News & Politics
What happens when two republics share a news cycle — and a metaphor.
Eve of the Vote: France's Budget Faces Its First Verdict
The National Assembly votes Tuesday on the 2027 budget's revenue section, with the RN's 122 deputies as kingmakers, a censure threat hanging over 49.3, and debt at a record 119% of GDP.
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Three Days to the Vote: France's Budget Endgame
The Assembly's solemn vote on the revenue half of the 2027 budget lands Tuesday, October 20 — after a week of amendments, warnings from the markets, and 122 RN deputies holding the deciding cards.
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The €30.9 Billion Vote Nobody in Brussels Wants to Discuss
France's parliament approved its EU budget contribution for 2027, but the vote exposed how fragile the consensus behind Europe's next seven-year budget really is.
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France's Budget Fight: 236 Votes, One Deficit, and a Country Holding Its Breath
The rejection motion failed, the revenue debate is open, Mélenchon has a counter-plan, students are still blocking schools, and the IMF is watching. A dry look at the numbers behind France's autumn of discontent.
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A Year's Grace
The European Commission proposed a one-year delay to its methane rules for oil and gas imports after pressure from France and the United States. Climate groups call it a betrayal; industry calls it reality.
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The Boarding
France boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean this week. Moscow calls it piracy. Paris calls it enforcement. Martin Doyle on a helicopter boarding, a false flag, and the shadow fleet both sides are fighting over.
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The Overcapacity Pact
Fourteen economies signed a US-led statement against industrial overcapacity this week. France signed too. China calls it protectionism. Sam Kessler on the pact that names its target without naming it.
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The Last Supporter
Washington leaned on its allies to walk away from a Brussels disinformation conference. Canada and Lithuania walked. France stayed. Victor Lemaire on a very public split over who gets to call out whom.
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The Debt Bomb
The Wall Street Journal calls France's finances a 'debt bomb.' French borrowing costs have climbed past Greece's. Both sides of the Atlantic have something to say about it — and neither side is being quiet.
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What They Want, What He Says
France's student protests now have two competing explanations: an education crisis, say the students and the French left; a warning about immigration and disorder, says Donald Trump and the right on both sides of the Atlantic.
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The Mène France Isn't In
The Pentagon's number two convened five NATO allies in Poland to talk about the alliance's future. France, Britain and the Baltic states weren't invited. Critics call it a toxic precedent; nobody on the outside has said a word.
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The Piggy Bank
France's Europe minister went on television and said the 4.6-billion-euro fine extracted from Google should count as a 'new revenue stream' for the EU budget. The White House called it extortion. The digital-services tax fight has entered a new round.
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