The Franco-British Connections

On the 24th of April 2012, The Franco-British Connections, in partnership with the Franco-British Society and the KCL Politics Society, organised a political debate on the current French presidential elections. In front of an audience of about a hundred, in a beautiful lecture hall at King’s College, our panel consisted of three politicians, a journalist and a academic debated on how the French elections would affect Europe, the UK and Franco-British relations. The discussions were moderated by Lord Grenfell and his undeniable wit.

The evening began with a five-minute presentation of each speaker. Firstly, Benedict Paviot, Anglo-French journalist at France 24 opened the discussion commenting on the results of the first round of the elections and how they will impact European politics as the next French president, whoever he may be, will have to face important international issues.

After this concise, informative and enlightening introductory speech, three of the candidates for the 2012 parliamentary elections in North Europe gave us their points of view on French and European politics. Indeed, since the 2008 constitutional reform adopted by the French parliament, French citizens living abroad will have the right to elect their own MP. Continue Reading »

Tags: british, debate, election, europe, french, party

After the successful defence of « L’Innovation à la Française » by Simon Garcia (ENA/Sciences Po alumnus), the Franco-British Comparative Project launches the second edition of the Cordial Debate on Education.

This year the Cordial Debate will focus on the French and British education system and social mobility.

Students are challenged to submit their opinionated views before 16 June 2012, while defending one system as being superior to the other.

The best essays will be assessed by a panel of Franco-British personalities including Xavier Darcos, Baroness Shepard and Mary Dejevsky.

The winner will be awarded a €400 prize and have the chance to join the next Cordial Debate Panel.

More information on this page.

Tags: cordial, debate

Can you say a few words about your career and education?

I learnt my first words of French on family holidays to Eurocamp in Carnac, Brittany, and then started to learn French formally when I was eleven at high school. I was lucky enough to have great teachers, and so I carried on to A level. I went to work in Paris when I left school, as a fille au pair. I lived exactly parallel to La Rue Montorgueil in the second arrondissement, which was about as good as it gets in terms of living in a central, vibrant area. Continue Reading »

Tags: portrait gallery

On a sunny morning at Buckingham Palace Road’s Telegraph offices; Mr. Brogan received two Franco British students in the heart of the journalistic hub. After taking time to walk us around the redesigned former stock exchange open space; he kindly answers our questions…

Can you say a few words about your education and your career?

Most of my education took place in the French school system. I grew up in Washington DC and went to the French Lycée Rochambeau  in Washington where I did my Baccalaureat. I was a terrible student, I did section B economy and scraped through “Bac sans mention” because I was too busy having a good time. I went from there to university of Massachusetts Continue Reading »

Tags: debate, freedom, press

On a sunny afternoon at Smith Square’s Europe House, two Franco-British students met with  the delightful Michael Shackleton. His welcoming and open-minded attitude made for a fascinating and agreeable interview where he expressed his insightful opinions on Franco- British relations and more… opinions rooted in his 31 years of experience in the European Parliament.

Can you briefly go through your education and your career?

I was born in Germany but came to live in Britain when I was very small. I was educated, went to school and university in Britain. But after university, I went as a “stagiaire” (translated into English normally as “in-service trainee”) to the European Commission. That was my first introduction to a “multilingual-multicultural” world in the sense that even though I knew Germany well, that was a family affair rather an opportunity to meet other people of my own age. I was initially in Belgium for six months but then returned to England to work at the Open Continue Reading »

Tags: british, debate, europe, european, french, london, mep, parliament, professor, united kingdom

Tags: debate, freedom, press

On the 8th of December 2011, Baroness D’Souza and Lord Grenfell hosted an evening of speeches and debate in the Robing Room of the House of Lords for members of the Franco-British Connections.

This took the form of presentations from various personalities on the theme of parliamentary experiences on the promotion of cooperation between France and Great Britain with regards to higher education. After welcome words by Baroness d’Souza, Lord Grenfell introduced himself, and gave a brief history of the room we were in and explained his involvement in higher education systems in Britain and France. The first keynote speaker, Lord Giddens, ex-director of LSE, spoke about the impact he saw government policy was having on universities; an issue he had recently raised in Parliament. He highlighted the worrying impact of the recent tuition fees increases in the UK and the negative impact this will have on university cooperation and opportunities for UK students. The second keynote speaker, French Ambassador to the United Kingdom Bernard Emié, then shared his views on the “remarkable state of the cooperation between both countries in various domains, such as the educational system and the military”. He highlighted the current efforts in France at both the legislative and executive levels to further promote cooperation in education.

Between the speeches and the Q&A sessions, Baroness Quin gave a brief introduction to the work of the Franco-British Council, and Mr. Noakes presented the activities of the Franco-British Society.

The keynote speeches sparked debate amongst the audience, students and officials alike, which made for an interesting half an hour of Q&A. There were questions originating from student representatives from many of the universities represented, which included Cambridge, ESCP, Imperial, Kings, LSE, Oxford, Queen Mary’s, Sciences-Po Paris and Lille, SOAS, UCL. It was a true multi-university occasion.

The debate was followed by a drinks reception, with some House of Lords house white and red, during which groups of students carried on with the discussion in small groups with some of the speakers.

Report by: JN. Citti & A. Mason

Tags: british, cambridge, connections, debate, french, imperial, kings, lille, oxford, paris, sciences-po, ucl, university

On the 24th of November 2011, the FB Connections organised a debate on “the freedom of the press in France and in the UK”, held at the British Embassy in Paris, and organised by its debating arm, the FBCP.

Our host, British Ambassador to France Sir Peter Westmacott, gave an introductory speech, which was followed an explanation of the debating rules presented by Jean-Pascal Sibiet. The debate was to be held in the style of a (British) parliamentary debate, an unusual format in Paris.
The speaker could for example be interrupted every time an MP stood up and placed his hand on the top of his head asking the permission to intervene. Interestingly, all young debaters abode fully by the rules, creating a dynamic atmosphere with good backing from the crowd.
Two teams of four took part in the debating challenge; one of them defended France, the other the UK. All the debaters had an excellent command of the English language and were students of alumni of top universities across the channel, such as Oxbridge, Polytechnique and Sciences Po. The debate lasted approximately 45 minutes, with one speaker from each team presenting after the other. Both teams were well-prepared and had planned their arguments meticulously in order to defend their ideas in a structured and convincing manner.

Whilst the judging panel deliberated, we enjoyed a musical interlude with the aptly chosen London Trios from Haydn, allowing students to relax and mingle. When the results came out later in the evening, the French team was crowned winner. The teams, judging panel, then went for a pre-dinner drink in the Embassy’s parlour in order to continue exchanging ideas.

Report by: JN. Citti & A. Mason

Tags: british, connections, debate, embassy, freedom, french, london, paris, polytechnique, press

We held a student/alumni meeting on Saturday the 21st of January in Lille. We mixed an afternoon of hard work with social activities so that the various generations in the FB-Connections could get to know each other. The format was as follows:

12.00 – 14.00 : Lunch in a restaurant
15.00 – 18.00 : Work session in a room of Sciences-Po Lille
20.00 – 22.00 : Cordial dinner

The agenda included items like:

- Plans going forward
- Setting up a governing document for the FB-Connections
- Rejuvenation of the coordination group

Thank you to the student team at Sciences-Po Lille for the great organisation

Tags: agm, connections, cordial, lille, sciences-po

Tags: debate, defence, european