Brexit negotiations should accelerate over the months to come, says a joint statement from the UK prime minister and the president of the EU Commission. Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker met in Brussels on Monday for a dinner they called constructive and friendly.
France said it was ready to seek other buyers for its biggest shipyard should Italy refuse a 50-50 ownership split, before both countries pledged to find a solution next month. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, told the Corriere della Sera daily that a deal with Fincantieri might not be thrashed out.
The election of Emmanuel Macron as president has helped propel France to the top of a league table of global “soft power”, while Britain’s score has decreased partly as a result of Brexit. But despite losing points for government stability, enterprise and favorability measured in worldwide polls, the UK hung on to second slot, thanks to the US tumbling from first to third following the election of Donald Trump.
France is actively seeking to exploit Brexit to disrupt and degrade Britain’s lucrative financial sector, a senior City representative has warned. Former foreign office minister Jeremy Browne, who acts as the City of London’s envoy on Brexit, said the French see the British as “adversaries” in the forthcoming withdrawal negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he “respected” Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord but that France would remain committed. The US president visiting France then hinted that his administration could shift its opinion.
PM Theresa May has told Donald Trump of her “disappointment” with his decision to pull the US out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. In a phone call with the US president, Mrs. May said the UK remained committed to the deal, according to a Downing Street statement. But Mrs. May has been criticized for not signing a joint condemnation from France, Germany, and Italy. Mr. Trump said he would try to negotiate a new, “fairer” climate deal.
Europe can no longer completely depend on the US and UK following the election of President Trump and Brexit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. Mrs. Merkel said she wanted friendly relations with both countries as well as Russia but Europe now had to fight for its own destiny.
In his first major decision, newly inaugurated French President Emmanuel Macron has named conservative lawmaker Edouard Philippe as prime minister. Philippe has been the mayor of Le Havre, a port city in the Normandy region of northern France, since 2010 and became a member of parliament for the region two years later.
France's new president, Emmanuel Macron, has called for a historic reconstruction of Europe, saying it is the only reaction to fight populism. Speaking in Berlin on the first full day of his presidency, he was joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said the pair had a joint conviction that they needed to deepen the European Union.
Emmanuel Macron has been elected president of France with 65.5% of the vote, beating the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, according to official estimates. But the abstention rate - at 25%- is the highest since 1969. After a campaign packed with shocks, dirty tricks and invective,