Sophie Pedder
@sophiepedder.bsky.social
Paris Bureau Chief, The Economist. Author of “Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the quest to reinvent a nation” (Bloomsbury)
Pinned
Sophie Pedder
@sophiepedder.bsky.social
· Nov 14
The trouble with all this of course is that France was right
Unloved at home, vigorous abroad. Macron, Merz and Starmer are forming Europe’s new trilateral diplomatic leadership
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Macron, Merz and Starmer are forming a new trilateral leadership
Three leaders struggling at home, but vigorous abroad
economist.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Unloved at home, vigorous abroad. Macron, Merz and Starmer are forming Europe’s new trilateral diplomatic leadership
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
New poll suggests Jordan Bardella would win second round of 🇫🇷 presidential election against any other of four tested candidates ⬇️
New poll suggests Jordan Bardella would win second round of 🇫🇷 presidential election against any other of four tested candidates ⬇️
November 26, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
New poll suggests Jordan Bardella would win second round of 🇫🇷 presidential election against any other of four tested candidates ⬇️
New poll suggests Jordan Bardella would win second round of 🇫🇷 presidential election against any other of four tested candidates ⬇️
Macron on 🇷🇺 “We need to show we’re not weak against the power that threatens us the most”
The 🇺🇸peace plan needed to be “discussed and improved…Nobody can tell 🇺🇦 which territorial concessions they’re ready to make…We want peace but we don’t want a peace that’s a capitulation”
Speaking to RTL today
The 🇺🇸peace plan needed to be “discussed and improved…Nobody can tell 🇺🇦 which territorial concessions they’re ready to make…We want peace but we don’t want a peace that’s a capitulation”
Speaking to RTL today
November 25, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Macron on 🇷🇺 “We need to show we’re not weak against the power that threatens us the most”
The 🇺🇸peace plan needed to be “discussed and improved…Nobody can tell 🇺🇦 which territorial concessions they’re ready to make…We want peace but we don’t want a peace that’s a capitulation”
Speaking to RTL today
The 🇺🇸peace plan needed to be “discussed and improved…Nobody can tell 🇺🇦 which territorial concessions they’re ready to make…We want peace but we don’t want a peace that’s a capitulation”
Speaking to RTL today
Across the French region of Languedoc-Roussillon alone, nearly 15,000 hectares of vines—the equivalent of four-fifths of the area of Washington, DC—are being torn out this year
Why vineyards are disappearing in France
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Why vineyards are disappearing in France
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Vineyards are disappearing in France
As wine-drinking slows, farmers are uprooting vines
economist.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Across the French region of Languedoc-Roussillon alone, nearly 15,000 hectares of vines—the equivalent of four-fifths of the area of Washington, DC—are being torn out this year
Why vineyards are disappearing in France
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Why vineyards are disappearing in France
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
The horror of the terrorist attacks of November 13th 2015 plunged the City of Lights into darkness. Ten years on, Paris is mostly itself again. Yet the trauma lingers: in lives ended, families broken, spaces shrunk and the long shadow of dread
economist.com/culture/2024...
economist.com/culture/2024...
The long shadow of the Paris terrorist attacks of 2015
November 13th shook the French capital—but has not changed it
economist.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:00 AM
The horror of the terrorist attacks of November 13th 2015 plunged the City of Lights into darkness. Ten years on, Paris is mostly itself again. Yet the trauma lingers: in lives ended, families broken, spaces shrunk and the long shadow of dread
economist.com/culture/2024...
economist.com/culture/2024...
🇫🇷 doing a good job of looking forwards and moving backwards today. It has just published its first national space strategy, 2025-2030. Its lower house has just voted to suspend Macron’s pension reform, the main structural achievement of his second term
www.sgdsn.gouv.fr/files/files/...
www.sgdsn.gouv.fr/files/files/...
www.sgdsn.gouv.fr
November 12, 2025 at 5:34 PM
🇫🇷 doing a good job of looking forwards and moving backwards today. It has just published its first national space strategy, 2025-2030. Its lower house has just voted to suspend Macron’s pension reform, the main structural achievement of his second term
www.sgdsn.gouv.fr/files/files/...
www.sgdsn.gouv.fr/files/files/...
Jordan Bardella is France’s most popular politician. His ideas would set 🇫🇷 on a collision path with not only EU institutions but with France’s main partner, Germany. For the RN leader, this seems to be the point
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Jordan Bardella starts to lay out his plans
The 30-year-old French populist who is preparing for power
economist.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Jordan Bardella is France’s most popular politician. His ideas would set 🇫🇷 on a collision path with not only EU institutions but with France’s main partner, Germany. For the RN leader, this seems to be the point
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
In @economist.com this week
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Our cover this week
“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”
“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”
October 31, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Our cover this week
“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”
“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”
Reposted by Sophie Pedder
Roland Lescure knows full well what outsiders make of France’s messy politics. The best way to reassure investors is to “show the world that we’re not just a bunch of Gauls in a village fighting tooth and nail”, he says
France’s finance minister on how to pass a budget
Compromise is the price of stability, says Roland Lescure
econ.st
October 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Roland Lescure knows full well what outsiders make of France’s messy politics. The best way to reassure investors is to “show the world that we’re not just a bunch of Gauls in a village fighting tooth and nail”, he says
Suspending France’s pension reform has dismayed many centrists. In an interview with The Economist @rolandlescure.bsky.social, the new 🇫🇷 finance minister, argues that “It’s the price of compromise and it’s the price of political stability”
economist.com/europe/2025/...
economist.com/europe/2025/...
France’s finance minister on how to pass a budget
Compromise is the price of stability, says Roland Lescure
economist.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Suspending France’s pension reform has dismayed many centrists. In an interview with The Economist @rolandlescure.bsky.social, the new 🇫🇷 finance minister, argues that “It’s the price of compromise and it’s the price of political stability”
economist.com/europe/2025/...
economist.com/europe/2025/...
“An analysis of 40 museum thefts in 1990-2022 shows that the most common is a stealth raid: thieves make off with artworks without alerting security agents. “Smash-and-grab” raids, like that at the Louvre, are next. Less than half the stolen items are ever recovered”
economist.com/culture/2025...
economist.com/culture/2025...
The lessons from the brazen heist at the Louvre
Museum thefts are surprisingly common
economist.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
“An analysis of 40 museum thefts in 1990-2022 shows that the most common is a stealth raid: thieves make off with artworks without alerting security agents. “Smash-and-grab” raids, like that at the Louvre, are next. Less than half the stolen items are ever recovered”
economist.com/culture/2025...
economist.com/culture/2025...
This morning France puts a former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, behind bars at the Prison de la Santé in Paris. Collaborators apart, no western European president or prime minister has ever been to jail in post-war times
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
France puts a former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, behind bars
The first French ex-head of state to be jailed since Marshal Pétain
economist.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:09 AM
This morning France puts a former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, behind bars at the Prison de la Santé in Paris. Collaborators apart, no western European president or prime minister has ever been to jail in post-war times
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
“The belt-tightening needed to stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio in 🇫🇷 is >3% of GDP….Of G7 economies only 🇨🇦 enjoys low debt, a small necessary adjustment and the space to raise taxes. 🇫🇷 looks bad by all 3 measures”
Timely analysis of the risks of public debt by my colleague @curr.bsky.social
Timely analysis of the risks of public debt by my colleague @curr.bsky.social
October 19, 2025 at 8:13 AM
“The belt-tightening needed to stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio in 🇫🇷 is >3% of GDP….Of G7 economies only 🇨🇦 enjoys low debt, a small necessary adjustment and the space to raise taxes. 🇫🇷 looks bad by all 3 measures”
Timely analysis of the risks of public debt by my colleague @curr.bsky.social
Timely analysis of the risks of public debt by my colleague @curr.bsky.social
France’s Fifth Republic, shaped to de Gaulle’s towering persona, has failed to shield the country from the parliamentary turmoil it was designed to bring to an end
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Charles de Gaulle’s constitution has failed to shield France from turmoil
Is it time to think about a new republic?
economist.com
October 16, 2025 at 3:46 PM
France’s Fifth Republic, shaped to de Gaulle’s towering persona, has failed to shield the country from the parliamentary turmoil it was designed to bring to an end
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
The new 🇫🇷 prime minister Lecornu survives his first censure motion, by just 18 votes, and thanks to the Socialists. The irony is that Macron always wanted to peel them away from Mélenchon’s hard left. But what circumstances, what fragility, and what a price
Votes for censure: 271
Votes needed: 289
Votes for censure: 271
Votes needed: 289
October 16, 2025 at 10:27 AM
The new 🇫🇷 prime minister Lecornu survives his first censure motion, by just 18 votes, and thanks to the Socialists. The irony is that Macron always wanted to peel them away from Mélenchon’s hard left. But what circumstances, what fragility, and what a price
Votes for censure: 271
Votes needed: 289
Votes for censure: 271
Votes needed: 289
France’s new prime minister is…the very one who resigned on Monday, Sébastien Lecornu. It rounds off the most chaotic and absurdist week in French politics in modern times
October 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
France’s new prime minister is…the very one who resigned on Monday, Sébastien Lecornu. It rounds off the most chaotic and absurdist week in French politics in modern times
Despite everything else going on, France last night honoured Robert Badinter, the former justice minister who ended the death penalty in 🇫🇷 in 1981. He entered the Panthéon in a moving moment of national tribute that the French do so well
October 10, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Despite everything else going on, France last night honoured Robert Badinter, the former justice minister who ended the death penalty in 🇫🇷 in 1981. He entered the Panthéon in a moving moment of national tribute that the French do so well
Desperately seeking someone
After the most chaotic week in modern political life France is still searching for a prime minister
economist.com/europe/2025/...
After the most chaotic week in modern political life France is still searching for a prime minister
economist.com/europe/2025/...
October 10, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Desperately seeking someone
After the most chaotic week in modern political life France is still searching for a prime minister
economist.com/europe/2025/...
After the most chaotic week in modern political life France is still searching for a prime minister
economist.com/europe/2025/...
For sure, Macron’s troubles are partly of his own making. But there is something immensely sad about a pro-European leader and standard-bearer for the democratic centre ending up with such a political mess
October 8, 2025 at 4:11 PM
For sure, Macron’s troubles are partly of his own making. But there is something immensely sad about a pro-European leader and standard-bearer for the democratic centre ending up with such a political mess
Reposted by Sophie Pedder
Exactly what you need to know when you need to know it-- no fuss no muss.
Chapeau!
Chapeau!
What next for France after it loses its fourth prime minister in little over a year
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
France is gripped by turmoil as another government collapses
Elections could follow that bring in the hard right
economist.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Exactly what you need to know when you need to know it-- no fuss no muss.
Chapeau!
Chapeau!
What next for France after it loses its fourth prime minister in little over a year
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
France is gripped by turmoil as another government collapses
Elections could follow that bring in the hard right
economist.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:20 AM
What next for France after it loses its fourth prime minister in little over a year
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
What an absolute mess. The new 🇫🇷 PM Sébastien Lecornu has resigned after less than four weeks in the job. This is the curt communiqué just issued by the presidency
October 6, 2025 at 7:54 AM
What an absolute mess. The new 🇫🇷 PM Sébastien Lecornu has resigned after less than four weeks in the job. This is the curt communiqué just issued by the presidency
The two most interesting appointments in a pretty unchanged new 🇫🇷 government (just unveiled) are @rolandlescure.bsky.social as new finance min and the return of Bruno Le Maire to govt, at defence. Otherwise most big jobs, including @jnbarrot.bsky.social at foreign, stay as they were under Bayrou…
October 5, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The two most interesting appointments in a pretty unchanged new 🇫🇷 government (just unveiled) are @rolandlescure.bsky.social as new finance min and the return of Bruno Le Maire to govt, at defence. Otherwise most big jobs, including @jnbarrot.bsky.social at foreign, stay as they were under Bayrou…
Emmanuel Macron remains a vigorous figure in foreign affairs and one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders. Yet no amount of energetic diplomacy abroad can mask what is happening at home: the unravelling of his great centrist venture
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
The unravelling of France’s centrist project
There is a real chance that power will fall into the hands of the extremes
economist.com
October 3, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Emmanuel Macron remains a vigorous figure in foreign affairs and one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders. Yet no amount of energetic diplomacy abroad can mask what is happening at home: the unravelling of his great centrist venture
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
French luxury firms supply the world with branded handbags and fine champagne, but the country seems to have a real problem with those rich enough to splash out on such things
Why taxing the super rich may be the price of political stability
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Why taxing the super rich may be the price of political stability
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Why France is thinking of targeting the super-rich
Handbags, champagne and a row over a possible new wealth tax
economist.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:42 AM
French luxury firms supply the world with branded handbags and fine champagne, but the country seems to have a real problem with those rich enough to splash out on such things
Why taxing the super rich may be the price of political stability
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Why taxing the super rich may be the price of political stability
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com