EMMANUEL MACRON

He is the youngest French President ever. A chance for France and Europe ?

One year ago, nobody would have guessed he'd be the favorite of the French presidential elections. A young politician (39), he created his party En Marche! only one year ago, on April 2016. He has been criticized for his blurred program, his lack of experience, his liberal opinions But, on April 23th, he finished #1 in the first row of the French presidential elections ahead of the populist, nationalist, far-right Marine Le Pen.

Pro-European, open to globalization, he represents a real ally for many foreign countries. And all now have their own opinion on this new face in international politics : CNN describes him as a “a civil servant who became a millionaire investment banker and eventually a government minister”, “staunchly pro-European, promising to put France back at the heart of the EU and defend the single market.” The New York Times
dubbed him as the “face of France's New Socialism”. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote: “When he gives a speech, we detect his radiating lack of self-assurance. He's there, agitating the crowd when he'd like to be a bit more intellectual”. The Dutch NRC Handelsblad, more pessimistic: “Nobody imagine that election of
Macron will be the cure for economics and social problems in France.”

Macron's private life also fascinates, in his own country as well as abroad: his mastering of philosophy, his past as a business banker, his couple with his former schoolteacher, Brigitte, 23 years older than him

A journalist, François-Xavier Bourmaud depicts the career of an usual candidate, a real outsider, determined to change the current French political landscape.

A updated edition will appear on May 10th, 2017.

Born in 1973, François-Xavier Bourmaud has been with the political department French daily Le Figaro since 1998, as a specialist of the Socialist Party.