The EU elections taking place 6–9 June are possibly the most important yet in terms of the future of the EU and curbing Russian ambitions on the continent. The recent rise of the Eurosceptic far right in Europe has sparked a renewed energy in certain quarters to combat its nationalist rhetoric of decline and cultural victimhood by promoting European values and the positive impact of membership of the Union on the continent as a whole.
EU elections: mobilising the population
One group enthusiastically advocating such a response in France is the newly formed Place Publique, who have teamed up with the Parti Socialiste, under the figurehead of PP’s co-founder and leader Raphaël Glucksmann, to fight the EU elections. Their party slogan is ‘Réveiller l’Europe’(wake up Europe) and they are pushing an urgent and new narrative around the existential importance of the EU.
With Russia lurking on the sidelines of the continent, and a possible isolationist Trump victory in the States, the continent of Europe could find itself facing alone the challenges of the coming decades. In a bid to reduce dependence on American security, middle-eastern energy and Chinese consumer goods, Glucksmann is hoping to instil a sense of continental, as opposed to national, allegiance. He proposes a ‘made in Europe’ policy for as many essential supplies as possible in the face of the inevitable challenges that lie ahead, an energy policy to render the continent as self-sufficient as possible and a viable social contract across the union.
Local meetings and democracy
In the run up to the EU elections, political meetings are a common occurrence in towns across France and on 21 May there was a Place Publique open meeting in Béziers, a medium-sized town in Occitanie, formerly Languedoc-Roussillon. It’s a charming old town, 10 minutes from the Mediterranean and about an hour’s drive from the Spanish border. Many products in the local food shops are seamlessly driven in from Spain every morning to top up supplies of fresh citrus fruits, salads, sugar and olive oil.
The town, however, is a stronghold of the far right, with a charismatic mayor, Robert Ménard, formerly endorsed by Le Pen but who appears to swim with the tide of opportunity and is careful to be considered as independent. The word on the cobbled streets of Beziers is that it is serving as a springboard for Ménard, who has political ambitions on a more national scale.
It’s about 30 minutes away from where I live, so I thought I’d go along.
Chloé Ridel, a national spokesperson for the Parti Socialiste, addressed the meeting in Beziers. She grew up not far away, in Nîmes, and continued her studies at the prestigious École nationale d’administration, in Paris. From there, she went on to work at the ministère de l’ Économie (the French Treasury department) and cut her teeth preparing meetings for EU leaders during the Brexit period.
Passionately pro-EU, Ridel stressed her desire to see an end to 40 years of neo-liberal policies and a reduction of trade in certain goods with non-member countries. This is in response to the situation since the war in Ukraine began, in which EU dependence on Russian energy has been brutally exposed, and to trade wars with China, which can flood markets with cheap goods, making it impossible to compete in some areas if workers rights are to be maintained. She identifies Macron with the neo-liberal policies which have caused cuts in public services, more hardship and the inevitable appeal of a protest vote for the far right.
Student and Place Publique representative Lola Chavernac, only 21, joined Ridel on stage and spoke about how she had spent time with local farmers and shop owners, discussing how membership of the EU facilitates the smooth running of their businesses – an initiative totally absent in the UK in 2016.
Far right links to Russia are an open secret
Since Brexit, and Marine Le Pen’s election defeat the following year, the appeal of ‘Frexit’ has lost its sheen. Whilst remaining Eurosceptic, the far right Rassemblement National, formerly Front National, reluctantly dropped the policy from its manifesto in an attempt to attract a more mainstream voter base to further their aim of winning the presidential elections in 2027.
But this does not mean the leopard has changed any spots and according to Chloé Ridel the European far right are planning to destroy the EU from within.
Unlike the UK in 2015/16, the EU is very aware of Russian political interference campaigns, as well as the bot farms in St Petersburg spewing misinformation, the cyber attacks Russia carries out, and Russia’s extensive network of assets in European far right parties. That, allegedly, includes Le Pen’s Rassemblement National. Jordan Bardella, only 28, has been Rassemblement National’s president since 2021 (though Le Pen is the presidential candidate). He is constantly attacked for his party’s Russian sympathies and was openly accused of being a foreign agent in the campaign’s first televised debate.
Low turnout in EU elections: a gift for the far right
In general, turnout for the EU elections is low, reflecting amongst other things a general lack of understanding of the workings of the EU and its functions, and of the essential role, on a practical level, which it plays in the everyday lives of its 450 million citizens. Just as UKIP did in the UK, the French far right can do well in these elections simply by galvanising their Eurosceptic base to vote when others stay at home.
The rhetoric used to encourage them rarely goes beyond nationalistic slogans and the textbook vocabulary of sovereignty, identity and the weaponisation of immigration. Bardella has said that he wants the EU elections to be a referendum on immigration. This is essentially meaningless, yet pleasing to his supporters, and will serve as a mandate for disruptive behaviour in the future.
In this sense, the Eurosceptic conversation in France closely mirrors that which took place in the UK in the lead-up to the 2016 EU referendum.
The GOP, the Tories, now the EU
Whilst not representing the majority of people, with a forecasted 33% of the vote, Rassemblement National is on track to be the largest single French party in the European Parliament. It will sit in the populist, nationalist and Eurosceptic Identity and Democracy group (ID), along with other similar far-right parties that are set to make significant gains across the board.
The far-right groups are still in the minority and not always in agreement amongst themselves, but the remaining parties – the centre left and right and the ecological groups – will have their work cut out to combat an aggressive and vociferous enemy within. The ID hopes to visit upon Europe the same fate that befell the Republican Party in the US, and arguably the Conservative Party in the UK, in which any serious policy proposals are drowned out by populism and culture wars, resulting in reduced administrative progress and a divided population.
The EU is at least forewarned and plans are in place to fight for a brighter future than apologists for authoritarianism can offer. But a fight it will be and the pen which writes the next chapter of the EU’s story will be put to paper 6–9 June this year.
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