Today is le mardi 4 janvier¹Tuesday January 4th, and as it does every year, January marks the beginning of a new year. Bienvenue à 2022!²Welcome to 2022! January this year also marks the start of a new 6 month term for France as the head of the Conseil de l’Union européenne making Emmanuel Macron responsible for the group while also potentially (re)running for president of France.

Photo CC0 from Mihis Alex at www.pexels.com

Le Conseil de l’Union européenne

Le Conseil de l’Union européenne³The European Council is part of the vast bureaucracy that is the European Union. The Conseil is made up of “les chefs d’État ou de gouvernement des 27 États membres de l’UE”⁴the heads of state/governments of the 27 member states that make up the EU. The Conseil does not negotiate on or pass laws but “établit le programme d’action de l’UE”⁵sets the agenda for the European Union.

Should he announce, as it is assumed he will despite not yet having committed⁶Not untypical, according to my sources in France, who share that a sitting French president will typically not announce their intention to run again until January or February of the year of the elections to avoid having to run a campaign and the country at the same time., Macron’s six-month term at the head of the Conseil will coincide with a campaign for president. In November, he shared a preview of his priorities for the term which include:

• Le renforcement de la défense européenne,⁷Reinforcing the common defense
• Un sommet entre l’Union européenne et l’Afrique,⁸A joint summit with Africa
• Relancer la croissance après la pandémie de Covid-19,⁹Kick-starting growth after the Covid pandemic
• Concilier développement économique et ambition climatique,¹⁰Reconcile economic development and climate goals
• La régulation des géants du numérique,¹¹Regulating big tech
• Une harmonisation des salaires minimums,¹²Aligning the minimum wage
• Un “service civique européen” de six mois pour les moins de 25 ans.¹³Promoting a six-month “European civil service” for those under 25

Pour marquer l’occasion¹⁴To mark the event numerous monuments around Paris and France including the Eiffel Tower were lit up in EU blue. You can see some photos and read more (in French) here and here.

Les élections présidentielles de 2022

As if 2022 weren’t going to be busy enough for Emmanuel Macron (what with the on-going Covid situation and a six-month term at the head of the European Commission) this is also the year of the French presidential elections. Macron was elected in May 2017 for a quinquennat¹⁶five-year term that is coming to an end and it is time once again for the French to choose a new (or the same?) leader. So far Macon has refused to commit, telling a group of students in December that “Je vais, un peu, pendant la période des fêtes, réfléchir à ça”¹⁷I’m going to, a little, over the holidays, think about that

The official calendar sets le premier tour¹⁸the first round for le dimanche 10 avril¹⁹Sunday April 10 followed – if necessary – by the second round le dimanche 24 avril²⁰Sunday April 24. As a reminder, if no candidate receives at least 50% of the total vote in the first round, the top two candidates from the first round move into the second round ‘run off’.

Candidates from left, right, and center have been making their cases for over a year now as to why their fellow citizens should chose them to lead France forward. Macron is expected to begin making his case for another quinquennat as soon as this month. Whatever the case, in a few short months we’ll know the answer to who will be France’s next president.

French Presidential Election Vocabulary

• 1
  Tuesday January 4th
• 2
  Welcome to 2022!
• 3
  The European Council
• 4
  the heads of state/governments of the 27 member states that make up the EU
• 5
  sets the agenda for the European Union
• 6
  Not untypical, according to my sources in France, who share that a sitting French president will typically not announce their intention to run again until January or February of the year of the elections to avoid having to run a campaign and the country at the same time.
• 7
  Reinforcing the common defense
• 8
  A joint summit with Africa
• 9
  Kick-starting growth after the Covid pandemic
• 10
  Reconcile economic development and climate goals
• 11
  Regulating big tech
• 12
  Aligning the minimum wage
• 13
  Promoting a six-month “European civil service” for those under 25
• 14
  To mark the event
• 15
  While the common currency was officially launched in 1999, the first actual currency wasn’t in circulation until 2002.
• 16
  five-year term
• 17
  I’m going to, a little, over the holidays, think about that
• 18
  the first round
• 19
  Sunday April 10
• 20
  Sunday April 24