1 – Emmanuel Macron unveils his nuclear roadmap
Emmanuel Macron convenes a Nuclear Policy Council on Friday morning, a year after his Belfort speech where he announced his desire to build six new second-generation EPRs (EPR2). Will notably be present the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne; the ministers concerned such as those for Energy, the Economy or Research; representatives of the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). It will be “defining a roadmap that will go from fuel supply to waste treatment”, explains the Elysée. A point will also be made on the current state of the French nuclear fleet, and the question of extending the reactors, from forty to sixty years, will be addressed.
2 – In kyiv, an EU-Ukraine summit for nothing?
Several senior European Union leaders will meet on Friday in kyiv around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for a long-awaited EU-Ukraine summit.“The first since the start of Russian aggression and since the European Council granted Ukraine the status of a candidate country”, specifies the European Commission in the preamble.
However, European leaders should not announce any acceleration in the accession process, according to a preliminary document obtained by the politico.eu site.
A disappointment for Zelensky, while his country, officially a candidate since June 23, 2022, aims to enter the “two years to come”.
Several good news are nevertheless expected, such as humanitarian aid of 25 million euros, the suspension of customs duties on Ukrainian exports for another year and the integration of Ukraine into the EU’s free mobile roaming zone.
3 – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in Philadelphia
The American president and the vice-president will travel to Philadelphia on Friday, where the winter meeting of the National Committee of the Democratic Party is being held. Officially, they will present the results of their economic policy there as well as their program in this area for the next two years. But the question of the presidential election of 2024 and future primaries will inevitably be on everyone’s mind. It seems understood that Joe Biden will run for a second term, with some observers saying he will declare himself days after his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Although he is 80 years old and the affair of the confidential documents found in his residence could harm him, his candidacy is not currently being debated within the Democratic Party, who wants to present a face of unity, far from the quarrels which dominate the Republican Party.
4 – In Lyon, a key hearing against air pollution in a school
The Lyon administrative court will examine air pollution in the Michel Servet school on Friday. In October 2020, a group of parents of students, joined by Greenpeace France, filed an appeal against “the inaction of the city, the metropolis and the State” to the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and fine particles to which their children are exposed. Because this establishment is next to the exit of the Croix-Rousse tunnel, where some 50,000 vehicles pass through every day. The standards set by the World Health Organization are regularly exceeded.
This situation, say the plaintiffs, causes anxiety but also “disorders in the living conditions of children”. They claim recognition and compensation for this damage and hope that the court will issue an injunction against the authorities for measures, in particular the reduction of road traffic. If this request were accepted, it would set a precedent, as many collectives are springing up all over France.
5 – Trafficking in antiquities at the Louvre Abu Dhabi: Jean-Luc Martinez cleared
Jean-Luc Martinez, president and director of the Louvre from 2013 to 2021, had been indicted on May 25 in a case of trafficking in antiquities. He was accused of having paid too little attention to the certificates of origin of several pieces of Egyptian antiquity, acquired for several million euros by the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This indictment was challenged by his lawyers last November before the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, which must render its deliberation on Friday. During the hearing, the Advocate General orally requested its cancellation.
In this case investigated since July 2018 by the National Court in charge of the fight against organized crime (Junalco) of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, three other people – an expert in Mediterranean archeology and her husband as well as a German-Lebanese gallery owner – are also continued.
We are delighted: Beyoncé announces a new world tour which will pass through Paris and Marseille
To the delight of his fans, Queen B formalized a world tour on Instagram on Tuesday, “The Renaissance Tour”. The star had not returned to the stage since his last tour, On the Run Tour 2, in 2018. This new tour will begin on May 10 in Sweden and will end on September 27 in New Orleans.
It will include two French dates: May 26 at the Stade de France, and June 11 at the Vélodrome de Marseille. Interested parties should be responsive: a presale will take place on Friday at 10 a.m. on the event site. The official sale of tickets will be open from February 7 at the same time.