French Election

Here's a map of the main candidates' majorities:
www.thelocal.fr/20170423/interactive-map-of-the-2017-french-presidential-election
Surprising that the Dordogne went to Melenchon.

From Wiki

A member of the Socialist Party (PS) from 2006 to 2009, Macron was appointed as deputy secretary-general under François Hollande's first government in 2012. He was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in 2014 under the Second Valls Government,[1] where he pushed through business-friendly reforms. He resigned in August 2016[2] to launch a bid in the 2017 presidential election.[3] In November 2016, Macron declared that he would run in the election under the banner of En Marche!, a centrist[4] political movement he founded in April 2016. He qualified for the runoff after the first round of the election on 23 April 2017.

Macron has worked with Socialist governments and surely it follows he will take a few from the Socialist Party with him. That's why it ' could' turn out to be a the same old, same old but under a different banner.

I am interested to be told otherwise as I have nothing more than a hunch so please if anybody 'knows' who is joining with Macron to run his party if in government I am genuinely interested to know.

It was quite a big deal when he was appointed to the government from outside the socialist party and the reforms were bound to be unpopular.
I think he will want to get rid of a lot more business red tape and attract a lot of post Brexit high tech and banking from London.
I think his government would be a centrist mix and Bayrou who is sort of Lib Dem-ish is supporting him too. The German governments have these sort of coalitions I think.

Hollande has just announced support for Macron.

He was bound to really, wasn't he?
Mind you if the June elections are anything like this one there won't be many from the socialist party to choose from, will there?

While I agree with most of your analysis, Mamie, there is no way Macron can entice the London banks and tech businesses to relocate to Paris.

This plan has already failed over the winter months due to the language problems. (A lot of French politicians speak very poor English and so cannot present the case well enough!)

Also the London lawyers are currently working on a plan to ensure the banks carry on with the same trading agreements as before after Brexit.

The Germans are overjoyed at the thought that he will be president. He and Angie will get on well.
Her problem is whether she will be there herself in 6 months time.

The EU have already agreed that two of the agencies - Banking and the Medicines agency will be moved to mainland EU. The exact location of them is due to be announced in a couple of weeks. The UK has to pay the cost of the relocation.

Along with thousands of jobs

I think it is not agreed yet and is still under discussion Weshwife It is on the agenda for April 27th at a summit meeting.

We shall see Lillie, but Macron speaks excellent English as do some of the other younger politicians. I presume Fillon does too. ?
He will also be working to get his own high-flyers back.

Well, just over 1,000 jobs between the two agencies and probably most of those will be held by EU citizens.
The banking agency employs 159 people of 25 nationalities, but they will have their relocation costs etc paid for. This kind of thing has happened to many of us over the years but presumably they will all keep their jobs.

Its objective is to contribute to financial stability across the EU and safeguard the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the EU banking sector.

Its mission is to build a single regulatory and supervisory framework for the entire banking sector in the 28 EU Member States, so as to ensure an efficient, transparent and stable Single Market that is beneficial to consumers, businesses and the broader economy in the EU
So location in the UK after Brexit would be a nonsense.

The EU Medicines Agency employs people from around the EU as well so most of these people should not lose their jobs either. There are 50 British staff out of nearly 900 so they may not be able to relocate but perhaps their expertise would be required, who knows?

If we are no longer in the EU we can't really expect EU agencies to remain here, it would not be a logical thing to do.

True * Mamie*, no one's English could be worse than Hollande's!

I always get the feeling that Hollande might speak a bit but doesn't want to expose it to public view. ?
The Paris thing is interesting because I get the impression that Sadiq Khan and Anne Hidalgo get on well too. They say Macron is friendly with Chuka Umunna.

Jalima There are nearly 1000 mainly British jobs at the EMA in Canary Wharf. I know somebody who works there and they're expecting to be made redundant. Of course, they'll be delighted if they're, but it's not looking good.

Where did you get the idea that there only 50 British jobs at the EMA?

Even if some of the staff are non-British EU jobs, they're high quality jobs, paying way above average wage. My friend is only clerical level, but my guess is that she earns over £35k. Multiply that by 900 and the Treasury is losing the income tax and NICs on over £30 million.

The EMA attracts other well-paying pharma jobs, so multiply that by the number of companies, who might also decide to go elsewhere and we're potentially talking about hundred of millions of lost revenue to the Treasury.

Can anyone explain why Marine Le Pen has stepped down as leader of the National Front? Will that not be seen as her being power crazy?

The newspaper says "elle se met en congé", so I presume it is temporary to concentrate on the election.

Perhaps they will not want her back after she loses to Macron.
We can but hope.

Where did you get the idea that there only 50 British jobs at the EMA?
oh dear, it was The Guardian; sorry if it was fake news:

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/15/countries-host-european-medicines-agency-leaves-uk-post-brexit
Nationals from every EU industry save Malta and Luxembourg work at the agency. France has 112 employees in the headquarters, and there are 50 British staff. No precise timetable for the transfer has been set, and the EMA itself will have no direct say in the decision.

Best write to them.

From the horse's mouth daphnedill
In April 2016 the staff members of the Agency numbered 885 of whom 586 were temporary agents and 145 were contract agents. Interim staff numbered an additional 60 persons, 38 national experts on secondment and 56 trainees. The number of temporary-agent posts in the Establishment Plan for 2016 is 602. This represents a relatively small number of staff compared to some regulatory authorities around the world which employ several thousands of staff in the pharmaceutical sector.

7.12% of the staff are British.

daphnedill You used the word jobs but I had said staff

Therein lies a difference.

Jalima When I see my friend, I'll ask her about the nationality of her co-workers. I could be wrong and will eat humble pie, but I know she's worked there for years and is definitely British. She's talked about her work sometimes and I've never had the impression that many of them are non-British. I know they have to be able to speak at least two languages. British workers tend to be underepresented in EU admin jobs, because there's a shortage of British polyglots.

Even the sainted Guardian isn't beyond fake news!

The horse's mouth doesn't say anything about the nationality of the temporary or contract agents,some of whom some are probable British.

I know there's a difference between jobs and staff, which is why I mentioned it as an additional point. There are two issues: unemployment and loss of taxes paid to the Treasury.

There are other issues, too, such as the delay in the UK getting approval for medicines, the cost of which which will have to be paid to outside regulatory authorities and the loss of pharma jobs, which gravitate to the UK, partly because the EMA is here.

Anyway, I'll ask my friend next time I see her. She's not too bothered personally, because she's in her late fifties and will receive a huge redundancy package courtesy of the British taxpayer, as part of the multi-billion divorce settlement. I suppose she could always pick cabbages for pocket money. It's the country's loss.

OK, I'll eat humble pie and admit I was wrong, but I'll still ask my friend:

www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2017/04/what-happens-when-european-medicines-agency-leaves-uk

It's going to be a real loss to the UK for all sorts of reasons and it's only one industry. Others will follow, which is why there's a real danger that the UK is going to end up as a second (or even third) class sweatshop economy.

Macron and others have a much better understanding of the importance of having these skilled and well-paid jobs, not only for individuals but as a magnet to attract wealth to a country. Relocation will be a massive benefit to whichever country is decided.