French President Emmanuel Macron talks to European Council president Charles Michel and Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel at last month’s European Union leaders summit in Brussels. Thousands take to the streets of Paris in December to support the National strike over pension reforms. The row over pension reform is a microcosm of the visionary but politically impractical side of Macronism. Macron has gone off the radar on pension reform. The cocksure Macron of 2017-18, the chastened, shirt-sleeved Macron of 2019 or the downbeat Macron of December 31, the ‘‘liberal strongman’’ wearied by democracy?

Source: Otago Daily Times January 07, 2020 15:32 UTC