Photo: Ludovic Marin Agence France-Presse “I will sign in a few moments the decree convening the legislative elections which will be held on June 30 for the first round and July 7 for the second,” declared the Head of State in a televised address after the announcement of the results to the Europeans.
France Media Agency in Paris
Posted at 3:23 p.m. Updated at 3:44 p.m.
- Europe
President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of Parliament on Sunday, drawing lessons from the far-right's sweeping victory in the European elections in France.
“I will sign in a few moments the decree convening the legislative elections which will be held on June 30 for the first round and July 7 for the second,” declared the head of state, noting that nearly 40% votes were in favor of far-right parties, including 31.5% for the National Rally led by Jordan Bardella, 28 years old.
“This decision is serious, heavy, but above all it is an act of trust,” he underlined, expressing his “confidence […] in the ability of the French people to make the most just choice for them- even and for future generations.”
“Let the sovereign people have their say,” he said. “Nothing is more Republican.”
Also read
- A European election like no other
- Last day of the electoral marathon to redraw the political landscape of the EU
He added that France “needs a clear majority to act in serenity and harmony” and stressed that he “heard” the message of the French and their concerns.” “I will not leave them without an answer,” he assured. »
“We are ready to exercise power if the French trust us,” reacted immediately the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who came twice behind President Macron in the presidential elections of 2017 and 2022, and who aims to deadline of 2027.
The far right won the European elections in France on Sunday, far ahead of the list of President Emmanuel Macron's camp, which came second but closely followed by the social democrats.
Jordan Bardella welcomed this result “with humility, with gravity” in front of a crowd of galvanized supporters, after welcoming a “historic score” for his gone.
With 15.2% of the votes, the presidential camp received more than half as much as the National Rally (31.5% to 32.4%), according to estimates published Sunday evening by the Ipsos and Ifop institutes.< /p>
Casting failure
It is a bitter failure for the Macronist majority which, in 2019 , was only one point behind the National Rally (23.34% for the RN against 22.42% for the majority).
The candidate Macronist Valérie Hayer saves second place but only by a narrow margin, the social democratic list led by Raphaël Glucksmann, 44, having won 14% of the vote, according to these estimates.
< p>The victory of the far right was expected: the young Bardella, who focused his speech on the themes of immigration, security and purchasing power, pranced in the lead throughout the campaign, far ahead of Valérie Hayer, 38 years old.
With his carefully crafted formulas and his media ease, he was able to establish himself in less than five years in a French political landscape in full renewal, and continued the strategy of demonizing the French far-right party, begun a year ago. decade by Marine Le Pen.
Unknown to the general public, the head of the Renaissance list, the outgoing MEP Valérie Hayer, struggled during the campaign despite her solid knowledge of the issues Europeans.
Coming third, the socialist Raphaël Glucksmann, pro-European, never stopped presenting his party as a possible alternative to the “deadly duel” between the extreme right and the Macronist party.
“Historical score”
For French President Emmanuel Macron, it is a scathing defeat, he who came to power in 2017 with the desire to strengthen French influence within the European Union, and with the promise of eradicating extremes on the national scene.
Associated with the increasingly unpopular president, Valérie Hayer never managed to take off despite direct interventions in the campaign not only from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal but also the president, to the point of irritating the oppositions who denounced a mixture of genres.
The new strong man of the left, Raphaël Glucksmann, whose party more than doubled its score compared to 2019, underlined the responsibility “now immense in Europe and in France”.
“What we are going to bring about is a new political space in France and in Europe based on a visceral attachment to democracy, freedom, ecology and solidarity. And it is this political space which will prevent the extreme right from taking power”, he estimated.
As for the Greens, who obtained a score historic 13.4% in 2019, they are collapsing while remaining slightly above 5%, the minimum threshold for obtaining MEPs in France.
The European elections in France will also have been marked by a relative surge of the radical left represented by La France insoumise (LFI) and Manon Aubry: 8.7% against 6.3% of the votes in 2019.