Why the next French president can't fix France's problems

Whoever wins will have their hands tied from the beginning

The European Union is standing in the way of France.
(Image credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

France's presidential contenders have been in the news a lot lately. This week, François Fillon, a former prime minister, came in first in the first round of the primary for the main conservative party, the Republicans. Next, Fillon will face his opponent, Alain Juppé, in a second round of voting, and whoever wins will become the Republican nominee and go on to compete in the presidential election in April 2017.

While that may seem like a long time from now, we will probably spend the next months bathed in tweets, press releases, leaks, interviews, echoes of rallies, and so on.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.