The former investment banker won the 2017 election with 66.1% of the vote on a reformist project to modernise the euro zone's second largest power.

The disgraced former bodyguard at the centre of the biggest scandal of Emmanuel Macron's young presidency is due to appear Wednesday before a Senate committee which will quiz him over his close ties to France's maverick leader.

The most damaging scandal of Emmanuel Macron's presidency deepened on Saturday as his interior minister faces a grilling over his response to a top security aide caught on video striking a young man at a Paris protest in May.

French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to fire the bodyguard who was caught on camera hitting a May Day protester after "new facts" emerged about the alleged misdemeanour, the president's office said on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron came under fire on Thursday after his office suspended one of his aides who was caught on camera striking a May Day protester, but did not inform law enforcement authorities.

President Emmanuel Macron upbraided a French teenager on Monday after the boy addressed the president informally as "Manu" and sang the socialist anthem in front of him.

The German chancellor gave an extensive newspaper interview on Sunday that touched on reform of the euro zone as well as defence and asylum policy.

France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that the 2015 nuclear restraint deal with Iran was "not dead" despite Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out from the agreement, and added that French President Emmanuel Macron would speak later in the day to Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhai.

"France shares Britain's assessment that there is no other plausible explanation and reiterates its solidarity with his ally," Macron's office said.

French President Emmanuel Macron's approval rating has fallen below 50% to its lowest level since October last year, a poll showed on Sunday, as the government pushes ahead with plans to shake up France's costly civil service.

The potential A320 order, which had not been previously announced, would be worth more than $18bn at list prices.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe on Monday to take part in China's Silk Road revival plan, despite some European misgivings about the massive project, as he began a state visit.