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Reuters

Centrist Emmanuel Macron took power as president of France on Sunday in a sumptuous inauguration ceremony in the Elysee Palace presidential residence in Paris following his May 7 election victory.
On arriving for the ceremony at the 18th century palace, Macron, 39, a former investment banker and economy minister, held a private meeting with outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande on state affairs which included the transfer of access to France’s nuclear missile launch codes.

Macron becomes France’s youngest post-war leader and the first to be born after 1958 when President Charles de Gaulle put in place the Fifth Republic.
In his first speech, Macron said France had chosen “hope” by voting for him.

Regarding terrorism, Macron said: “We will take all our responsibilities to provide, every time it’s needed, a relevant response to big contemporary crises.”
He also listed “the excesses of capitalism in the world” and climate change among his future challenges.
Macron said all countries in the world are “interdependent ... we are all neighbours.” He announced his determination to push ahead with reforms to free up France’s economy and pledged to press for a “more efficient, more democratic” European Union, promising the beleaguered bloc, hit by the imminent departure of Britain, would be “reformed and relaunched”.
“The world and Europe need France now more than ever and they need a strong France with a sense of its own destiny.”
At the end of the formalities, a 21-gun salute rang out from the Invalides military hospital on the other side of the River Seine.
Macron was later to be driven to the Arc de Triomphe to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

The new president faces a host of daunting challenges including tackling stubbornly high unemployment, fighting Islamist-inspired violence and uniting a deeply divided country.
Socialist Hollande’s five years in power were plagued by a sluggish economy and bloody terror attacks that killed more than 230 people and he leaves office after a single term.
Security was tight, with around 1,500 police officers deployed near the presidential palace and the nearby Champs Elysees avenue and surrounding roads blocked off.
After a formal lunch, Macron was to visit Paris’s town hall, a traditional stop for any new French president in his “host” city.
Macron’s first week will be busy. On Monday, he is expected to reveal the closely-guarded name of his prime minister, before flying to Berlin.

Macron is the first president in the modern era to be elected without the support of France’s two main traditional parties. But he was Hollande’s economic adviser for more than two years and is deeply familiar with the administration’s inner workings.
“Most presidents land in the Elysee Palace with no idea how it functions, and they learn on the job,” said Patrick Weil, a historian and political scientist with the CNRS research centre in Paris.
“Macron has worked there a couple years, was even the deputy chief of staff. He knows the corridors of the Elysee and how it works. He even knows the drivers.”

Already, Macron has appointed Alexis Kohler as secretary general of the Elysee palace, the most powerful role among presidential staff, while career diplomat Philippe Etienne was named as his top foreign policy advisor.
Kohler, a 44-year old graduate of France’s elite ENA administrative school, was Macron’s chief of staff when the incoming president was economy minister and has worked for the Treasury.

He will be Macron’s right-hand man, the top official in the Elysee administration and a key political advisor who is typically the main contact point for ministries, parties, unions and business leaders and plays an important role in crafting policies.
Etienne, a 61-year old former ambassador well known both in Brussels and Berlin, was appointed to be the incoming president’s diplomatic advisor, Macron’s staff said. Also an ENA graduate, his nomination was immediately saluted in the EU capital.

“This is very good news. Philippe is an authority on EU affairs and a promoter of Franco-German friendship,” Martin Selmayr, the head of cabinet for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Twitter.
The news was also welcomed among French diplomats. “He is extremely well aware of EU affairs,” one senior diplomatic source said, calling him a skilled negotiator.
The appointments were announced before Macron’s inauguration.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg


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Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron promises to ‘reform and relaunch’ EU in first speech as president of France

French President Emmanuel Macron listens to Laurent Fabius, head of the Constitutional Council, during his inauguration. Photo: Reuters

French outgoing President Francois Hollande (R) shakes hands with his successor Emmanuel Macron as he leaves the Elysee presidential Palace at the end of the handover ceremony and prior to Macron's formal inauguration as French President on May 14, 2017 in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Patrick KOVARIK

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 17, 2016 shows former French ambassador to Germany, Philippe Etienne arriving at the economic forum organized by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. On May 14, French ambassador to Germany Philippe Etienne was nominated to diplomatic conselour under newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron. / AFP PHOTO / CLEMENS BILAN

French President Emmanuel Macron reviews troops as he attends a flag ceremony in the garden of the Elysee Palace after his inauguration in Paris, France, May 14, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

French newly elected President Emmanuel Macron poses with his wife Brigitte Trogneux at the Elysee presidential Palace after the handover and prior to the inauguration ceremony on May 14, 2017 in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

New French President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte reacts during his inauguration at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Sunday, May 14, 2017. France has inaugurated new president, Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old independent centrist who was elected on May 7. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

(FILES) This file photo taken on March 7, 2016 shows French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron (L) and his chief of staff Alexis Kohler attending talks between the Government and labour union pepresentatives on labour reform proposals at the Hotel Matignon in Paris. On May 14 Alexis Kohler was named to General Secretary of the Elysee Palace. / AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHON

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during his formal inauguration ceremony as French President in the Salle des Fetes of the Elysee presidential Palace on May 14, 2017 in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Francois Mori

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