My guest is Sophie Pedder.

Sophie Pedder is the Paris Bureau Chief of the Economist My guest is Sophie Peder.

Sophie Peder is the Paris Bureau Chief of the Economist.

Welcome to the podcast, Sophie.

Oh, it's a real pleasure to speak to you again, Paul.

It's been a while.

Well, it has been a while, actually.

It is a welcome back because it's exactly four years ago since we lasted the podcast together.

Goodness, is it really?

May 2020.

Right, let's get cracking.

Nobody knows much more about French politics

and especially the president, Emmanuel Macron, than the news, Sophie.

So I'm really keen to ask you a whole raft of questions

about the current situation of French politics.

And starting with something which may seem rather odd,

the European palmed elections

there are around the corner. And even in countries like France, historically, European

pumped elections aren't necessarily the biggest ticket item that the media focuses on. But this

year is different, isn't it? Could you tell me what your take is on, the stakes of the European

part of the elections as far as Emmanuel Macron is concerned.

Well, I think it is different. I mean, obviously nobody's expecting a high turnout than ever is for European

...