Macron calls snap elections as opposition declares his ‘crushing defeat’ 

In the face of the far-right’s triumph in the French European elections, President Emmanuel Macron announced he would dissolve the National Assembly and call snap legislative elections, in a historic move that pleased the opposition and threw his supporters into a panic. 

The Rassemblement national (RN) won 32.4% of the vote, while Macron’s Besoin d’Europe list secured 15.2% of the vote share. 

Such results, anticipated by polls over months of campaigning, prompted Macron to take the boldest political move at his disposal on Sunday (9 June): dissolve the assembly and call snap elections. 

“France needs a clear majority to act calmly,“ Macron said in a TV address.

“I have heard your message, your concerns, and I will not leave them unanswered,” he said. Calling for a dissolution of parliament – the sixth time in modern French history – “is a serious and weighty decision, but above all an act of trust, trust […] in the ability of the French people to make the right choice for themselves and for future generations”. 

Macron’s camp does not have an absolute majority in the French Parliament and relies on ad hoc, file-by-file political agreements to move forward. 

The first round of the elections will take place on 30 June and the second round on 7 July. 

France: Macron dissolves assembly, calls snap election amid far-right surge

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday (9 June) he would dissolve the National Assembly and call snap legislative elections as the far-right nationalists triumphed in the European elections with 32.3% of the vote, against 15.2% for Macron’s Besoin d’Europe list.

“It’s madness” 

Macron’s unexpected address has been met with circumspection and mild cheering at the Besoin d’Europe’s electoral gathering. 

“It is a good idea that we go back to campaigning and give the president a very clear majority. As of tonight, I am entering campaign mode,” Paul Midy, an MP from the Parisian suburbs, told the press. 

But off the record, party officials and MPs are less confident. “It’s madness,” one said, while another complained he did not understand Macron’s political strategy.

“Is the goal to have a far-right prime minister until 2027 [when presidential elections are scheduled] and hope to show just how incompetent he would be? That’s so risky,” the other party insider said. 

Foreign Affairs Minister and Macron’s Renaissance party’s Secretary General Stéphane Séjourné confirmed all outgoing MPs would run again, while those from other parties deemed “within the Republican arch” would run unopposed. 

Europe Decides: Live updates of the 2024 European Parliament election

This week, over 350 million voters will elect the 720 members of the European Parliament. Stay up to date with Euractiv’s liveblog.

Far-right coalition in the making?

Far-right parties took full advantage of this turn of events to bash Macron and his politics. 

“We’ve got to kill them!” an enthusiastic RN supporter told Euractiv at their electoral HQ.

RN’s long-time leader Marine Le Pen said in a speech that “these European elections confirm that our movement is the only one governing alternative for France”.

“We are ready to take on power if the French put their trust in us,” she added.

Supporters and party officials rejoice at the thought of seeing Jordan Bardella, the RN’s lead candidate in the European elections, become prime minister as part of a right-wing coalition government that could see the light of day as early as mid-July. 

“Bardella would make a great prime minister,” far-right MP Nicolas Maizonnet told Euractiv.

Legislative elections ought to be the natural continuation of the RN’s successes tonight, he explained. “In reality, it is a vote in support of a European vision of free and sovereign states”. 

Eric Zemmour’s far-right anti-immigration Reconquête party, set to send four to five MEPs to Brussels with 5.1% of the vote share, has jumped at the opportunity to form a political alliance with the RN and the conservatives ahead of the first round. 

“I am telling [the RN] that if they truly want to make a difference, [they must] accept a coalition,” said Sarah Knafo, a Reconquête candidate and Zemmour’s right-hand woman.

The two far-right parties belong to different political groups in the European Parliament – RN to the ID and Reconquête to the ECR – and arguably disagree substantially on key policy matters from the economy to geopolitics.

But in this instance, “I am calling for the largest right-wing union possible!”, Zemmour said. 

The future of the far right in Europe, viewed from France

In the face of a deeply divided left, the French National Rally’s grab for power is easier than many might expect. How is the party reshaping the influence of the far-right at the European level?

Lingering hopes of uniting the left 

Left-wing oppositions have also shown no hesitation to take aim at Macron and his party. 

“The president has taken note of his stinging defeat. He is sending us back to our greatest strength, which is that of the people,” far-left La France insoumise (LFI) lead candidate Manon Aubry told a crowd on Sunday. 

Raphaël Glucksmann, France’s new social-democrat sweetheart, who secured third place in the elections with just over 14% of votes, also said he wanted to “open up a political space” and go beyond strict party lines, though probably not under the France insoumise banner.

Aubry hopes that all left-wing movements can once again unite around the leftist Nupes coalition – formed during the 2022 legislative elections under LFI’s helm – and campaign as one. 

But this is proving more than unlikely. Nupes has been in shambles over significant policy disagreements and left-wing forces have been opponents throughout the European elections campaign. Bringing them back to a cohesive whole will be no easy thing.

This concern is largely shared by the Greens, who have experienced a crushing defeat, winning just 5.1% of the votes. 

“In the coming weeks, we’ll have to fight against a coalition of the right and the far right in the European Parliament and the Commission, on top of campaigning in France. This is a double betrayal for [pro-EU] voters, who were robbed of their European elections,” Marie Toussaint, the Greens’ lead candidate, told journalists.

[Clara Bauer-Babef, Théophane Hartmann, Paul Messad and Hugo Struna contribued to reporting / Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

Read more with Euractiv

EU election results confirm shift to the right

As expected, first results of the 6-9 EU elections show that voters across Europe have shown a preference for the far-right parties, which will look to either make an alliance or break the record of the centrist majority made of the centre-right, Liberals and Socialist, still holding.