Dig a trench for a canal that will run 107 kilometres (66 miles) across northern France and you expect scraps: a stretch of road, perhaps, or a lone farmstead. At Sermaize, in the Hauts-de-France region, archaeologists from France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) found something much rarer. It is a complete workshop, with […]
“Marine Le Pen has reinvented herself. Her style now is more moderate,” reckons Jacques Rupnik, a French political scientist, ahead of the country’s widely anticipated battle for the presidency.
Many voters in France will vote for the candidate they see as having the best chance of defeating the far-right leader, Rupnik explains.
“All polls show that if the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon faced Marine Le Pen in the second round of France’s presidential election, Marine Le Pen would win,” he says, explaining that many French votes are unwilling to back Mélenchon.
In his interview with Denník N, Rupnik claims Mélenchon is the first French presidential candidate to seek support from immigrants so explicitly.
Find out:
How Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon have used the migration debate for their campaigns.
Why the presidential frontrunners do not understand economic issues.
Rupnik’s assessment of Emmanuel Macron’s two presidential terms.
Who does Marine Le Pen look up to?
Polls suggest that if France held a presidential election now, far-right Marine Le Pen and far-left Mélenchon would make the second round. What does this tell us about France?
France is divided and polarised. Young people in particular tend to lean towards more radical parties. Establishment parties are old and worn; they have lost their appeal. They have little to say, except for claiming that others are dangerous or worse. But you must bring something new to an election. But after ten years of Macron, that is very difficult.
And it is not entirely true that all polls predict Mélenchon will reach the second round; they often place former prime minister Edouard Philippe ahead of him. Mélenchon is powering ahead in polls because he has launched his campaign and is very good at it. But, nothing is decided.
In French presidential elections there are two rounds. In the first round, you vote for your preferred candidate; in the second, you vote for the lesser evil. So, for most voters, the question will not only be whom they prefer, but also who has the best chance of defeating Le Pen in the second round.
And that is very important. All polls say that if Mélenchon faced Le Pen in the second round, he would lose. Many people are not willing to vote for Mélenchon. A centrist candidate has the best chance of defeating Le Pen, so for now it looks like former prime minister Philippe.
But only if another former prime minister, Gabriel Attal, withdraws his candidacy.
Yes. We have two strong parties at the extremes, and the space in the centre has shrunk. The narrower it becomes, the more candidates appear within it. Every week, another politician tells media: “You know what, I would give it a go.”
Attal, of course, wants to win over Macron supporters — that is, voters on the centre left. The fact he is in the race matters even if he withdraws and endorses another candidate. That may prove a good strategy.
If Le Pen and Mélenchon reach the second round, many would vote Le Pen. Why?
Marine Le Pen has reinvented herself. Not in the sense that she has been thinking about what new ideas to bring forward, but now her style now is more moderate. It is no longer the brash style associated with her father.
Perhaps she took her cue from Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, seeing a candidate whom everyone feared, but no radical changes followed her election because she adapted quickly to European realities.
Le Pen points out that in several European countries, including Finland and Sweden, the far right has been in government and nothing has happened.
At the same time, Marine Le Pen managed to break through a certain barrier, and some moderate rightwing voters have shifted to her side.
How did that happen?
Previously, the moderate right was stronger and Le Pen’s camp was weaker. The type of rightwing voters who voted for Jacques Chirac have now shifted their weigh behind more radical options. The balance has shifted, and right-wing voters are saying: “Why should we, the right, be excluded from politics simply because Macron has failed and the Le Pen has grown stronger?”
Immigration is another reason behind growing support for Le Pen. Mélenchon is also capitalising on the immigration debate, but in the opposite way to her.
Please explain that.
Mélenchon opposes Le Pen’s position by arguing that immigrants integrate. The Le Pen camp says: “No, they have come from a different culture and their attitude is anti-French.” Le Pen’s camp says that integration works poorly, that immigrants do not even want to integrate instead preferring to live in their own communities.
“Mélenchon has therefore adopted the theory of grand remplacement, but instead of presenting it as a threat, he has turned it into a huge opportunity.”
And Mélenchon argues that it is fine for immigrants to remain in their own communities, practise their own religions, for women to wear headscarves and so on.
The great replacement conspiracy theory (“grand remplacement“) should be mentioned since the far right embraced it long ago. It is the idea that the native French population will gradually be replaced by new immigrants.
And Mélenchon now says: “What great replacement? On the contrary, it is an opportunity for France. He says: “The more of us there are, the better.”
Mélenchon has therefore adopted the theory of grand remplacement, but instead of presenting it as a threat, he has turned it into a huge opportunity. Of course, everyone knows what he is aiming for. It is an election campaign, and he is appealing to voters who are themselves immigrants.
Previously, no one focused on immigrants in elections except Le Pen who used them as a bogeyman. And now Mélenchon says: “We are appealing to Muslims.” He says Muslim headscarves are fine and religious symbols are fine. He says anyone who opposes this is racist.
On the contrary, such statements mainly play into Mélenchon’s hands. Of course, calling a referendum on the issue in France is not so simple since such laws already exist. The law states clearly that you can do what you want at home, but if you work in the public sector you must refrain from displaying your religion. There are laws covering this, and there is absolutely no need to devise new ones. Le Pen’s ideas in this regard seem to be mere campaign slogans; we cannot take them literally.
Yet, a major Le Monde poll shows the French are more concerned about the economy than immigration. Immigration ranks fourth, after social issues and ecology.
That is true, but other polls show that, for many voters, the issues of migration and safety overlap considerably.
So, as concerns about security become increasingly prominent, people are more concerned about security and often link it to migration. Marine Le Pen will certainly try to make it one of the key issues, alongside the economy.
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Images of burning schools, buses, and vicious assaults, along with a report of attempted murder, have once again hit France this morning, Oct. 1, as high school blockades mark their second week across France. What began as protests demanding better conditions for students and teachers has devolved into violence at dozens of locations, concentrated at schools with large immigrant populations
This morning, Oct. 1, further clashes, burning buses, and arson attacks have been reported. French news outlet BFMTV is even speaking of murder attempts being carried out by certain students in one incident where the leadership team of one school in Marseille was doused in gasoline. In response, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is convening an interministerial emergency meeting at 1 p.m. to contain the crisis.
BREAKING: Migrant student youths have set fire to multiple buses and even fire trucks in the French city of Marseille as chaos spreads.
The Marseille transport authority, RTM, said several of its buses "were targeted near high schools in the north and east of Marseille,"… pic.twitter.com/hv8tilIB3B
In Marseille, the regional government said an “unacceptable line” had been crossed at Victor Hugo High School, where “the principal, the deputy principal, the general secretary and the team leader were assaulted and doused with gasoline,” according to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, cited by BFMTV.
BFMTV also reported that a naval firefighters’ vehicle was looted and set on fire in the city. Viral videos also show a bus on fire with numerous Black and Arab youths pelting the bus with stones and dancing on its roof. The Marseille transport authority, RTM, said several of its buses “were targeted near high schools in the north and east of Marseille,” that “drivers had to leave their vehicles in a hurry, and one of them was assaulted.”
The transit authority condemned “these irresponsible acts.” ICI reported that two buses caught fire in northern Marseille and that two buses were damaged near Floride High School in the 14th arrondissement. A dumpster was also set alight outside Victor Hugo High School. Authorities said 40 high schools in the Bouches-du-Rhône department were affected Thursday, and 18 of them were fully blocked.
The regional authority said the violence was no longer a protest.
“Mortar fire at staff, vehicle fires, gates torn down, stoning and intolerable intrusions: this is not contestation, it is delinquency,” it said, according to ICI. “Those who burn our high schools are attacking the Republic.”
BREAKING: Nelson Mandela High School is currently on fire in the French city of Nantes.
Schools across France are being set on fire as student protests and blockades rage on.
In Nantes, the hall of Nelson-Mandela High School was destroyed by what deputy principal Gaëlle Cordier called a “deliberate” fire that spread to the façade before firefighters brought it under control, RTL and Ouest-France reported. The school was expected to stay closed for days, and RTL said the administration expected a closure of several weeks.
The Nelson Mandela High School of Nantes actually just had a major “eco-friendly inclusive” renovation. The building cost €77 million in taxpayer money. However, the all-wooden design, with the interior reportedly designed for “positive energy,” has now gone up in flames. It could cost tens of millions to rebuild.
Despite the threat to life and property, the far-left pro-migration party France Unbowed (LFI) has tried to bolster the student movement, which is now spiraling out of control.
BREAKING: Schools are burning across France as violent student blockades grow. The mayhem shows no sign of slowing down despite 625 arrests.
Oct. 1 Nelson-Mandela high school in Nantes burned, façade and hall destroyed. The school is expected to be closed for several… pic.twitter.com/v1fxbNuWfH
A fire at the private Talensac High School in the city center destroyed the entrance doors.
“The same wreckers everywhere. The same violence everywhere. The same political exploitation everywhere,” Christelle Morançais, president of the Pays de la Loire region, wrote. “No demand to satisfy, just the will to sow chaos and destroy everything. This is not the youth of France.”
Staff have also been repeatedly attacked in other schools by migrant students hunting in packs.
France in chaos: Youths are literally hunting teachers and school staff in packs.
A chemistry teacher was violently attacked and kicked in his back as rioters chase him at the César Baggio high school in Lille, France.
Elsewhere Thursday, the prefecture said the façade of Lumière High School in Lyon’s 8th arrondissement was set on fire, Actu Lyon reported. In Annecy, fires were set outside the Berthollet, Baudelaire and Sommeiller high schools. Firefighters said they were working to keep the flames from reaching the buildings.
The unrest built through the week. On Wednesday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 356 high schools were disrupted, 625 people were arrested and 83 police officers and gendarmes were injured, in a tally he described as not yet final, Europe 1 reported. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 119 students and staff had been injured since the blockades began, including 34 staff members. “That is unprecedented in the national education system,” he said.
In addition, the following cases have been reported:
In Wattrelos, in the Nord, a car was driven against the gates of the Émile-Zola middle-and-high school and set on fire Wednesday. The school was closed, and prosecutors opened an inquiry for arson, Le Figaro reported.
In Montpellier on Tuesday, a fire destroyed the caretaker’s lodge at a side entrance of Jean-Mermoz High School and the school was evacuated.
In Bordeaux on Wednesday, a bin fire outside Gustave-Eiffel High School spread to the façades of two houses across the street, and firework mortars were fired toward the school, ICI reported. Ten people were arrested in the Gironde for arson, damage and throwing projectiles.
At Paul-Éluard High School in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, a fire damaged the main gate. Île-de-France region president Valérie Pécresse said replacement, security and cleaning up would cost about €100,000, and put total damage at regional high schools near €1 million, including about 10 gates out of service.
Geffray also cited a teacher beaten in the Nord, a head teacher injured by a firework mortar in the Hauts-de-Seine, and another threatened with death in the Essonne.
As Remix News reported yesterday, Geffray said: “This violence is unspeakable.” However, despite his threats to launch legal proceedings against rioters, the violence has only grown far worse today, Oct. 1.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has called any escalation “irresponsible.” Nuñez has described some of the violence as closer to urban rioting than to a labor protest.
A 93-year-old woman was found dead in her home Sunday after neighbors, with police discovering a 34-year-old Sudanese man naked and lying on her body when they entered after emergency calls from neighbors, prosecutors said. The man was placed under formal investigation Tuesday for murder preceded or followed by rape.
The victim, identified by French media as Marie-Louise and known to some neighbors as “Juliette,” had been bedridden for months after a stroke and could not move without help. She lived in the Minimes district, near the Cité Bourbaki housing complex.
Neighbors called police about 5 p.m. Sunday after hearing shouting, insults and sounds of blows coming from the house. Officers found the front door locked and entered through the rear. They reported blood on the floor and a mattress in a bedroom before finding the woman unclothed and motionless on the bathroom floor.
The suspect was also unclothed and appeared intoxicated, police and prosecutors said. Some reports stated they found the man either asleep or dazed on top of the woman’s body when they entered.
He resisted arrest and injured an officer, according to the Toulouse prosecutor’s office. A breathalyzer test later showed an alcohol level of 0.92 milligrams per liter.
Prosecutor David Charmatz said an autopsy found injuries suggestive of sexual violence, a rib fracture, a spinal fracture, facial bruises and traumatic injuries to the neck consistent with asphyxia. Further tests were ordered to confirm the findings and determine the exact cause of death.
The man was placed under formal investigation Tuesday for murder preceded or followed by rape. Prosecutors asked that he be held in pretrial detention. He had little to say in questioning, and a psychiatric evaluation was planned, according to local reports.
French outlets have given conflicting accounts of the suspect’s immigration status. Some early reports described him as a homeless man living in the country illegally. La Dépêche du Midi later reported that he was a Sudanese refugee with legal status and no criminal record. Investigators have not publicly said how he entered the home. Neighbors told local media the woman often left a door unlocked so caregivers and relatives could get in.
Residents described Marie-Louise as a familiar figure, with one neighbor stating she was “the little grandmother of the neighborhood.” People who knew her said neighbors routinely helped with daily tasks. Flowers were left outside the house as residents mourned.
The investigation is being handled by specialized police units in Toulouse. A judge is expected to decide on the next legal steps in the case as forensic and toxicology results come in.
China has warned that it will respond if the European Union introduces new trade restrictions targeting Chinese companies or products, as France and Germany push for stronger European instruments to address what they regard as unfair commercial practices.
China’s Ministry of Commerce issued the warning after reports that several EU governments were discussing a mechanism modelled partly on Section 301 of US trade law, which allows Washington to investigate foreign trade practices and impose countermeasures.
Beijing described such an approach as protectionist and unilateral and warned that it could damage continuing negotiations between China and the EU.
“If the European side insists on introducing discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese companies or products,” the ministry said, China would “resolutely respond” to defend the interests of its industries.
The warning comes as Europe’s trade relationship with China is moving further up the political agenda.
According to the European Commission’s latest EU-China trade figures, EU exports to China were worth €199.5 billion in 2025 while imports reached €559.5 billion.
The goods deficit stood at €359.9 billion, compared with €312.2 billion in 2024.
China remained the EU’s largest source of goods imports and its fourth-largest export market.
Brussels argues that the scale of the imbalance is connected not only to competitiveness but also to state support, market-access restrictions and other structural differences between the two economies.
China disputes that assessment and has repeatedly accused the EU of using industrial and security arguments to justify protectionism.
The argument is already visible in several industries.
The EU imposed countervailing duties on Chinese battery electric vehicles after an investigation concluded that state subsidies were giving Chinese manufacturers an unfair advantage in the European market.
The automotive dispute is important because Europe is simultaneously trying to attract Chinese manufacturing investment.
France and Spain addressed that question during President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Madrid.
Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez agreed on the need for greater European unity in responding to Chinese competition. They also discussed whether Chinese investors entering strategically important European industries should be required to provide stronger commitments on issues such as technology transfer.
Macron said that companies on both sides of the Pyrenees needed protection when they faced unfair competition and argued that “the only response that works is European.”
France has generally favoured stronger European trade defences.
Germany has traditionally approached the issue more cautiously because major German manufacturers have substantial commercial exposure to China. Increasing competition from Chinese producers, particularly in industrial sectors where German companies were once dominant, has altered the debate.
Reports that Berlin and Paris are now working together on a stronger trade instrument therefore suggest a potentially important shift.
The two countries are said to be considering a European mechanism inspired by the American Section 301 process, although no final proposal has yet been adopted by the European Commission.
EU trade law already provides several instruments.
Brussels can impose anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties following investigations, use the Foreign Subsidies Regulation to examine state-backed investment and procurement, and deploy the Anti-Coercion Instrument where another country uses economic pressure against the EU or a member state.
The discussion now concerns whether those instruments are sufficient when governments believe a problem extends across industries rather than affecting an individual product.
At the same time, Brussels and Beijing have established a Trade and Investment Consultations mechanism, with workstreams covering trade balances, export controls, intellectual property and World Trade Organisation reform.
China’s Commerce Ministry has warned that introducing tougher measures while those talks continue would damage trust.
That leaves the EU facing two parallel choices: continue negotiations intended to narrow the trade dispute while also developing stronger instruments in case those negotiations fail.
France and Germany are increasingly arguing that Europe needs greater leverage.
Beijing’s response is that using that leverage against Chinese companies would bring countermeasures.
The next stage will depend on whether the Franco-German proposal develops into a formal EU initiative. If it does, the dispute will move beyond duties on particular products towards a broader argument over how Europe intends to manage its economic relationship with China.
France and Spain have openly welcomed the prospect of Britain rejoining the European Union after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham put full membership back among the options for the country’s long-term relationship with Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the question during Macron’s state visit to Spain on Wednesday, 30 September. Asked whether Britain could return under Burnham, Macron responded in English: “Welcome back.” He added that a British decision to move in that direction would be good news for both Britain and Europe.
Sánchez was similarly positive, saying Spain would “open our arms” if Britain sought to return.
Their comments followed Burnham’s intervention at the Labour Party conference and subsequent interviews in which he argued that Britain should reconsider the full range of options for its future relationship with the EU.
Those could include remaining under the present post-Brexit arrangements, returning to the customs union or single market, or ultimately “going all the way” and applying for EU membership again.
More recently, the argument has moved from diplomatic language to practical economic questions. Burnham has been pressing Brussels to ensure British companies are not disadvantaged by the EU’s emerging industrial preference rules, with access to the proposed “Made in Europe” framework becoming one of the principal issues ahead of the next EU-UK summit.
Macron nevertheless made clear in Madrid that closer relations could not become a system under which Britain selected individual advantages of EU membership while remaining outside the corresponding obligations.
That question dominated much of the Brexit negotiation after the 2016 referendum. Access to the single market is built around the free movement of goods, services, capital and people, while participation also entails accepting common rules and enforcement mechanisms.
A British application to rejoin would be a separate and considerably larger process. Under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, Britain would have to apply for membership and secure unanimous agreement from the existing member states before negotiations could be completed.
A returning Britain could not assume that the special arrangements it held before Brexit would automatically be restored. The UK previously had an opt-out from the euro, remained outside the Schengen passport-free area and benefited from a budget rebate.
Any future terms would have to be negotiated.
Public opinion has also changed since the referendum. A YouGov poll in June found 55 per cent of Britons supported rejoining the EU and 34 per cent opposed it, although support falls when respondents are asked about specific membership conditions.
For the moment, however, Burnham is not proposing an immediate membership application or referendum.
The next test will be the UK-EU summit expected in November. The meeting was originally planned for July but was postponed following Keir Starmer’s resignation, with EU Today reporting at the time that the political transition in London had complicated preparations.
Burnham wants the summit to advance negotiations on industry, trade and migration and has said he intends to use the period around the meeting to set out the longer-term options available to Britain.
The immediate negotiations are therefore likely to focus on economic integration rather than membership.
Greater access to European markets would almost certainly involve greater regulatory alignment. The political argument in Britain will concern how far the country is prepared to accept common European rules in return for reducing barriers created by Brexit.
Macron and Sánchez have now made clear that, if the discussion eventually moves beyond closer economic cooperation towards membership itself, two of the EU’s largest states would welcome it.
French police detained 440 people, most of them minors, on Tuesday as high school blockades that began last week around Paris spread nationwide and, in several cities, gave way to clashes, arson and vandalism.
Images and videos of the violence rapidly spread on social media, including harrowing videos of teachers and staff being hunted by students. One video of a school staff member from the Stéphane Hessel High School, who was attacked while trying to extinguish a dumpster fire.
JUST IN: A White male staff member at Stéphane Hessel High School is viciously attacked while trying to extinguish a dumpster fire.
The violent blockades at French schools coincide with nationwide public-sector union strikes that are paralyzing the country.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told BFMTV that about two-thirds of those detained were placed in police custody, mainly on suspicion of property damage or assaulting officers.
Forty-eight members of the security forces were injured, he said. “Violence is never legitimate. There is nothing that justifies violence,” Nuñez added, describing the police response as “extremely proportionate.”
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said at least 10 school employees were hurt and that the Education Ministry had counted 31 injured students and staff in all. Among the cases he cited were a teacher beaten in northern France, a principal struck by a firework mortar in Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, and another principal in Essonne who received a death threat.
“Legal proceedings have been initiated against these actions. This violence is unspeakable,” Geffray wrote on X.
Aujourd’hui, au moins 10 personnels de l’Éducation nationale et plusieurs élèves ont été blessés, notamment par des tirs de mortier.
Les premiers sont des fonctionnaires, qui servent l'intérêt général et le service public. Les seconds sont des élèves que nous avons tous les…
He said the right to demonstrate “cannot serve as an excuse for such actions” and warned that anyone who “legitimizes them or calls for the expansion of the blockades in this context puts our students and public sector employees in danger.”
The ministry stated that protests or disruptions affected 416 schools during the day — out of about 3,700 lycées nationwide. By evening, 338 sites were still affected, including 45 fully blocked and 46 facing attempted blockades.
The main high school union, the Union Syndicale Lycéenne, put the number of blockaded schools far higher, at about 400, and called students to join a nationwide public-sector strike already planned for Tuesday.
Arrivée de la manifestation sur la Place de la Nation à Paris.
The movement started last week in the Paris suburbs, with students citing teacher shortages, overcrowded classes, poorly maintained buildings, and sweltering classrooms during this year’s heat waves. On Monday, authorities reported 164 detentions and disruptions at 180 schools. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called any further escalation “irresponsible,” while saying “the difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed.”
Scenes in several cities went well beyond sit-ins. In Lille, masked youths set trash bins and bicycles alight outside Lycée César Baggio, smashed bus shelters and pulled down a traffic signal as police fired tear gas. Similar confrontations were reported in Nantes, where students stacked bins across the gates of Lycée Gabriel Guist’hau, and at Lycée Arago in Paris, where a small group faced a police line.
Officials said hydrochloric acid was thrown at officers in seven incidents.
Tuesday’s school unrest coincided with a one-day strike by civil servants, including teachers, firefighters and hospital staff, two days before Lecornu is due to present the draft 2027 budget.
Unions said they were fighting a proposed freeze in the public-sector pay index, the fourth in a row, and a broader €54 billion ($63 billion) savings plan as France’s debt and deficit remain under pressure.
Unions claimed hundreds of thousands marched nationwide against the pay freeze.
Education Minister Geffray has accused lawmakers from the hard-left France Unbowed party of encouraging students to expand the blockades. Party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called the teenagers “harmless” and denounced what he termed a “ferocious” crackdown with “an unmistakably racist undertone.”
Another round of blockades could come n Thursday, when the budget text is expected.
French public-sector workers went on strike on Tuesday as demonstrations and school blockades spread across the country, two days before the government is due to present its 2027 budget.
Teachers, firefighters and health workers were among those taking part, with around 170 demonstrations planned nationally. High-school students also blockaded hundreds of schools, extending protests that began over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and conditions in the education system.
The industrial action, accompanied by the traditional violence, places Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government under additional pressure before ministers present the draft finance and social-security budgets on Thursday, 1st October.
The French Education Ministry reported that 13.71 per cent of teachers participated in Tuesday’s strike across most of metropolitan France and Réunion. Participation reached 15.28 per cent among primary-school teachers and 12.74 per cent in secondary education.
Separate student action affected hundreds of secondary schools.
Protests were reported in Paris, Lille, Lyon, Nice and other cities. Some demonstrations involved clashes with police and damage outside schools, although much of Tuesday’s public-sector action proceeded without major disruption.
The dispute is centred partly on government spending plans.
Trade unions oppose a proposed freeze in the salary index used to calculate public-sector pay and argue that years of inflation have already reduced employees’ purchasing power. Firefighters have also demanded additional resources following the extensive wildfires that struck France during the summer.
The government is preparing its budget against a worsening fiscal background.
France’s public debt has climbed close to 120 per cent of gross domestic product, while the budget deficit remains well above the European Union’s 3 per cent ceiling.
EU Today reported earlier this month that French debt was heading towards 120 per cent of GDP, accompanied by an increase in the premium investors demand to hold French government bonds rather than German debt.
Higher interest rates are adding to the pressure. Debt-servicing costs have become one of the largest areas of central government spending, restricting the room available for tax reductions or additional expenditure.
The government has also reduced its 2026 economic growth forecast to 0.5 per cent.
Finance Minister Roland Lescure has acknowledged that France will miss its earlier deficit target, leaving the 2027 budget with the difficult task of demonstrating a credible path towards stabilising the public finances without provoking further political resistance.
The budget is due to be formally presented on Thursday. The Finance Ministry has confirmed that Lescure, Public Accounts Minister David Amiel, Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou and Health Minister Stéphanie Rist will present the finance and social-security bills following the Council of Ministers.
The argument is taking place while EU fiscal surveillance is itself entering a more demanding phase.
Under the revised Stability and Growth Pact, member states are expected to follow agreed medium-term expenditure paths designed to bring deficits and debt onto sustainable trajectories.
EU Today recently examined how the EU’s fiscal rules face an enforcement test in October, when finance ministers and the European Commission return to national budget compliance. France is one of the countries where implementation will receive particularly close attention because of its debt level, persistent deficit and political difficulty in securing parliamentary agreement for spending reductions.
The domestic parliamentary arithmetic remains difficult. Lecornu’s government does not control an outright majority in the National Assembly, meaning the budget could become the subject of amendments, confidence votes or further negotiations with opposition parties.
The government has previously relied on Article 49.3 of the constitution to pass financial legislation without a conventional parliamentary vote, although use of the mechanism exposes a government to motions of no confidence.
Tuesday’s strikes add another layer to those negotiations. Trade unions have indicated that further action is possible if the budget contains measures they regard as unacceptable. The CGT has demanded changes to planned spending reductions and public-sector pay policy.
The precise scale of the government’s fiscal measures will become clearer on Thursday. For France, the budget will have to address three pressures simultaneously: deteriorating public finances, the EU’s fiscal framework and domestic opposition to further restraint.
France has called for money collected through European Union fines against Google to be used to reduce national contributions to the EU budget as governments negotiate the bloc’s next seven-year financial framework.
Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad said proceeds from penalties imposed on the US technology company should be treated as EU revenue and used to lower the sums governments must pay into the common budget.
The proposal comes as negotiations intensify over the 2028–34 Multiannual Financial Framework, for which the European Commission has proposed expenditure of almost €2 trillion.
Haddad referred to about €4.6 billion in revenue associated with Google penalties and interest.
The proposal is less radical in budgetary terms than it first appears because fines that become final already enter the EU budget as “other revenue”.
The Commission’s explanation of EU budget revenue states that gross national income-based contributions act as the balancing element of the budget after customs duties, VAT-based resources and other revenues — including fines on companies — are taken into account.
Higher income from definitive competition fines can therefore reduce the amount required from national governments.
France is pressing for that mechanism to be applied clearly to the Google proceeds at a time when governments are seeking ways to limit increases in their national payments.
Google has accumulated substantial EU penalties through both competition law and the Digital Markets Act.
A €460 million penalty concerned the Commission’s finding that Google gave preferential treatment to its own services in search results. A further €430 million fine concerned restrictions affecting developers’ ability to direct users towards alternative purchasing channels outside Google Play.
Google has contested elements of the EU enforcement regime and has continued legal proceedings over Commission decisions.
France also faces a sharp increase in its projected contribution.
Against that background, governments are looking at both expenditure reductions and new revenue streams that could limit demands on national treasuries.
The wider negotiations cover possible EU “own resources” — revenue that flows directly or indirectly to the European budget rather than being provided through conventional national contributions.
Existing resources include customs duties, a VAT-based contribution, a plastics contribution and national payments calculated according to gross national income.
The Commission has also proposed additional sources linked to carbon pricing and other EU policies.
Company fines differ from permanent own resources because their size is unpredictable and depends on enforcement decisions and subsequent legal proceedings.
A large fine can provide a one-off boost to EU revenue, but it cannot readily finance recurring expenditure across a seven-year financial framework.
Definitive fines have nevertheless affected member-state contributions before. Commission budget amendments have explicitly incorporated competition penalties as additional revenue, reducing the amount that must be raised elsewhere.
France is now seeking to ensure that the Google proceeds are reflected directly in the sums demanded from national budgets.
The proposal comes before another round of negotiations over the Multiannual Financial Framework, where the size of the budget remains unresolved.
With agreement requiring unanimity among all 27 governments, even relatively small sources of additional revenue are becoming part of the bargaining over who ultimately pays for the EU’s expanding spending commitments.
Hiver 1940. Exilés de force, plusieurs centaines d'« Annamites » débarquent en Dordogne. Ils seront quatre mille au total, sur les vingt mille « travailleurs indochinois » envoyés pendant la seconde guerre mondiale en France, à trimer dans la poudrerie de Bergerac puis à endurer les baraquements du camp d'internement de Creysse. Intrigué, à la suite de la découverte d'un fonds photographique hors norme, le journaliste et historien Pierre Daum mène l'enquête. Dans ce beau livre illustré, il révèle comment ces « ouvriers utilisables à l'arrière du front », enrôlés comme « main-d'œuvre indigène », accomplissent toutes sortes de tâches : mélange des poudres, vendanges… et, ce qui mobilise plus d'un millier d'hommes sur trois ans, l'assainissement de la vallée des Beunes. La Libération marque le début de la contestation, accentuée par la guerre d'Indochine qui commence fin 1946. Dans les camps, des slogans fleurissent : « Vive l'indépendance du Vietnam ! » Il faudra néanmoins attendre 1948 pour les premiers rapatriements. L'ouvrage, saisissant, fait partie d'un vaste projet comprenant une exposition, un film et un mémorial.
« Terroristes, c'était ainsi que l'on nommait les gars du maquis », chante Céline Girault. Avec le metteur en scène de théâtre Philippe Chuyen et sept jeunes en insertion issus de missions locales, le cinéaste se met, quatre-vingts ans plus tard, dans les pas de Gleb Sivirine, alias lieutenant Vallier, à la tête d'une troupe de très jeunes maquisards. Le journal de bord du résistant, son Cahier rouge (aux éditions Parole), sera suivi à la lettre jusqu'à sa représentation théâtrale, dans le strict respect de la temporalité du maquis Vallier (six mois, de février à août, en 1944 pour les résistants, en 2024 pour les comédiens). Des gorges de la Siagnole à la presqu'île de Giens en passant par le Verdon et Canjuers, on suit les apprentis comédiens qui vivent au jour le jour cette évocation, jusqu'au village de Collobrières, que d'autres jeunes, apprentis soldats, ont libéré huit décennies auparavant. En un crapahutage mémoriel dans les sentiers périlleux du Haut-Var, de bergeries en grottes, la troupe, un peu foutraque mais fidèle, fait revivre l'histoire d'une très modeste armée de l'ombre attendant désespérément un débarquement libérateur.
Former French MEP Rachida Dati is facing intense scrutiny following allegations she took lobbying money from French energy giant GDF Suez/Engie during her time at the European Parliament, on top of a separate investigation into her ties with French car maker Nissan-Renault.
The 60-year-old, who was born to Arab parents and started out as a maid, is also a former French culture and justice minister, and now mayor of the affluent 7th arrondissement in Paris.
But she also risks wearing a police ankle-bracelet and faces four years in prison in ongoing trials into her ties with the French companies, which first hit the headlines in 2025.
And back in 2014, when she sat in the European Parliament on the benches of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group, she threatened to sue EUobserver because we asked her about GDF Suez, which later changed its name to Engie, while deriding the corruption allegations against her as racist slurs.
EUobserver has published below some of the related email correspondence for the sake of transparency:
Dati email from 15 Apr 2014
“Rachida Dati will not hesitate to sue any media which will report such a defamatory statement,” her office also said in an email in 2015, after a German Green MEP, who was spearheading an ethics committee, said she was likely pocketing GDF Suez money.
Dati email from 15 June 2015
The allegedly “defamatory statement” had been made by Gerald Häfner, a former German MEP, who had chaired the parliament’s advisory committee on its Code of Conduct.
Häfner’s supposedly offensive words were:
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The popularity of French President Emmanuel Macron and his prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has plummeted due to the ongoing fuel crisis, BFMTV reports, citing a poll conducted by Odoxa-Mascaret for the online broadcaster Public Sénat and regional media.
The French president’s approval rating has fallen to a historic low of just 18 percent. That is a decrease of as much as 7 percentage points from the end of June.
At the same time, support for the French prime minister fell by 8 percentage points. Currently, 24 percent of the French consider him a good head of government.
The poll shows that 75 percent of respondents in France believe the government’s announced expansion of assistance for frequent long-distance drivers is insufficient. Sixty-two percent argue that the government should allocate more resources to solve the problem, despite France’s budget deficit.
Le Pen wins the French presidential election
A poll conducted for radio station RTL shows that if Marine Le Pen faced Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the candidate of the far-left La France Insoumise party, in the second round of the French presidential election, she would receive 69 percent of the vote and Mélenchon 31 percent.
The poll shows that Le Pen is well poised to crush the far-left contender.
If Marine Le Pen faced Édouard Philippe, the candidate of the centre-right Horizons party, in the second round, she would receive 57 percent of the vote and Philippe 43 percent.
In both scenarios, Marine Le Pen’s lead is larger than in previous similar polls.
For a candidate that has been convicted and attacked for years by the French establishment media, Le Pen’s turnaround is incredible.
The study also shows that in the first round, under various candidate scenarios, Marine Le Pen would come first if the election were held now, with 35 to 36 percent of the vote.
The first round of the French presidential election will take place on April 18, 2027 and the second round on May 2. The election will end 12 days before the end of Emmanuel Macron’s second and final presidential term, which ends on May 14.
The RTL poll was conducted between September 22 and 24 among a sample of nearly 2,000 people .
A 93-year-old disabled woman, who neighbors described as “the little grandmother of the neighborhood,” was found dead inside her small house in Toulouse on Sunday afternoon. Inside the home, police arrested a naked Sudanese illegal migrant in his 30s, according to French media reports.
Neighbors in the Minimes district, behind the Cité Bourbaki housing complex, called police after hearing prolonged screams and insults coming from the house of the woman, identified by local media as Juliette.
Officers arrived about 5:00 p.m. Sunday and found her body inside. The Sudanese migrant was subsequently removed from the residence, with neighbors telling the press that he was naked and fighting with officers as they tried to restrain him.
One officer was injured in the shoulder, according to accounts given to La Dépêche du Midi and confirmed by the Toulouse prosecutor.
Toulouse prosecutor David Charmatz said the suspect was “in an altered state,” according to witnesses at the scene, and that police subdued him only with difficulty.
A homicide investigation was opened. Charmatz’s office sent a duty magistrate to the scene to oversee detectives and speak with family members who arrived later in the evening.
Police technicians and investigators from the organized and specialized crime division remained at the house for hours. Additional charges could be added as the inquiry proceeds, local reporting said. The precise cause and circumstances of the woman’s death had not been publicly detailed Monday.
Residents described Juliette as a longtime fixture of the street.
“She was the little grandmother of the neighborhood,” one neighbor told La Dépêche, still in shock.
A man in his 30s who lives next door said, “It’s awful. She saw me being born. We used to do her shopping.”
A frightened resident who called emergency services said the shouting “kept going” and that she did not immediately understand where it was coming from.
A French social media influencer known for her criticism of Islam and immigration said a cashier at a Carrefour supermarket called her a “dirty whore” and a “racist” while she was checking out, according to her account of the encounter.
Mila Orriols posted a video Friday of a tense exchange at a Carrefour City store on Rue de la République in central Lyon. In the footage, Orriols tells the employee that she does not bother people while she is at work and that she will speak to his supervisor. As she leaves, she says, “We get revenge every time. Good evening.”
French media that reviewed the video reported that the alleged slurs were not clearly audible, though the employee can be heard using the word “racist” during the confrontation, according to French news outlet LyonMag. Orriols said the employee recognized her before insulting her, at which time she began filming.
Remix News produced a video about the encounter with English subtitles, however, Orriols’ original video garnered over 9 million views on X.
A supermarket employee called French right-wing activist Mila a "dirty whore" and a "racist," while she was at the checkout, according to her account.
The incident happened at a Carrefour supermarket in Lyon.
The company has not publicly commented on whether it will discipline the employee. Carrefour did not immediately respond to inquiries from French news outlets.
Orriols first drew national attention in 2020, when she was 16, after posting videos criticizing Islam. She received tens of thousands of online death threats and hate messages, was forced to leave school and lived for a time under 24-hour police protection. Several people were later convicted in connection with the threats.
She has said she no longer wants constant police protection, arguing she would rather live freely even if it means a shorter life.
Orriols remains a polarizing figure in France and has faced her own legal proceedings over comments French courts have deemed racist. In December 2025, a Lyon court convicted her of a racist insult over a social media post.
Her post from 2024 on X read: “I’ve noticed that many people with a background of inbreeding have very small foreheads. A huge part of families from North Africa are inbred, and many of them have misshapen and quite ugly faces, as well as very small foreheads. This especially applies to the twisted immigrants who attack us on the street every day.”
She deleted the post 10 minutes after writing it, but someone took a screenshot and filed a complaint.
French feminist activist Mila is being prosecuted for "racist insults" for saying many North Africans are inbred and many have "quite ugly faces."
Her post from 2024 read: "I've noticed that many people with a background of inbreeding have very small foreheads. A huge part… pic.twitter.com/3ITmvabUlD
Following the trial, Mila remained defiant, stating that she regrets the form of her comments, but not their content. She also said that scientific studies support her claim that North Africans have high rates of inbreeding.
Le pape Léon XIV a prononcé lundi un discours au centre des congrès Robert-Schuman de Metz dans lequel il a estimé que l'on ne pouvait parler d'Europe sans évoquer le christianisme, tout en dénonçant les "massacres inutiles" liés au retour de la guerre sur le Vieux Continent. La journée a ensuite donné lieu à un dernier tour en papamobile au milieu de milliers de fidèles et à une messe à la cathédrale Saint-Étienne, en présence d'Emmanuel Macron. Voici le fil du 28 septembre 2026.
Pour le dernier jour de visite en France, le pape Léon XIV se rend lundi à Metz, notamment pour célébrer la construction européenne comme source de paix. Le président français Emmanuel Macron assistera à la messe à la cathédrale Saint-Étienne.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi has said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s admission that some 5,000 sorties were flown from European bases in support of US military aggression against Iran proves that Europe formed part of the infrastructure of that aggression.
In a post on X on Thursday evening, Gharibabadi wrote that the NATO chief’s remarks demonstrated Europe’s role in enabling the illegal US campaign.
“Governments that placed their territory at the disposal of the United States cannot evade their responsibility,” he said. “This participation will not go unanswered.”
Rutte has repeatedly acknowledged that thousands of US military flights, between 4,000 and 5,000, departed from bases in Europe during the US-Israeli war of aggression against the Islamic Republic, which began on 28 February.
He described Europe as a “platform of power projection” without which Washington could not have conducted the operation.
Countries including Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, France and Germany were cited in connection with the use of bases, airspace, tankers and logistics.
Iran has consistently described the US-Israeli assault as an unprovoked act of aggression in flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law.
Tehran has stressed that providing territory, bases or infrastructure to an aggressor state itself constitutes participation in the act of aggression, as recognized under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately warned European officials in New York of the severe and long-term consequences of facilitating and supporting US and Israeli war crimes, both in Gaza and against Iran. He noted that submitting to a bully never satisfies that bully.
MOSCOW – Hackers from the United States, France and Singapore attempted to disrupt the remote electronic voting process during the recent State Duma elections, with malicious web traffic originating from IP addresses in over 30 countries, including the UK and Ukraine, Russia’s largest digital services provider Rostelecom said on Friday.
“The most intense attacks originated from networks in unfriendly countries. Malicious traffic came from IP ranges in more than 30 countries, including the UK and Ukraine. Notably, the US, France and Singapore were identified among the primary sources of attacks on the electronic voting infrastructure,” the statement read.
Rostelecom maintained secure communication channels and infrastructure at polling stations during the three-day voting period last week. It set up video surveillance across 89 regions and ensured the cybersecurity and uninterrupted operation of the federal remote electronic voting platform.
Tech experts repelled more than 3,000 waves of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks reaching speeds of up to 1.7 Tbps, blocked over 170 million malicious attempts targeting web services, and prevented unauthorized access to the infrastructure. Efforts focused primarily on preventing voting results from being altered or disclosed prematurely.
The intensity and volume of the attacks exceeded those seen during the previous electoral process in 2024, Rostelecom said. The primary targets were e-government systems, including the Unified System of Identification and Authentication (ESIA) and the Gosuslugi state service portal, as well as Rostelecom’s infrastructure, the remote electronic voting (DEV) system, and the Central Election Commission (CEC).
A 30-year-old English instructor of Algerian nationality was taken into police custody Tuesday on suspicion of rape, sexual assault and violence against boys and girls ages 3 to 5 at a private Catholic nursery school in Paris, according to sources close to the investigation. More than 20 complaints have since been lodged in the case.
The man, identified as Yasser G., worked for the Cap English Institute and taught introductory English sessions at École Saint-Laurent in Paris’s 10th arrondissement. The Paris judicial police’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors opened an investigation in early July after parents of a 3-year-old girl filed a complaint, according to BFM TV.
Attorney Hugo Latrabe confirmed his client was in custody.
11 staff members are accused of sexual assaults and rapes at the Saint-Dominique nursery school, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France.
"Look at that school behind us, that’s the school where my 3-year-old daughter was raped by several after-school care staff members,"… pic.twitter.com/unvnP8SUjM
The alleged acts occurred during 30-minute English-language classes for children. Since a 2019 education law, French kindergarten students may receive early language lessons. The instructor entered the school alone, taught small groups in a first-floor “yellow” room without the regular classroom teacher present, and left around 10:45 a.m.
The case comes amid a broader series of investigations into alleged abuse by staff at Paris-area nursery and after-school programs, which Remix News has previously reported on.
The first girl told her parents the teacher was “mean” and had touched her private parts. The family alerted school officials through the École Directe app on May 11. In an email to parents that was later obtained by reporters, management referred to “a filing of a complaint for alleged serious facts in the context of English interventions in kindergarten.” It said “all steps taken with the judicial authorities” had been initiated and that “the alleged person was instantly suspended from all activity as a precautionary measure.” A psychological support unit was also announced.
Parents say the school’s initial response was delayed and inadequate. Management described the first report as “mixed” and gathered children in small groups to ask whether the teacher had been mean to them, a step parents say should have been left to trained investigators. No report was made to the Paris prosecutor’s office at that time, and the instructor was not immediately suspended.
On May 22, the director emailed parents seeking to extend Cap English classes to Wednesdays. Children therefore had about three additional hours with the instructor between May 11 and the end of the school year. Parents of the first girl filed a formal complaint June 22 and notified the school the next day. Cap English then suspended the man and the school reported the matter to prosecutors.
The instructor was not arrested over the summer while investigators conducted child interviews under a lengthy protocol. He had obtained a new position at a management school for the start of the academic year, according to reports.
“We were told not to say anything, not to leak to the press to allow the investigation to move forward,” one mother whose child is not among the alleged victims said. “We are all in shock, we explained to our daughter what happened because the students also talk about it among themselves. Many parents are afraid that the school will struggle and eventually close if the cases are publicized, I believe that this also unfortunately explains the silence. The atmosphere is very tense at school, management communication has been catastrophic from the start. It has to come out.”
The same mother said “drastic measures have since been taken by the new management, no more recourse to external organizations like Cap English, and above all no more hiring of male caregivers for children.” The original director is on sick leave and has been replaced by an interim manager.
Other parents expressed similar anger. One father described “a lot of stress, anxiety… There is a lot of incomprehension.” He said “it’s dramatic that a person was able to act in an ‘industrial’ manner.”
A mother who attended a July meeting said the director repeatedly called the information “mixed,” adding that this “put the parents who were there in a state of irritation even though it’s very clear, a child doesn’t invent things like that.”
Cap English said in a statement published by Le Monde that “one of its former instructors at a private school in Paris has been implicated in serious acts that appear to fall under the penal code.” The company added: “He was immediately removed from all activity with students as a precautionary measure as soon as the school principal informed Cap English of the alleged facts.”
It said required background checks had been completed at the time of hiring “without any information coming to its attention that would have barred him from working with minors” and that it would cooperate fully with investigators.
School management declined to comment Tuesday. The Diocese of Paris, which oversees the Catholic school, did not respond to inquiries.
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