French Press Review 19 December 2017

French President Emmanuel Macron’s interview on France 2 on Sunday occupies the lead space in both Liberation and Le Monde.

Liberation states that the French President is ready to welcome bankers driven out of London because of Brexit.

It points out to Macron’s ambition of making France the leader of the digital, environmental and financial revolution.

The report states that in order to make Paris more attractive, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had laid out a set of measures in July which have been since introduced in small steps.

Le Monde gives broad coverage to the upcoming election in Catalonia in Spain. It profiles the Ciudadanos candidate, Ines Arrimadas who is leading the polls before December 21 vote.

The reports states that the 36-year-old has shaken the separatists with her program to put an end to the separatist ‘process’ which Catalonia launched in 2012. Her policies centre on improving regional financing, investment in health and education and lowering taxes for the middle class.

In case she wins, the paper points out, it will be for the first time since the return of democracy in 1977, that a non-Catalan nationalist candidate will be the president of the region.

Le Monde also reports on France winning the women’s handball world title. It states that the French team knocked down a mountain as they upset the seemingly unbeatable Norwegian side.

France won the women's title with a 23-21 victory in Hamburg.

France now hold both the men’s and women’s world titles.