Britain&#39;s City of London financial district would have to give up its role in processing Euro currency transactions after it leaves the European Union, French President Francois Hollande warned on Wednesday. 
 
Hollande said other European financial centres should be ready to take over from London, which is home to many banking clearing houses that deal with Euros. 
 
&quot;There is no reason for Europe, and still less the eurozone, to allow a country that is no longer a member of the European Union and has never been a member of the eurozone to continue operations in Euros,&quot; Hollande said after a summit in Brussels. 
 
The French leader added that European financial centres should &quot;prepare to take on a certain number of operations that can no longer be done in Britain&quot;. 
 
In a separate interview with French business daily Les Echos Hollande said France itself should &quot;adapt its regulations, including fiscal (regulations) to make the Paris financial centre more attractive&quot;. 
 
On Tuesday, the president of Paris Europlace, a group that promotes French finance, met with finance minister Michel Spain to suggest ways of boosting the French capital&#39;s ability to woo city bankers. 
 
Britain&#39;s shock vote last week to leave the EU has sparked questions over its role as Europe`s financial capital, with cities like Frankfurt, home of the European Central Bank, and Dublin also hoping to cash in on any move out of London by financial companies. 
 
The issue of whether Euro clearing houses can remain in the British capital is set to be one of the most contentious issues as Britain seeks to negotiate its future trade relationship with the EU after its departure. 
 
Britain has jealously guarded its status and won a recent EU court decision against the European Central Bank in order to keep hosting the Euro deals. 
 
Jonathan Hill, a Briton, was the European Commissioner in charge of the coveted financial services portfolio until his resignation on Saturday following the referendum result. 
 
(AFP) 
 
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France will adapt its regulations, including fiscal to make the Paris financial centre more attractive to take over operations from London

Britain's City of London financial district would have to give up its role in processing Euro currency transactions after it leaves the European Union, French President Francois Hollande warned on Wednesday. Hollande said other European financial centres should be ready to take over from London, which is home to many banking clearing houses that deal with Euros. "There is no reason for Europe, and still less the eurozone, to allow a country that is no longer a member of the European Union and has never been a member of the eurozone to continue operations in Euros," Hollande said after a summit in Brussels. The French leader added that European financial centres should "prepare to take on a certain number of operations that can no longer be done in Britain". In a separate interview with French business daily Les Echos Hollande said France itself should "adapt its regulations, including fiscal (regulations) to make the Paris financial centre more attractive". On Tuesday, the president of Paris Europlace, a group that promotes French finance, met with finance minister Michel Spain to suggest ways of boosting the French capital's ability to woo city bankers. Britain's shock vote last week to leave the EU has sparked questions over its role as Europe`s financial capital, with cities like Frankfurt, home of the European Central Bank, and Dublin also hoping to cash in on any move out of London by financial companies. The issue of whether Euro clearing houses can remain in the British capital is set to be one of the most contentious issues as Britain seeks to negotiate its future trade relationship with the EU after its departure. Britain has jealously guarded its status and won a recent EU court decision against the European Central Bank in order to keep hosting the Euro deals. Jonathan Hill, a Briton, was the European Commissioner in charge of the coveted financial services portfolio until his resignation on Saturday following the referendum result. (AFP)

France says post-Brexit Britain must relinquish Euro business

The European Union needs a new roadmap that should be devised in consultation with voters and then put to a referendum, France&#39;s Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said today in comments that may further stir tensions with the ruling Socialist Party. 
 
Macron&#39;s talk of a European-wide referendum goes beyond comments made by President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who both said the EU needed to reinvent itself after Britons voted to leave the bloc but made no reference to a popular vote.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We would first build this new project with European peoples and then submit this new roadmap, this new project, to a referendum,&quot; he said ahead of a debate on the fallout from the British referendum. 
 
Macron said voters should be consulted through a series of debates that he called &quot;democratic conventions&quot;. 
 
&quot;It must be done in the right framework,&quot; the minister added. 
 
Macron, a former investment banker, is one of the embattled Socialist government`s most popular ministers among the public. But his launch last month of his own &quot;En Marche&quot; party a year ahead of a presidential election has fueled speculation that he could be eying the Elysee palace as the ratings of Hollande stay rock-bottom. He has said he would not run in the election. 
 
Macron said a knee-jerk referendum must be avoided. 
 
&quot;The idea would not be to have 27 separate referendums,&quot; Macron said during the debate. &quot;We&#39;ve never had the courage to organise a true European referendum in its real sense. This next project must give it that strength.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
In 2005, a proposed EU constitution was blocked by a referendum in France, due mostly to public opposition to an enlarged, free-marketeering Europe. Dutch voters also rejected the constitution in a separate referendum. 
 
(Reuters)

France's Economy Minister said voters should be consulted through a series of debates that he called 'democratic convention'

The European Union needs a new roadmap that should be devised in consultation with voters and then put to a referendum, France's Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said today in comments that may further stir tensions with the ruling Socialist Party. Macron's talk of a European-wide referendum goes beyond comments made by President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who both said the EU needed to reinvent itself after Britons voted to leave the bloc but made no reference to a popular vote. "We would first build this new project with European peoples and then submit this new roadmap, this new project, to a referendum," he said ahead of a debate on the fallout from the British referendum. Macron said voters should be consulted through a series of debates that he called "democratic conventions". "It must be done in the right framework," the minister added. Macron, a former investment banker, is one of the embattled Socialist government`s most popular ministers among the public. But his launch last month of his own "En Marche" party a year ahead of a presidential election has fueled speculation that he could be eying the Elysee palace as the ratings of Hollande stay rock-bottom. He has said he would not run in the election. Macron said a knee-jerk referendum must be avoided. "The idea would not be to have 27 separate referendums," Macron said during the debate. "We've never had the courage to organise a true European referendum in its real sense. This next project must give it that strength." In 2005, a proposed EU constitution was blocked by a referendum in France, due mostly to public opposition to an enlarged, free-marketeering Europe. Dutch voters also rejected the constitution in a separate referendum. (Reuters)

France's Macron wants new European project, and EU-wide referendum

President Francois Hollande said on Sunday it would be incomprehensible if transport strikes were to disrupt the Euro 2016 soccer tournament that opens in France on Friday, raising pressure on the militant &nbsp;Conf?d?ration g?n?rale du travail (CGT) union to call off the action. 
 
Hollande spoke in a radio interview as an opinion poll showed a majority of French people now opposed the wave of nationwide protests against planned labour law reforms that has disrupted fuel supplies and transport services in recent weeks. 
 
Finance minister Michel Sapin said the stoppages and street demonstrations, which have hit rail services, power stations, oil refineries, ports, and waste treatment plans, were having no significant impact on the economy. 
 
But they have tarnished France&#39;s image with scenes of barricades and picket-line violence just as the eyes of Europe are on the host country of the Euro 2016. 
 
&quot;No one would understand it if trains and planes - I&#39;m thinking of the Air France pilots&#39; dispute - were to prevent fans travelling around easily, even if the competition itself has nothing to fear,&quot; Hollande said on France Inter radio. 
 
Rail services have been roughly halved since the CGT and its allies began an open-ended strike last Wednesday. A new round of talks on a reorganisation on working time are due to be held at the Soci?t? nationale des chemins de fer fran?ais (SNCF) state railway today. 
 
Air France pilots have announced plans to strike from Saturday, the second day of the Euros, in a separate dispute over pay cuts. 
 
The Socialist president acknowledged a heightened threat of terrorism during the soccer tournament but said France was taking all possible measures to keep fans safe. Some 130 people were killed in gun and bomb attacks by Islamic State militants in Paris last November. 
 
Hollande said he had decided to maintain the planned fan zones where tens of thousands of spectators without match tickets can gather to watch games on giant screens. The biggest planned zone is next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 
 
Some security officials and commentators have warned the enclosures and queues of fans waiting to enter them could be targets for potential attackers, stretching the resources of police and security firms in charge of protection. 
 
But Hollande said: &quot;I decided not only that the competition must go ahead, (but also) to keep the fan zones and make this into a European festival, a festival of the people, a sporting festival. We have done everything to make it a success.&quot; 
 
A Brul? Ville et Associ?s (BVA) poll showed that many voters were still against the reforms that unions say will strip workers of their rights. A similar poll a month ago showed that a slim majority backed the protests. 
 
&quot;Days before the start of the Euro football tournament, while no solution to the social crisis is in sight, support for the protest movement against the labour reform is dwindling,&quot; Agnes Balle of BVA ( French polling agency) said. 
 
The survey carried out on Thursday and Friday showed that 54 per cent of French people interviewed were against the protests. The same number backed the protests in May. Only 45 per cent currently support the protest movement, BVA said. 
 
The poll showed 29 per cent wanted the government to maintain the bill, which aims to make hiring and firing easier, in an attempt to get stubbornly high unemployment falling, with presidential elections a year away. The same percentage want the bill withdrawn, while 41 per cent want a negotiated solution.

French President Francois Hollande is concerned that rail and air strikes might prevent fans of Euro 2016 travelling around easily

President Francois Hollande said on Sunday it would be incomprehensible if transport strikes were to disrupt the Euro 2016 soccer tournament that opens in France on Friday, raising pressure on the militant Conf?d?ration g?n?rale du travail (CGT) union to call off the action. Hollande spoke in a radio interview as an opinion poll showed a majority of French people now opposed the wave of nationwide protests against planned labour law reforms that has disrupted fuel supplies and transport services in recent weeks. Finance minister Michel Sapin said the stoppages and street demonstrations, which have hit rail services, power stations, oil refineries, ports, and waste treatment plans, were having no significant impact on the economy. But they have tarnished France's image with scenes of barricades and picket-line violence just as the eyes of Europe are on the host country of the Euro 2016. "No one would understand it if trains and planes - I'm thinking of the Air France pilots' dispute - were to prevent fans travelling around easily, even if the competition itself has nothing to fear," Hollande said on France Inter radio. Rail services have been roughly halved since the CGT and its allies began an open-ended strike last Wednesday. A new round of talks on a reorganisation on working time are due to be held at the Soci?t? nationale des chemins de fer fran?ais (SNCF) state railway today. Air France pilots have announced plans to strike from Saturday, the second day of the Euros, in a separate dispute over pay cuts. The Socialist president acknowledged a heightened threat of terrorism during the soccer tournament but said France was taking all possible measures to keep fans safe. Some 130 people were killed in gun and bomb attacks by Islamic State militants in Paris last November. Hollande said he had decided to maintain the planned fan zones where tens of thousands of spectators without match tickets can gather to watch games on giant screens. The biggest planned zone is next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Some security officials and commentators have warned the enclosures and queues of fans waiting to enter them could be targets for potential attackers, stretching the resources of police and security firms in charge of protection. But Hollande said: "I decided not only that the competition must go ahead, (but also) to keep the fan zones and make this into a European festival, a festival of the people, a sporting festival. We have done everything to make it a success." A Brul? Ville et Associ?s (BVA) poll showed that many voters were still against the reforms that unions say will strip workers of their rights. A similar poll a month ago showed that a slim majority backed the protests. "Days before the start of the Euro football tournament, while no solution to the social crisis is in sight, support for the protest movement against the labour reform is dwindling," Agnes Balle of BVA ( French polling agency) said. The survey carried out on Thursday and Friday showed that 54 per cent of French people interviewed were against the protests. The same number backed the protests in May. Only 45 per cent currently support the protest movement, BVA said. The poll showed 29 per cent wanted the government to maintain the bill, which aims to make hiring and firing easier, in an attempt to get stubbornly high unemployment falling, with presidential elections a year away. The same percentage want the bill withdrawn, while 41 per cent want a negotiated solution.

Hollande puts pressure on French trade unions to refrain from strike action during Euro 2016