Theresa May’s warm reception in France has gone down well in Britain after she won key concessions from the beleaguered French President, François Hollande. But the cordial nature of their meeting – and the fact that Hollande appeared to cave in to May on a number of important issues – has not been so happily received in France.
It had been expected that Hollande would take a much harder line on Brexit and the French press had hoped the bilateral meeting would be an opportunity for the French President to take Britain’s new Prime Minister to task. As it happened, the two leaders agreed that British border controls will remain in place at Calais and that Britons living in France will be allowed to stay for as long as they desire. Furthermore, Hollande softened his stance and allowed May time to prepare for Britain’s exit from the EU. All in all, it seemed to be much more positive for the British PM than she might have expected.
Unfortunately for Hollande, who is battling for re-election despite being branded France’s most unpopular president in recent history, the French press has picked up on his concessions to May. And they haven’t gone down well.
Le Parisien notes that Hollande was firm on Twitter before the meeting. However, the paper says that his steely resolve quickly dissolved when the two leaders actually met at the Élysée Palace. The paper cheekily asks whether May’s towering presence might have forced a rethink – suggesting that her decision to ditch her trademark kitten heels in favour of high heels, ensuring that she looked down on the French President, may have paid off.
"Je viens en Irlande après le #Brexit et il y a des réponses à donner. Il faut engager au plus vite la négociation" @fhollande#DirectPR
Liberation says Hollande took a leaf out of Angela Merkel’s book by allowing Britain time to prepare for withdrawal from the EU. But it did support the French President for his slightly tougher line than Merkel that Brexit should happen ‘the sooner the better’ in order to avoid uncertainty, he told May. This was a brief bit of praise for Hollande in an otherwise unhappy set of newspapers for the French President.
For Le Figaro, Theresa May was clearly conducting a ‘charm offensive’; and it worked during her meeting with Hollande. But the paper suggests that May has more than just good manners. May tried to base her own campaign during the Tory leadership contest on her credentials as a negotiator in getting a good deal for Britain. And Le Figaro appears to agree with that assessment, saying the British PM is a tough and credible negotiator by comparison to other politicians in Europe, if her meeting with Hollande is anything to go on. The newspaper also shares Le Parisien’s analysisthat Hollande was ‘much more flexible’ during his meeting with May than he suggested he would be beforehand – a fact that appears not to have gone down well with the French press. It points out, for instance, that Hollande didn’t come close to tearing up the Le Touquet agreement as some, including former French prime minister, Alain Juppé, had urged him to do.
So it seems that whilst the British press have been positive about the meeting between May and Hollande, that feeling hasn’t been shared amongst the French newspapers who are critical of Hollande for not being tougher. For a president with dismal approval ratings and the prospect of a political crisis unfolding in the wake of the Nice attacks, that doesn’t spell good news for Hollande.
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