Brussels, my love? The rise and fall of Marine le Pen
We are joined this week by Fabrice Leggeri, French National Rally MEP with the Patriots for Europe, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú- Irish Fianna Fail MEP with Renew Europe and Dharmendra Kanani, chief spokesperson for the Brussels based think tank - Friends of Europe.
The panel react to the recent court case that found French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling millions of euros of EU funds and banned her potentially from running for political office for five years. The news has triggered a lively debate across France, as Le Pen was tipped to be a frontrunner in the upcoming 2027 presidential elections.
Fabrice Leggeri, a close friend of Marine Le Pen, insisted she was innocent.
"It's not a surprise that French judges want to bar Marine Le Pen from the presidential election", he told the panel.
But Cynthia Ní Mhurchú - a barrister by trade - said being in denial was an example of the far right undermining institutions and independent judges.
"This is all about democracy. This is about Marine Le Pen undermining democracy, and not only seeking to undermine, but deliberately undermining democracy and the rule of law and all of those values that I know my group hold dearly".
The panel also discussed the roller coaster ride that the world just had due to President Donald Trump's tariff announcement. The uncertainty has given the EU a shake up to seek other partners and allies across the world.
"It's a good kick up the backside because actually it's great that Ursula von der Leyen stood there and said, "we will work with anybody who has a mutual interest", Dharmendra Kanani said, adding "I would say to her to put "p.s. that share our values", please..
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Local France
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- Local France
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The pension age is something of a political hot potato in France , it is currently gradually rising from 62 to 64 after Emmanuel Macron pushed through highly contentious reforms to the pension system. That age is when people most people can start to collect their pensions - lower pension ages exist for people in physically strenuous jobs, meanwhile some people enjoy work and choose to stay in the workforce past the legal pension age. Current prime minister François Bayrou is 74, while Senate leader Gérard Larcher is 75. Nevertheless, most people retire at or near the official pension age, with an average retirement age of 63.1 - giving an average retirement of 22.6 years for women and 16.9 years for men. At the other end of the life cycle, the average family size in France is now 1.6 children per couple, a fall from 2.0 in 2024. The average age of a French first-time mum is 29. 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In the same year 81.6 percent of men in the same age bracket said they had had sex - down from 92 percent in 1992. Crucially, women report being happier with the amount of sex that they are having. READ ALSO : Revealed - the real sex lives of the French✎ Lifestyle The average Frenchie is an urban creature - 79.2 percent of the population lives in towns. In total 10.7 million people live in Paris and its suburbs while 16 million people live in another large town such as Bordeaux, Marseille or Lyon (between 200,000 and 1.9 million inhabitants). Around 14 million people live in the country while the remaining 27 million live in smaller towns. The average household has 99 electrical appliances, six of which will be unused according to an in-depth survey done by an anti-waste charity in collaboration with the government's Ademe environment agency. 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LeMonde
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French culture minister and former Renault CEO will be tried for corruption
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