In a month, the United Kingdom will head to the polls to vote for a new Parliament. The election has been severely underreported for a reason: it isn’t a serious confrontation between political parties.
We told you plain packaging wouldn’t reduce smoking. Now there’s proof.
What a bold move for the French government it was: first European country to introduce the plain packaging of tobacco, following Australia’s example. Minister of Health Marisol Touraine wanted a bold switch from the coloured cigarette packs to the new green-ish plain packaging, which is now compulsory for sales. The legislation intends to discourage smoking […]
Guess who’s back? Sarkozy’s Loyals are taking over the Republican Party in France
Even if it came against a divisive and disliked opponent, Emmanuel Macron’s victory over Marine Le Pen represented substantial support for his policy platform. His proposed reforms may be popular, but the youngest president in the history of the French Republic, who ran as an independent promising major change, has a major problem to overcome […]
On this Europe Day, let’s oppose the EU for the right reasons
The 9th of May is supposed to mark a celebratory day for the European Union, congratulating itself for peace and unity in Europe. On May 9th 1950, Robert Schuman, then Foreign minister of France, set out his so-called Schuman Plan, which suggested that Germany and France should ease the sharing of strategic resources like coal in […]
A victory with a bitter aftertaste
French political pundits were relieved on Sunday night: the presidential candidate supported by a large majority of newspapers and TV stations and all the establishment political parties had won entrance to the Elysée Palace. Emmanuel Macron will be the youngest president of the Fifth Republic and the first since Valéry Giscard D’Estaing who is not affiliated with either […]
Why the Government Shouldn’t Regulate the Pharmaceutical Industry
In Mid-January, the OECD published a report entitled “New Health Technologies: Managing Access, Value and Sustainability“, which analysed the regulations in the field of pharmaceutical innovation. This report is most interesting when it comes to identifying problems related to state intervention, but fails to draw the appropriate conclusions. One of the greatest demonstrations of the […]
Reporting Live from Paris for Freedom Today
On Sunday I reported live from Paris on the results of the French presidential election, for the Freedom Today Network. A small technical issue was that that the live Facebook broadcast was recorded in vertical. You can check out my commentary down below:
De Réckbléck vun der Woch [18/2017]
Heiansdo sinn Nouvellen zu Lëtzebuerg ze kleng fir ee ganzen Artikel driwwer ze schreiwen, dofir hei de Réckbléck vun dëser Woch. De Réckbléck vun dëser Woch ass méi kuerz well ech momentan an der Examenszäit op menger Uni sinn. Donieft sinn ech de Weekend zu Paräis fir déi franséisch Wahlen ze couvréieren. Wien d’lescht Woch […]
The Czech Republic’s Looming East-West Divide
In about two years, the United Kingdom will officially leave the European Union, and commentators around the continent are speculating about which country will be next. In Western Europe eyes are on France and the Netherlands, as both have strong Euroskeptic movements, bolstered by anti-immigration parties. But to identify the larger but creeping threat to […]
Young Voices Podcast #59: French Elections and the Bigger Picture
I had the pleasure to talk to Stephen Kent from the Young Voices podcast about the French elections and the bigger picture of European politics.
Bill Wirtz 