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(Bloomberg) — Marine Le Pen kicked off her campaign for the European parliament elections attacking President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to reform the labor market, saying the French people would pay the price.
“Those responsible for unemployment aren’t unemployed people but politicians like you, and the destructive economic models that you’re imposing despite common sense,” Le Pen said Sunday during a rally in Marseille, southern France, targeting Macron and his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
Le Pen sees the June European Union elections as a springboard for her presidential bid in 2027, when Macron cannot run for a third consecutive term. Polls suggest that her National Rally (RN) party could have a 10-point lead over Macron’s. By contrast, RN only had a 1-point lead over his movement in the 2019 election. Despite the party’s far-right history, Le Pen has been trying to style herself as a moderate force ahead of the vote.
Le Pen’s party chief, Jordan Bardella, also took aim at Macron while campaigning on his usual themes: protectionism and criticizing the EU policies. Bardella, 28, described the June elections as a referendum against immigration, proposing to create “a double border: a national border and a European border.” He called for right- and left-wing voters to pick RN.
Earlier this year, Macron sought to reboot his reform agenda by laying out a strikingly conservative vision for France and taking aim at Le Pen’s party. He also pledged to overhaul the labor market in a plan that will be unveiled in the spring, including stricter rules around unemployment benefits.
The plan comes at a critical juncture for Macron, who dragged France through years of painful reforms with the promise that loosening labor laws and retiring later would be the solution to the country’s long-term economic inertia. While unemployment has significantly dropped since he took over in 2017, rising joblessness last year already makes it increasingly unlikely that he will reach his goal of “full employment.”
Read More: Macron’s Record on Jobs Risks Unraveling in Boost for Le Pen
As part of his reset, Macron named Attal prime minister, who detailed a plan to oblige some welfare claimants to undertake 15 hours of training or unpaid work. On Sunday, Le Pen slammed “Attal’s intention to further reduce the amounts and duration of unemployment benefits.”
Read More: France’s Attal Pledges to Fight for Farmers in Reform Drive
She also criticized Macron’s suggestion that French and European troops could be sent to Ukraine to help the country fight Russia.
The National Rally’s financial ties to Russia have been under scrutiny after it took out a loan from a Russian bank, which RN says it has since repaid. Le Pen, 55, has rejected claims that she was influenced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. She also proposed enshrining nuclear weapons into the French constitution.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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Published: 04 Mar 2024, 01:26 AM IST
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