Largely ahead of the list of the National Rally (RN) and closely followed by that of the PS-Place publique in the polls, the presidential camp tried to breathe new life into its campaign for the European elections, during a meeting organized at the Maison de la Mutualité, in Paris, Tuesday evening, May 7. The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, spoke in the presence of the head of the list, Valérie Hayer, in order to galvanize activists and try to convince undecided voters.
“I have the deep conviction that today we are launching the turning point in this campaign,” said the head of government to his camp, before declaring: “This is only the beginning, we have four weeks left to do win France and make Europe win in this election. »
In terms similar to those used by Emmanuel Macron during his speech at the Sorbonne at the end of April, Gabriel Attal repeated that “the end of Europe is a mortal danger for France”.
“In recent years, France has changed Europe… on ecology, on industry, on immigration, on health,” he listed, drawing applause for Emmanuel Macron’s record. He then invoked “what remains to be done: a Europe of results, solutions, concreteness”, and listed several of the major projects drawn up by the President of the Republic at the end of April to strengthen defense or even European industry, which appear in the majority’s program.
The RN carries an “anonymous Europhobes project”
Castigating those who wish to be outside the European Union without really taking responsibility for it anymore, directly citing the RN and its reversals since 2017 on this subject, particularly on the euro, Gabriel Attal estimated that the far-right party was moving forward now with “a hidden project”, that of “anonymous Europhobes”. “The most serious thing is that they do not want to take responsibility for wanting to kill Europe, and therefore weaken France,” he asserted, in words reminiscent, again, of those of Emmanuel Macron in recent weeks.
According to management, some 3,500 people, with a capacity of 2,000 places, were registered to attend this major meeting, organized symbolically seven years to the day after the first election of Emmanuel Macron, and in a room where this The latter set out to conquer the Elysée in July 2016, launching his En Marche! while he was still Minister of the Economy.
This offensive statement by Gabriel Attal a few weeks before the election is not a coincidence. Emmanuel Macron asked his Prime Minister to get involved “as much as possible” in the European campaign last weekend, given the lack of momentum from the presidential camp in the polls, well ahead of the RN.
The list led by Jordan Bardella stands at 32% of voting intentions, compared to 17% for that of the majority, closely followed by the PS-Place publique list led by Raphaël Glucksmann, according to the last wave of the electoral survey produced by Ipsos, in partnership with Cevipof, the Institut Montaigne, the Jean Jaurès Foundation and Le Monde.
On Tuesday, we learned that Gabriel Attal will cross swords with the president of the RN, during a televised debate which will be held on the evening of May 23, on France 2.
Common front of the tenors of the presidential majority
Displaying a common front behind Ms. Hayer, the former prime minister leader of Horizons Edouard Philippe, that of the MoDem François Bayrou, as well as the former prime minister and deputy Elisabeth Borne and the current minister of Europe and of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné – who will all symbolically appear on the list, in an ineligible position – was first to take the podium on Tuesday evening.
“Unlike others, we are not pro-European once every five years, but we are constantly, in our actions and in our votes,” said Ms. Borne. And added: “Contrary to others, we do not want to make this European election the third round of the legislative election or the presidential election. »
The other running mates who spoke, like outgoing MEP Bernard Guetta, number two on the list, or Nathalie Loiseau, previous head of the presidential camp list in 2019, appearing in fifth place for the vote of June, also emphasized the urgency of building a “powerful Europe”, echoing the president’s words, particularly in terms of defense, in the context of the war in Ukraine. “We have a month to get back on track, to convince,” declared Mr. Guetta, aware of the challenge for the majority.
