Choose between “change” or “continuity.” With this message he has closed his campaign for the european elections the head of the list of the French far-right party National Regrouping (RN), Jordan Bardella. The discourse of change is, in part, what has led the young 28-year-old Lepenist to consolidate himself as a possible winner, according to the polls, with 33% of voting intentions.
“Next Sunday, abstaining is voting for Macron,” Bardella highlighted during his speech. RN has presented the European campaign as a kind of plebiscite on the president’s policies, which have led to the president Emmanuel Macron in recent years to their lower popularity ratings. The irregular immigrationthe security and the loss of purchasing power They have become the main concern of the French.
“You work, work, work… and you don’t manage to live well. Voilà! This change is normal, but it is not the solution,” Faid, a Parisian taxi driver, told EL PERIÓDICO, alluding to the rise of the extreme right in the country. . In his opinion, Macron’s Government has accumulated unresolved problems and maintains a discourse that is far from the street, two circumstances that, according to analysts, have propelled the extreme right to the top of the polls with 17 points ahead of the candidate of the Renaissance from Macron, Valérie Hayer (15.5%).
The useless vote
One in two French people believes that their vote in the European elections this Sunday will not change their situation at all, and that is translated into the polls, which point to a drop of almost 2 points in participation compared to the 2019 elections. A disappointment that parties such as Raphaël Glucksmann’s Socialists, with 13.5% voting intention, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La Francia Insumisa, with 9%, or the Republicans, with 6%, also notice, according to Ipsos data , despite France breaks a record in these elections with 38 lists and 81 deputies to choose from.
The incipient return of protectionism has also been a fundamental issue in this European campaign and, unlike five years ago, the euroscepticism after the experience of Brexit. French environmental ambition, for its part, has been relegated to the background, with 5% voting intention.
War in times of austerity
France’s involvement in the ukrainian war and the defense spending have generated another of the great controversies of the electoral race. Macron’s Government has defended its speech that Europe must be sovereign in military matters, and to do so it must activate its military industry. An approach that has overlapped over time with announcements of austerity policies in the country, which has generated rejection in public opinion and a division of the vote.
The same division that immigration policies provoke. Mélenchon’s left wants to repeal the pact on migration and asylum, and replace Frontex, the European border agency. However, the extreme right insists on its idea of the “double border”, although Jordan Bardella has not been able to explain how he would implement it. In the middle of both, Renaissance, with a project based on the immigration pact, priority visas and the increase in border guards to reduce irregular immigration.
The European elections are the prelude to the French presidential elections of 2027, and if the National Regrouping wins, Marine Le Pen will once again cherish the dream of reaching the Elysee Palace. This time without her eternal rival, Emmanuel Macron, who can no longer run again.
