Analysis: Anxious France overwhelmed by the challenges of reform

In the latest issue of Europe’s world, Philippe Herzog, former MEP and current president of the French think tank Confrontations Europe, looks at the challenges France is facing and its difficulties to reform its model.

Ever since its referendum on the constitutional treaty, France has been silent on European affairs, both at home and abroad.And when this spring the government tried, without prior consultation, to impose reform in the sensitive area of youth employment, it was its turn to be told “No” by the citizenry. 
In other words, the country’s “republican monarchy” has today seemingly lost all authority, while French society is itself clearly in no mood for reform. 

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