Marine Le Pen "Ready to Take Power" as Macron Calls Snap-Election After Far-Right Gains Across Europe

Massive gains by by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in the European Parliament elections on Sunday have prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap national election.

EU Today

Marine Le Pen said last night her National Rally party, which took 30 seats in the European Parliament, an increase of 12, is “ready to take power”.

“The French people have sent a very clear message. They no longer want a technocratic, out-of-touch European construction which results in a loss of influence, identity and freedom.”

If the National Rally were to win a parliamentary majority, Macron would remain in office as president, but he would have little say in domestic affairs.

Despite the centre, liberal, and Socialist parties maintaining a majority in the 720-seat parliament, the election results delivered significant domestic setbacks to the leaders of France and Germany, raising concerns about the ability of the European Union’s major powers to steer policy within the bloc.

In an effort to reassert his authority, Macron has scheduled a parliamentary election, with the first round set for June 30th.

Similarly, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced a challenging night, with his Social Democrats experiencing their worst-ever result, suffering losses to mainstream conservatives and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), despite the political scandals surrounding the latter.

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni saw her position bolstered as her arch-conservative Brothers of Italy party won the most votes, according to exit polls.

This shift to the right within the European Parliament could potentially complicate the passage of new legislation necessary to address security challenges, climate change impacts, and industrial competition from China and the United States.

The extent of influence that Eurosceptic nationalist parties will have depends on their ability to unify despite existing differences.

These parties are currently divided among two different political families, with some lawmakers not yet aligned with any group. The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) is projected to be the largest political family in the new legislature, gaining five seats for a total of 189 deputies, based on centralised exit polls.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition, a member of the EPP, was set to win the European vote.

Similarly, in Spain, the centre-right People’s Party, also part of the EPP, outperformed Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

These results are favorable for EPP member Ursula von der Leyen, who seeks a second five-year term as head of the EU’s executive arm.

Von der Leyen emphasised the importance of the EPP in forming a majority and positioning itself against political extremes.

“No majority can be formed without the EPP, and together we will build a bastion against the extremes from the left and the right,” she told supporters at the EPP’s election night event in Brussels.

The centre-left Socialists and Democrats are expected to be the second-largest political family, despite losing four lawmakers to end up with 135 seats, according to exit polls.

Political analysts attribute the rightward shift to rising living costs, migration concerns, the expenses associated with the green transition, and the war in Ukraine—issues that nationalist and populist parties have effectively capitalised on.

Bas Eickhout, the Greens’ lead candidate, highlighted a disconnect between EU actions and public sentiment as a factor in the far-right’s success. “A lot of people felt that Europe is doing things not with people, but just doing it on top of people,” he told Reuters, stressing the need for credible responses to these concerns to prevent further rightward shifts.

Eurosceptic nationalist groups like the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID), along with unaffiliated hard-right lawmakers, secured 146 seats collectively, a gain of 19 seats.

Exit polls indicated that pro-European centre-right, centre-left, liberal, and Green parties will hold a slimmed-down majority of 460 seats, compared to their previous 488 in the outgoing parliament of 705 MEPs.

Europe’s Green parties, in particular, faced significant losses, dropping to 53 deputies from 71.

The European Parliament, alongside the intergovernmental European Council, plays a crucial role in shaping legislation for the 27-nation bloc of 450 million people.

The ECR gained three deputies for a total of 72, while the far-right ID group secured nine additional seats, bringing their total to 58. Non-affiliated deputies increased by 33 to 95, potentially influencing future alignments within the parliament.

In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party won, albeit by a narrower margin than forecasted, according to national broadcaster ORF. In the Netherlands, a Labour/GreenLeft combination slightly outpaced Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration party, with exit polls showing eight seats compared to Wilders’ six.