Why France has been named ‘Country of the Year’ by The Economist

The Economist magazine has named France as country of the year, just pipping South Korea to the title. And most of the credit goes to Emmanuel Macron.

Published: 20 December 2017 17:17 CET

Why France has been named 'Country of the Year' by The Economist

AFP

For the last few years the UK's economically liberal The Economist magazine has been picking its “Country of the Year”.

Up until 2017, France never troubled the judges. But then along came Emmanuel Macron.

Perhaps its no surprise a pro-free trade, liberal, globalization supporting magazine chose France in the year a pro-globalization, economically liberal, progressive 39-year-old (40 on Thursday) became the president of a country after five years of near-stagnation under a Socialist leader.

But here's why France beat South Korea and Argentina, according to The Economist:

“In 2017 France defied all expectations. Emmanuel Macron, a young ex-banker who had no backing from any of the traditional parties, won the presidency.

“Then La République En Marche, Mr Macron’s brand-new party full of political novices, crushed the old guard to win most of the seats in the National Assembly.

“This was not merely a stunning upset. It also gave hope to those who think that the old left-right divide is less important than the one between open and closed.

“Mr Macron campaigned for a France that is open to people, goods and ideas from abroad, and to social change at home.

“In six months he and his party have passed a series of sensible reforms, including an anti-corruption bill and a loosening of France’s rigid labour laws.

“Critics mock Mr Macron’s grandiosity (calling his presidency “Jupiterian” was a bit much).

“They carp that his reforms could have gone further, which is true. Perhaps they forget how, before he turned up, France looked unreformable—offering voters a choice between sclerosis and xenophobia.

“The struggle between the open and closed visions of society may well be the most important political contest in the world right now. France confronted the drawbridge-raisers head on and beat them. For that, it is our country of the year.”

The French press will probably jump on the choice in the coming days as they tend to make a big deal of anything positive or indeed negative said about France by the “Anglo-Saxon” press. Macron himself and his government will no doubt get wind of it too.

The choice of France shows how The Economist's view of the country has changed dramatically in recent years.

In November 2012 the magazine angered many in France when it referred to it on the front cover as “The time bomb at the heart of Europe” due to its huge debt, moribund economy and lack of competitiveness.

The article went off like a grenade in Paris where government ministers queued up to blow off steam in the direction of the British magazine, who they accused of blatant French-bashing.

“France isn't at all impressed,” said the prime minister at the time.

The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) is currently far ahead in opinion polls for the June 9th elections in France, with Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party in a battle for second place with the Socialists.

The debate between Attal, 35, and Bardella, 28, who leads the RN’s list in the EU elections, will be the first head-to-head clash between the two leading figures in a new French political generation.

Polls have been making increasingly uncomfortable reading for Macron, who has had to fly to the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia to try to calm the violent unrest there.

Coming third would be a disaster for the president, who portrays himself as a champion of European democracy and bulwark against the far right.

The head of Macron’s party list for the elections, the little known Valérie Heyer, has failed to make an impact and was widely seen as losing a debate with Bardella earlier this month.

According to a Toluna-Harris Interactive study for French media, the presidential camp is stuck at just 15 percent of the vote and in a dogfight for second place with the Socialists – who are on 14.5 percent – led by former commentator Raphael Glucksmann.

The RN, by contrast, is soaring ahead on 31.5 percent.

The RN’s figurehead Marine Le Pen, who has waged three unsuccessful presidential campaigns, has sought to bring the RN into the political mainstream as she eyes another tilt at the presidency in 2027.

“There is a very clear signal that must be sent to Emmanuel Macron. He must suffer the worst possible defeat to bring him back to earth,” Le Pen told CNews and Europe 1 this week.

Bardella, who took over the party leadership from his mentor, is key to Le Pen’s strategy, a gifted communicator of immigrant origin with an expanding following on TikTok.

Attal, also one of the best debaters in Macron’s government, is expected to seek to portray Bardella as an extremist, complacent over the threat posed by Russia and who has little interest in Europe.

Apparently aware of the danger, Bardella on Tuesday said the RN will no longer sit in the EU parliament with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) faction, indicating it had lost patience with the controversies surrounding its German allies.

The head of the AfD’s list in the polls, Maximilian Krah, had said in a weekend interview that someone who had been a member of the SS in Nazi Germany was “not automatically a criminal”.

Bardella is “putting his credibility and the future of his movement on the line in the debate”, said the Le Monde daily, adding that a strong performance could see some RN supporters regard him as a stronger candidate in 2027 than Le Pen.

You can find a more detailed profile of Attal HERE and a look at Bardella HERE