Is the French Socialist Party on the way to recovery?

Marc Perelman interviews Richard Yung, a senator with the Socialist Party; Pervenche Berès, a Socialist MEP; Olivier Ferrand, the president of Terra Nova, a think tank close to the socialist party; and Gaël Sliman, the deputy director of polling with the BVA institute.

POLITICS

Click here to watch part 2 with Pervenche Berès, Olivier Ferrand and Gaël Sliman.

Marc Perelman

French Politics Editor

23/05/2013 - POLITICS

Fight against tax fraud: is it for real?

In Washington, Brussels and Paris, one issue has taken centre stage: tax evasion. While US senators grilled Apple executives for avoiding high taxes, European leaders vowed to crack down on fraud and French lawmakers looked into a recent scandal involving a government minister.

17/05/2013 - POLITICS

Hooligans in Paris: a government blunder?

Interior minister Manuel Valls has been a rare shining star in the socialist government. However this week, he has come under withering criticism from the opposition for the violent incidents that have marked the celebrations of the championship win of the Paris football team. So, did the government blunder or is the Right playing politics?

09/05/2013 - POLITICS

France and Germany: the end of an era?

"Friendly tension". Since François Hollande uttered those words to describe the relationship with Germany during a TV interview in late March, it seems like a Pandora's box has been opened. After years of keeping mum about France's closest ally in Europe, a number of French Socialists have openly criticised Berlin for imposing harsh austerity measures across Europe. Some have even called for confrontation with Germany. Is this healthy debate, or are we witnessing a real crisis?

02/05/2013 - POLITICS

Hollande's first year in power: the president's leadership in question (part 2)

After just one year in power, the French president re-defines the word "unpopular". Only a quarter of the French population approve of him. His leadership is in question. Yet he does have several political achievements he can point to. Parliament has authorised gay marriage, François Hollande acted decisively in Mali to take the country back from jihadists and it seems he has managed to distance himself from the lies and deception of his former budget minister.

02/05/2013 - POLITICS

Hollande's first year in power: struggling to fix the economy (part 1)

French President François Hollande has now been in office for one year, but the Elysée palace is not about to celebrate the anniversary. Hollande came to power riding a wave of discontent that has now turned against him. So what went wrong? The economy, mostly. Unemployment figures have reached an all-time high: more than 3.2 million people are out of work. That means French joblessness is at almost 12%, and it's been rising steadily for two years.