France: the failure of nationalism

by David Roche

by David Roche

It was before the wave of strikes that hit France in December that I glided into the Gare du Nord on one of France’s ultra-smooth, ultra-expensive (to the taxpayer, not the traveller) TGVs. I had two questions begging answers. First, would the Franco-German axis in Europe hold? And second, would France meet the Maastricht criteria for a European single currency by the end of 1997?

As I sat in the TGV, I let my imagination run ahead to summer 1997.

Thanks for your interest in Euromoney!
To unlock this article: