Free Republic

French president Emmanuel Macron told a gathering of lawmakers on Monday that France was ready for a “radically new path” which would include “profound changes” including slashing the number of MPs and Senators by a third and ending the state of emergency. […] The Senate has 348 members, while the lower house National Assembly has 577 and Macron warned them he would call a referendum if they do not agree. Macron also said he planned to introduce a “dose of proportional representation” for the next parliamentary elections, “so that all tendencies are fairly represented (in parliament)”. That reform could enable...

David Cameron clashed repeatedly with Nicolas Sarkozy today after the French President tried to exclude Britain and non-eurozone countries from a critical Brussels summit to rescue European banks. During two hours of bitter exchanges during a meeting of all 27 EU leaders before a crisis summit of the eurozone’s 17 members on Wednesday, President Sarkozy fought hard to get the Prime Minister barred from talks that would finalise a 100billion euros cash injection into banks. ”We’re sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro, you didn’t want to join and now...

For the first time, an opinion poll to be published today suggests that most French would vote against the EU Constitution as a national referendum on the charter looms this spring. Fifty-one percent of respondents in the poll conducted for Le Parisien newspaper said they would oppose the constitution if a vote were held today, with 49% in favour. Most recent polls have shown solid support in the “yes” camp – which includes President Jacques Chirac and the opposition Socialist Party – but that momentum was rising among the charter’s opponents. The poll of 802 registered voters was conducted March...