The candidates for the European elections are in the campaign, the main leaders of the list also took part in an RFI-France 24 debate in Brussels on April 10. For the moment, the polls still give the National Rally a large lead against the presidential majority, around ten points apart. Emmanuel Macron plans to get involved in the campaign, can he save the majority?
That’s the whole question. Europe is Emmanuel Macron’s political DNA, his deep conviction. From his first election, he made it a standard, a promise, a program, presented in a speech given at the Sorbonne in September 2017. A speech which began with these words: “ I came to talk to you about Europe “. So before the election on June 9, the president intends to come back and talk about Europe to the French and Europeans. This new speech, which some call Sorbonne 2, has been discussed for a long time, the head of state is waiting for the right moment to deliver it and for a centrist senator, it will mark a stage in a campaign where until now the jousts between the candidates mainly concern national issues: “At some point, we have to talk about Europe “, he declares. And who better placed than Emmanuel Macron himself to do it since according to a minister: “ The only one who talks about Europe is him “.
“We must mobilize our base”
But is Emmanuel Macron’s involvement in the campaign necessarily a winning move? There are two visions of things. First of all, the optimistic vision, the entry into the running of the president, it is a boost for the head of the list Valérie Hayer in need of notoriety. To hear a minister, “if we mobilize Emmanuel Macron’s electorate in 2022, we win, it is more important for the president to get involved, it is very identity-building and expected by our electorate “. In an election like the European ones, where abstention is high, the identified target is in fact the hard core, “ we must mobilize our base, speak to our own voters », Explains yet another member of the government. But he also adds that there is “ a risk »: that Emmanuel Macron « mobilize others against us “.
Macron: “ one who inspires and a repellent »
Could the president have a pushback effect? Some fear him. “ We are in a less triumphant macronism than in 2019 “, date of the last European elections, estimates a close friend of Édouard Philippe who continues by wondering: ” If Macron annoys people a lot, maybe they will send him a message “. A Renaissance deputy is even more severe, for her, the president “ underestimates the rejection he receives “. And the opposition, RN in the lead, wants to make these European elections a national test against the head of state. A parliamentarian from the majority sums up the situation: Emmanuel Macron is both “ one who inspires and a repellent “. So it will be double or nothing.