Das Rãs River

• Established in 1958 after the government collapsed in the throes of the Algerian War, the new constitution featured a president with considerable powers.
• In 2022, both the far right (Rassemblement National) and the far left (La France Insoumise) successfully sent a staggering number of representatives to the assembly.
• However unprecedented, this result only confirmed that any political party needs local anchorage and time to climb the constitutional ladder.

Taming executive power, ensuring political stablity

• The Third Republic (1870–1940) modernised the country and implemented state laws that schooled multiple generations into becoming citizens.
• It was not without flaws: between 1876 and 1940, 101 cabinets came and went, essentially due to parliamentary instability and a total absence of authority within the executive power.
• France’s defeat in 1940 finished off the Third Republic and eventually led to the Vichy Régime.

Looking to Germany and the UK

• Today, when finding fault with France’s institutions, the systems of neighbouring countries such as Germany and Britain are often brought up.
• The comparison is not apt, however, for British and German parliamentary systems do not meet France’s standards for process and governance.
• And while such systems succeed in Britain and Germany, France’s history has shown that it is a nation that regards political compromise as a sign of institutional weakness.
• Nothing today, save for unpopular reforms presented to parliament and Emmanuel Macron’s general unpopularity can justify overthrowing France’s constitution.

The flip side of power

• While the Fifth Republic certainly confers great power to its presidents, and so draws political hatred and violence against them (rather than against the assembly), this system guarantees political stability.
• Calling for the establishment of new institutions at a time of social crisis and spreading populism is not productive.
• Citizens across France certainly distrust Emmanuel Macron, but this need not entail an automatic rejection of the nation’s institutions.
• While it certainly places significant power into the hands of a single person, the constitution ensures that it is still up to the people to decide who shall govern their lives.

• First-half sales at the Liqueurs & Spirits division were up 46.9% on an organic basis (up 46.4% on a reported basis).
• At 30 September 2021, applications had been received to convert 55.8% of the outstanding OCEANE bonds into Rmy Cointreau shares.
• On the back of these stronger than expected first-half results, Rmy Cointreau is upgrading its full-year guidance and is now targeting very strong organic growth in Current Operating Profit.
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