As an illustration of British Euroscepticism.
Or our very own
Nigel Farage in the European Parliament...
So as I said, a lot of British reporting on the EU is often rather biased.
From what I'm hearing in the less extreme branches of the media, the expectation is that Hollande will broadly follow the same policies as Sarkozy did prior to the election. A lot of the rhetoric was simply hollow electioneering promises.
I wasn't a great fan of Sarkozy, though I've got a French friend who rated him. That said, my friend thought he was always trying to be too clever in negotiations, and that sometimes bit him.
In Greece, the largest and second largest parties have both failed to assemble a coalition, and now the third placed is trying its luck. The most likely outcomes are either a fresh round of elections, or a technocratic government.
Public opinion is still behind remaining in the Eurozone, though the news last night spoke of it potentially shifting due to the pain of the austerity package. Things sound really bad in Greece, and the nuclear option of re-adopting the Drachma is starting to lose its scariness since people are asking how much worse can it be?
There are problems in Spain kicking off too. Bankia, a troubled bank with significant exposure to the property market, has been
partially nationalised. Robert Peston (at the BBC) is asking whether
Spain is turning Irish.
