EUROPE
FRANCE: Emmanuel Macron proposes to set aside 3-5% of vaccine doses in Africa
The group of the seven most industrialized countries in the world (G7) is holding a virtual conference on Friday, February 19. The French President is taking the opportunity to offer rich countries to transfer 3-5% of their Covid-19 vaccine stocks to Africa. Macron spoke on Thursday in an interview with the British daily The Financial Times.
While denouncing the exorbitant prices at which vaccines are sold to African countries, Emmanuel Macron wants to propose to the G7 countries to reserve doses of vaccines to the African continent. “I say: ‘Let’s transfer 3% or 5% of the vaccines we have in stock today to Africa,’ he said, adding that: ‘This has no impact on the rate of vaccine strategy [in the countries concerned by this transfer]. It doesn’t slow it down by a day, given the use of our doses today.” This approach is, according to him, in the interest of European countries and especially of France, which has more than 10 million citizens who have relatives or relatives on the other side of the Mediterranean.
It is also a question of solidarity for the French President. “If we let the idea that hundreds of millions of vaccines are being made in rich countries and we don’t start in poor countries, it’s unsustainable,” he said. He believes it is rather an unprecedented acceleration of global inequalities. This is politically unsustainable in the long run because it is what makes it possible to set up a war of vaccine influence. And you can see the Chinese strategy, the Russian strategy too,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron assures that France has already reserved 5% of its doses for Africa. It will be, he explains, either donations or low-cost sales, with the aim of bringing in as many European and non-European partners as possible. But if not everyone is on board, he warns, France will commit itself and give 5% of its doses. President Macron strongly hopes that the United States will show a greater commitment, including financial commitment in the Covax system to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.
Russia and China are also involved. “The Chinese often recall their adherence to multilateralism, they have the opportunity with Covax to prove it, rather than a bilateral approach with a logic of vaccine diplomacy, or even clientelism,” he says.
For about fifteen years, social networks have conquered every corner of our lives, interfering as well in private conversations as in family, school or professional dynamics. What was once a communication tool has become a prism through which many teenagers—but also adults — perceive the world. Far from being mere platforms for exchange, these digital spaces influence tastes, shape opinions and model behaviours. 11-year-old children frantically scrolling videos on TikTok, while grandparents comment on political debates on Facebook. This massive penetration into all the strata of society raises new questions, particularly about the ability of the youngest to evolve without danger. Faced with this new reality, Emmanuel Macron is sounding the alarm.
President Emmanuel Macron was very clear on France 2, on June 10, 2025: he wants to ban social networks for young people under 15 years old. And if there is no quick agreement at the European level, France could decide to go it alone. For him, we must act quickly. In his eyes, these platforms—Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok — have become much more than simple communication tools: they act as amplifiers of violence, confusion, and psychological distress.
He believes that this early exposure, from the middle school age, shapes a generation facing a brutalization of exchanges and a form of permanent emotional instability. This observation, shared by a growing number of observers, fuels its desire to implement strict regulation at the European level. And if Brussels delays, Paris might well act alone.
This radical proposal highlights a growing generational divide. Today’s teenagers are, according to Macron, the first to have grown up in this digital universe saturated with images, viral content, and incessant notifications. A generation connected from the cradle, which has not known a world without smartphones or ubiquitous Wi-Fi. Where adults have seen social networks as progress, the younger ones experience them as a norm, even a social necessity.
However, this digital normality leads to deleterious effects. Online harassment, addiction, overexposure to violent or pornographic content, permanent quest for social validation… the risks are multiple and often invisible to the eyes of parents. The idea of a mandatory minimum age, already under debate in several countries, takes on a strong political dimension here. By setting this framework, the president hopes to stop a spiral that he considers uncontrollable.
For Emmanuel Macron, this initiative cannot remain isolated. He asks the European Union to reach an agreement and set clear rules together. The question is now asked: should social networks be treated as sensitive products, on a par with alcohol or cigarettes? France seems ready to take this step, even if it means shaking certain digital freedoms. The president mentions a delay of ‘a few months’ to reach an agreement with the European partners. Without a coordinated response, he claims that France will act alone.
This stance raises as much hope as controversy. How to enforce such a ban technically? What responsibility for the platforms? Will teenagers find ways to get around the measure? If the challenge is immense, the head of state seems determined to lay the foundations for a new digital contract between young citizens and their digital environment.
By setting the bar at 15 years old, Emmanuel Macron is not content with reacting to a trend. He proposes a break. In a society where digital technology continues to move forward without restraint, it wants to impose a threshold, a safeguard, a time of pause to reflect on what growing up in the connected world really involves.
Source: The new tribune
The deep sea, which covers 54% of the oceans, remains largely unknown: only 5% have been explored. Yet, since 2022, 33 states have called for a precautionary pause in the face of deep-sea mining projects. This position is based on alarming scientific studies: the abyss shelters a unique biodiversity, plays a key role in climate regulation and their destruction would have irreversible consequences.
Under international law (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), deep seabed resources are a heritage of mankind, managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Any exploitation outside this framework would be illegal. However, the polymetallic nodules, coveted for their rare metals, take millions of years to form – their extraction would therefore be unsustainable.
Mining would generate plumes of toxic sediments, threatening abyssal wildlife and the food chain. Deep ecosystems, essential for carbon storage, could be sustainably altered. Yet, their genetic resources could revolutionize medicine, agri-food or the fight against global warming.
At the United Nations Ocean Conference (Nice, 9-13 June), the signatory States (Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Palau, Panama, Peru[1], Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vanuatu.) request:
Strict compliance with international law;
The acceleration of scientific research;
A cautionary pause on deep-sea mining.
[1] The Republic of Peru is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Photo Credit: chasse-marée.com
On 9 June, the leaders of ten Mediterranean countries and the European Union met at the invitation of the French president for the summit “For a better connected Mediterranean”, on the sidelines of the UN Ocean Conference. The objective: to strengthen maritime, land and digital links between Europe, the Mediterranean and the Arabian-Persian Gulf, in response to the common challenges of the region.
The Mediterranean, which accounts for 25% of global maritime traffic, is seeing its states step up their ecological efforts. Since 1 May 2025, a SECA (low sulphur emissions) zone covers the entire Mediterranean, while ports such as Algeciras, Beirut and Marseille have committed to reducing their emissions through charging stations and alternative fuels. Croatia also announced a new green and automated terminal in Rijeka.
The European Commission recalled its financial commitment through the Global Gateway strategy, with 5.9 billion euros released for North Africa and the Middle East, capable of generating 27.2 billion in investments. The new Pact for the Mediterranean aims to consolidate economic and energy partnerships, particularly through the India-Middle East-Europe (IMEC) corridor, supported by France.
Energy projects are multiplying: Saudi Arabia, France, Italy and Greece are studying collaborations on green hydrogen, while Cyprus and Greece are advancing on interconnections such as the GREGY cable (Egypt-Greece). The TeraMED initiative could also accelerate renewable energies in North Africa.
On the digital side, the EU presented Medusa, an undersea optical fibre network linking the two Mediterranean shores, while the digital hub in Aqaba (Jordan) strengthens regional technological influence.
