AFPFrench President Emmanuel Macron urged his government to ignore the doomsayers on Monday and concentrate on implementing his agenda following a sharp fall in his approval ratings. Macron, a 39-year-old centrist elected in May, presided over the first cabinet meeting since the summer holidays on Monday ahead of a crucial few weeks for his pro-business programme. We should never give in to the prophets of doom," he told his ministers as the start of the meeting, in comments broadcast on television. The law, which will be implemented by presidential decree rather than being debated and passed in parliament, is contested by hard-left trade union the CGT and Macron's leftist political opponents. "The country needs to be transformed and the French people know that," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told a press conference, adding that labour reform was a key part of Macron's pre-election manifesto.

Source: The Local August 29, 2017 07:52 UTC