Open Europe
Printable version |
Macron and Le Pen: Finalists in a historic French election
Open Europe's Aarti Shankar analyses the fallout from the first round of the French presidential elections.
In a historic result, independent centrist, Emmanuel Macron, and Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, have qualified for the second round of the French presidential elections. . French polling called this result impressively accurately, and if they are to be trusted again, we should expect Macron to take the presidency in two weeks’ time, with a decisive 63% of the vote.
Yet, despite the likelihood of a Macron victory in two weeks, Eurosceptism in France will remain a concern to the EU for some time to come. Almost half the votes in the first round went to Eurosceptic candidates, with the two main examples – Marine Le Pen and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon – accounting for 41% alone.