Hollande's first three months: Has 'Mr Normal' won the austerity battle?

François Hollande has been France's president for a little under three months. He came to power vowing to fight the European trend for austerity. Laura Baines and her panel discuss whether Hollande has managed to turn the tide in Europe, or whether the French president is merely swimming against it as the eurozone crisis rumbles on.

DEBATE

Gregory VISCUSI, Reporter, Bloomberg News;
Denis DEMONPION, Editor-in-Chief, Le Nouvel Observateur Magazine;
Pierre ROUSSELIN, Senior Editor on foreign affairs issues, Le Figaro;
John GAFFNEY, Professor of Politics, Co-Director, Centre for Europe Aston University and author of "The French Left and the Fifth Republic".
Watch the second part

Programme prepared and produced by Wassim Nasr, Sara Bertilsson and Mary Colombel

Presenter

François Picard

08/12/2010 - THE DEBATE

Banking system: reform, what reform?

Former Manchester United star Eric Cantona urged followers to help him bring down a "criminal and corrupt" banking system by withdrawing their savings. Thousands signed up to the "cashpoint revolution", but after numerous warnings by French politicians and bankers, only a handful of people actually did it. Capitalism remains intact, but the incident has highlighted the level of public anger against bankers. Is that anger justified? And have banking reforms actually made any difference?

07/12/2010 - THE DEBATE

Wikileaks, one week on - decoding the cables (part 2)

This Monday the torrent of Wikileaks revelations show no sign of slowing! The publication of tens of thousands of secret communications between the US state department and its embassies around the world has given an unprecedented insight in to how America does business with its allies. The man behind the leaks, Julian Assange, has been hailed as a hero by his supporters and denounced as a terrorist by his critics.

07/12/2010 - THE DEBATE

Wikileaks, one week on - decoding the cables

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03/12/2010 - THE DEBATE

Arab Christians: a persecuted minority? (Part 2)

Christian communities have existed in the Arab world for centuries and make up the religious minority in many countries, such as Jordan, the West Bank, Egypt and Iraq. Already fragile, these groups are increasingly subject to persecution. For many, life is becoming too hard in their native lands and the only option is to leave.