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The disaster we all expected has finally occurred. On 16 December, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, centre-left) lost a confidence vote in the Bundestag, spelling the end of his ruling coalition with the Greens (and the Liberals, who left the government in November). After so many months of decline in Scholz's popularity, even the now ex-chancellor anticipated his personal defeat. Now he can only hope to spare his party the worst in the run-up to the snap parliamentary elections due to take place in February.
As one government departs, another arrives. In France, President Emmanuel Macron (Renaissance, centre-right) has appointed François Bayrou (MoDem, centre) as Prime Minister, following the fall of the minority government led by Michel Barnier (Les Républicains, right) in early December. The selection, roundly criticised by MPs on both left and right, was justified by urgent matters such as the adoption of the 2025 budget. This is the fourth prime minister appointed by Macron in the space of a year, a record under the Fifth Republic.
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
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