It had been anticipated for several weeks, this time it is official. In an interview with Figaro, Renaissance MEP Valérie Hayer declared this Thursday, February 29 that she will indeed be the head of the majority list for the European elections, a step long postponed in the camp of Emmanuel Macron who must launch his campaign to try to remake its delay in the National Rally. “I appreciate the honor done to me and the immense challenge that awaits me. I accepted with pride, enthusiasm and a spirit of responsibility,” declared the 38-year-old woman, who said she was “proud to be the standard bearer of the only pro-European coalition in this election.”
After a number of refusals in the presidential camp, from Bruno Le Maire to Julien Denormandie, and a number of hypotheses circulating in the press, from Jean-Yves Le Drian to Olivier Véran, Emmanuel Macron’s choice fell on Valérie Hayer, originally from Mayenne, and still largely unknown to the general public.
Daughter, granddaughter and sister of farmers, graduate in public law, former vice-president of the Departmental Council of Mayenne, Valérie Hayer comes from the centrist UDI party. Former parliamentary collaborator of ex-minister Jean Arthuis, she joined Emmanuel Macron in 2017 before being elected MEP in 2019. She also and above all succeeded Stéphane Séjourné as head of the centrist Renew group in the European Parliament in January. , long anticipated for the head of the list but finally named Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Gabriel Attal.
Farmers daughter
Valérie Hayer, “farmer’s daughter, who comes from the west where there are a certain number of pro-European voters, who comes from the UDI at a time when the centrist party wishes to join the majority, this is not not the stupidest idea”, recently judged an executive from the presidential camp. “She did this field exercise that sometimes some European parliamentarians forget to do, of going to meet our fellow citizens to explain the project that was carried by Europe, what we were defending,” also boasted on Public Senate the Minister responsible for Relations with Parliament, Marie Lebec.
In the European Parliament, Valérie Hayer notably took an active part in the negotiations of the multiannual budget and the post-Covid recovery plan. And scrapped against “the extreme right purveyor of fake news” and the “crass imposture” of his competitor RN Jordan Bardella, who is currently well ahead of the majority in the polls for the June 9 election.
In his interview with Figaro, MEP Renaissance also accused the National Rally, accusing it of “political schizophrenia”. “Are we patriotic when we take out a loan directly with Vladimir Putin? Are we patriotic when the National Assembly judges that you are the transmission belt for Vladimir Putin in France? The National Rally (RN) calls itself patriotic, but at slightest geopolitical upheaval, it falls into submission.” For Renaissance, which must officially launch its European campaign this Saturday March 9 in Lille, the opponent has already been designated.