Michel Rose -
Emmanuel Macron may have ended up with a disappointing second place in the European election in France, but his battle for influence in Brussels can now begin in earnest — and he is in a stronger position to wage that fight than two years ago.
The French leader may have failed to defeat Marine Le Pen’s far-right party on Sunday — a duel Macron had played up ahead of the vote — but he now has a troop of European lawmakers he can call his own, giving him more leverage on the European stage.
“Even if he finished second behind Le Pen, Macron’s party has more chances of being in a pivotal role - even one of kingmaker - than Marine Le Pen’s party,” Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, head of the ECFR think-tank’s Paris office, said.
“Of course in terms of political capital, in terms of image, it’s not very good for Macron,” he said. “But from an institutional point of view, with this new European parliament configuration, he is now in a better position.” Macron’s party, the pro-European Republique En Marche, was only created in 2016, which means he had no lawmakers in the European parliament until now, limiting his influence.
Having finished less than one percentage point behind Le Pen, who did less well than five years ago, he is now on course to match the far-right leader’s 23 seats in the new assembly.
That should be enough to become the biggest national contingent in the third-largest bloc in parliament, the centrist group currently known as ALDE, where Macron will now call the shots, bringing his youth and the weight of France to the fore.
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel gradually leaves the stage after almost 15 years in power, Macron is keen to take over the unofficial mantle of leader of the European project. With the two hitherto dominant forces in the European assembly — the European Peoples’ Party (EPP) to the right and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) on the left — short of the 376 seats needed for a majority in the European Parliament, ALDE will become crucial for any coalition.
That’s why Macron’s strategists were sanguine about “disappointing” but “honourable” results that contrasted sharply with the bruising mid-term defeats handed out to previous French governments.
In Brussels, Macron’s aides see themselves as essential: whoever wants to build a majority in the European Parliament will have to do so with Macron and ALDE. “For the first time, the EPP and the S&D will have to compromise with a centrist, pro-European force — in which we’ll have a central and crucial role — and which will be a totally indispensable partner,” a presidential adviser said. — Reuters
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