Talking Europe – Au revoir, French presidency of the EU: A mixed bag of results for Macron
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France is handing over the baton of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union to the Czech Republic. It’s a rotating role that every EU member state holds in turn for six months – meaning that with 27 member states, it only comes around once every 13 and a half years.
The role is supposed to be an opportunity for the country that holds the presidency to push its policy ideas and influence the agenda. But for France, the last six months have been dominated by the Russian war on Ukraine and to a certain extent, France’s own presidential and parliamentary elections.
In this programme, we’re assessing President Emmanuel Macron’s performance, and looking ahead as France hands over the EU presidency to the Czech Republic.
