These Are The Challenges President Emmanuel Macron Will Face

Victorious in France’s presidential election, Emmanuel Macron inherits a country with 10 percent unemployment and sluggish economic growth. It’s officially still under emergency rule following a string of terror attacks beginning in 2015. France remains a deeply divided country. In the first round of presidential voting, almost half the electorate supported candidates -- including the National Front’s Marine Le Pen -- who oppose the international trading order championed by Macron, a onetime investment banker with a business-friendly outlook.

Transfers of power in France are faster than in the U.S., where it takes over two months, and slower than in Britain, where it occurs overnight. No date has been set for Macron’s swearing-in, but it must be before May 14, which is Francois Hollande’s last day as president.