trade union declared war on the labor market reforms that president francois holollande and his governmentay they are determined to press through. meanwhile with more strikes ahead, the people of france are still living in fear of another

trade union declared war on the labor market reforms that president francois holollande and his government say they are determined to press through. meanwhile with more strikes ahead, the people of france are still living in fear of another possible terror attack. so our question here today on "quadriga" is this crisis in france, how wounded is the grande nation? to discuss that question, i'm joined here in the studio by three seasoned observers and analysts. let me introduce them to you. beginning with pascal thibaut, who is with radio france internationale. he says the trenches of verdun have only now been filled in, but in the rest of france, the rifts are still huge. each and every reform becomes a battle to end all battles. also with us is malte lehming of berlin's "der tagesspiegel" newspaper, who believes that france's economy is showing signs of improvement. francois hollande must stay on course with his reforms and not give in to left-wing demands. and a warm welcome, too, to geraldine schwarz, a french tv journalist and documentary filmmaker who is based here in berlin. geraldine

francois holollande, the president, yesterday said d it s a clear threat of t terrorist atattack in francece but we shsd not geget picky. therere is a lot off concernrn e cocountry. the cocountry y is still under a state e of emergency. a lot ofof policemenen are depl. you can see e them every day in the street. there is a lot of discussion ababout the statas being s set o wawatch the gamemes without gogo the stadidi. these will be hihighly protecte. it w will be difficult to prprot everybody at any point inin t te becaususe there will b be so may crowds a at so many y different places i in frarance. people are certainly concerned about that. reporter: frank and lisa, thank you. we turn to other news now. germany's figure head of state is set to bow out of political office. the president says he will not seek a second term in 2017. the former east german pastor and human rights activist made a popular figure. but at 76, he says it is time to step aside. reporter: blue skies in berlin. the official residence of germany's president. today, he announced after much reflection he is not seeking t