Macron challenges French voters and spooks Brussels

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 14 June 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the EU comes to terms with its new (sort of) political reality following last weekend's European Parliament election, France is already back in campaign mode — preparing for snap elections called unexpectedly by President Emmanuel Macron. The French president dissolved the National Assembly in response to the massive success of the far-right National Rally in the European election (and the poor showing of his own Renaissance party). Host Sarah Wheaton and her colleagues discuss Macron's shock decision and whether his gamble can pay off. She's joined by senior Paris correspondent Clea Caulcutt, politics reporter Victor Goury-Laffont, and POLITICO's editor-at-large Nick Vinocur. The team also looks at how the political earthquake in Paris is reverberating in Brussels and whether it will affect the ongoing race for the EU's top jobs. Further readings: Is Macron too toxic to win? by Clea Caulcutt, Victor Goury-Laffont, Sarah Paillou and Pauline de Saint Remy 3 ways Macron’s election punt could go wrong by Victor Goury-Laffont Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Democracy, eh?
0:03.0	Voters went to the polls and it's making things pretty awkward for some of Europe's most powerful politicians.
0:12.0	So broadly in these European Parliament elections over the weekend, people massively backed parties to the right of the political spectrum, sometimes on the extremes.
0:21.7	And that dealt a blow to the Greens and the Liberals in Brussels.
0:25.5	But then again, they also decided that they want to keep this kind of grand coalition that we've had of the center right and the socialists to lead the EU over the next five years.
0:34.9	And if you're a regular listener to this podcast, you're not surprised by
0:38.6	any of that. But what shocked all of us? The speedy, spectacular fallout on the national level,
0:46.1	especially in France. The national rally, the far right party led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, won,
0:56.0	and they won big time.
0:58.0	I'm talking twice the support of Emmanuel Macron's team.
1:02.0	Voters dared to question the French president.
1:05.0	And now he's daring them right back.
1:08.0	You like the far right so much?
1:14.1	Let them govern if you want.
1:16.1	That's essentially what Macron said to voters
1:18.4	by announcing that he's dissolving the national parliament
1:20.9	and calling snap elections just weeks from now.
1:24.7	There's some democracy for you, eh?
1:27.3	Indeed, some pundits are already comparing
1:29.3	it to another great experiment in democracy and daring voters from back in 2016, the UK's
1:36.2	Brexit referendum. So will Macron's strategic gamble to nip the far right in the bud pay off?
1:43.0	Or is this an act of impulsive hubris from a failing
	...

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