files 'genocide' complaint over Gaza killings
Jacqueline Rivault filed her complaint with the "crimes against humanity" section of the Court of Paris, lawyer Arie Alimi said. Rivault hopes the fact her daughter's children, aged six and nine, were French citizens means the country's judiciary will decide it has jurisdiction to designate a magistrate to investigate the allegations. Rights groups, lawyers and some Israeli historians have described the Gaza war as "genocide". But Israel, created in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II, vehemently rejects the explosive term. The complaint states that "two F16 missiles fired by the Israeli army" killed Janna, six, and Abderrahim Abudaher, nine, in northern Gaza on October 24, 2023. They and their family had sought refuge in another home "between Faluja and Beit Lahia" after leaving their own two days earlier due to heavy bombardment, the 48-page document stated. One missile entered "through the roof and the second directly into the room where the family was", it said. Abderrahim was killed instantly, while his sister Janna died shortly after being taken to hospital. The complaint argues the "genocide" allegation is based on the air strike being part of a larger Israeli project to "eliminate the Palestinian population and submit it to living conditions of a nature to entail the destruction of their group". Though formally against unnamed parties, the complaint explicitly targets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government and the military. Mother convicted The children's brother Omar was severely wounded but still lives in Gaza with their mother, identified as Yasmine Z., the complaint said. A French court in 2019 convicted Yasmine Z. in absentia of having funded a "terrorist" group over distributing money in Gaza to members of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable. No court has so far ruled the ongoing conflict is a genocide. But in rulings in January, March and May 2024, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest judicial organ, told Israel to do everything possible to "prevent" acts of genocide during its military operations in Gaza. The International Criminal Court has issued arrests against Netanyahu and ex-defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. It also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the October 7 attack, but the case against him was dropped in February after confirmation Israel had killed him. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan initially sought warrants against Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh as well, but dropped those applications after their deaths in Israeli attacks.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
EU unveils Ocean Pact ahead of UN conference in France
The European Commission presented a plan aimed at better protecting oceans on Thursday, ahead of the UN Oceans Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, next week. It says the European Ocean Pact is a 'comprehensive' roadmap to protect the ocean, promote a blue economy and support the well-being of people living in coastal areas. The pact brings together EU ocean policies under one single framework to address threats facing the bloc's oceans. It lays out several key priorities, including protecting and restoring ocean health, boosting the EU's blue economy, supporting coastal and island communities, advancing ocean research, enhancing maritime security and defence, and strengthening ocean diplomacy. 'It will not only benefit the planet, but also the people who call the coast their home, and the generations who will steward our oceans tomorrow,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, added that it wasn't just a 'message in a bottle' but a concrete plan for action. "It also offers immense potential for more investments in a sustainable blue economy, and it is key for our security," he added. Headline pledges include proposing a new European law on the oceans by 2027 and revising two maritime directives to better protect biodiversity. But environmental NGOs aren't so sure. While the pact shows 'tentative steps' in the right direction, they say there are 'critical gaps' which must be addressed. They consider it a missed opportunity for the EU to show leadership at the UNOC, where it will present the Pact next week. In a joint statement, a group of six leading environmental NGOs said the Pact falls short of delivering the urgent action and binding targets that are needed to protect oceans. BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, Oceana, Seas At Risk, Surfrider Foundation Europe, and the WWF European Policy Office welcomed the announcement but warned that to be successful, it must lead to the immediate implementation of existing obligations and include legally binding targets. Vera Coelho, deputy vice-president of Oceana in Europe, said it was a 'missed opportunity' for the EU to show leadership at the upcoming UNOC. 'It proposes to continue the same failed, case-by-case approach that has enabled destructive practices like bottom trawling to continue for decades inside the EU's so-called 'protected' areas,' Coelho explains. 'It opens the door to revising key pieces of EU law, such as the Common Fisheries Policy, rather than proposing an implementation and enforcement strategy to address the real root of the ocean's multiple crises: lack of political will by member states to meet agreed targets and implement EU law. 'By deferring real action, this lacklustre Pact puts at risk the future of Europe's seas and of the people who rely on them.' The NGOs are urging EU institutions and member states to strengthen the pact with concrete measures and ensure that ocean protection becomes central to ocean-related EU laws. 'While the Commission promises in the Ocean Pact to work on enforcement, it falls short, offering no concrete plan for how ocean laws, which exist on paper, will actually be implemented at sea,' adds Juliet Stote, law and policy advisor on marine ecosystems at ClientEarth. 'Currently, EU laws are continuously breached - with destructive activities such as bottom trawling routinely taking place in Marine Protected Areas, and overfishing continuing in EU waters - this must stop.' Paris's Seine could be the next river granted legal personhood under plans announced by Mayor Anne Hidalgo yesterday. Paris City Council has called on Parliament to pass a law giving the River Seine rights, so that "an independent guardian authority' can defend it in court, according to yesterday's resolution. It follows a swell of similar 'rights for nature' breakthroughs since New Zealand first recognised the Whanganui River as a living entity in 2017. And is another step forward in Paris's bid to protect the Seine from pollution. 'From the reclamation of the banks in 2016 to the historic swimming in the Seine during the Paris Games, to the improvement of water quality, we have never stopped acting to restore our river to its rightful place!' Hidalgo wrote in a LinkedIn post yesterday. The foundations of the plan were laid by a citizens' convention on the future of the Seine, which concluded last month. 50 citizens chosen at random questioned experts and took part in weeks of debate in order to reach a collective opinion. They concluded that the Seine should have fundamental rights, including 'the right to exist, to flow and to regenerate.' On the basis of this opinion, the City of Paris is tabling a bill in Parliament to give the Seine the rights to be properly protected. Une publication partagée par Anne Hidalgo (@annehidalgo) 'Recognising rights to the oceans, rivers or the Seine is neither a symbolic gesture nor a legal fantasy: it is a political response to the ecological emergency. It is urgent to act!' Hidalgo added. The Seine must be considered an ecosystem that "no one can claim ownership of", where the preservation of life takes "precedence over everything", according to the convention. Paris has been on a major cleanup mission on the Seine's behalf in recent years, spending €1.4 billion on its recovery. That includes investments like building a giant underground tub to store wastewater so that it doesn't run into the river. It received a boost in the run-up to the Olympics last year, as French authorities sought to get the river clean enough to host water sports events. After much speculation, failed E. coli tests, and one Mayoral swim, some Olympic events were able to go ahead. But a plan to open the Seine for public swimming last summer was delayed until this year. Now, authorities say it will be opened up at three points from 5 July. Despite ongoing issues from pollution, rising water temperatures, and pesticide runoff, the Seine has been getting markedly healthier. As the citizens' convention noted, the river is now home to around 40 species of fish - up from just four in 1970. Opening the river up to the public this summer could present "additional risks", it warned, and so will need to be carefully managed. Communities around the world have campaigned for fragile ecosystems like rivers and mountains to be afforded legal rights in order to better protect them. The legislation protecting the Whanganui River combines Western legal precedent with Indigenous beliefs, as Maori people have long considered it a living entity. In 2022, Spain granted personhood status to Europe's biggest saltwater lagoon, the Mar Menor, marking the first time a European ecosystem gained the right to the conservation of its species and habitats, and protection from harmful activities such as intensive agriculture. Last year, an Ecuadorian court ruled that pollution had violated the rights of the Machángara River, which runs through Quito. It enforced an article of Ecuador's Constitution that recognises the rights of nature. Hidalgo wants to see the Seine join this privileged company. 'Paris is committed to putting the Seine back in its rightful place, in the heart of our city and as close as possible to its inhabitants,' she wrote. 'A new adventure begins!'
