On the eve of the first round of the French elections on Sunday, June 30, the far-right National Rally is currently leading the polls, ahead of the left-wing alliance and Macron’s centrist coalition. But what are its key policies?
Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally party (RN), currently leading the polls, revealed this Monday his party’s proposals on the cost of living crisisUkraine and immigration for the next French legislative elections.
French voters will go to the polls on June 30 and then again on July 7 to elect a new National Assemblyafter President Emmanuel Macron dissolved it after the European elections from the beginning of the month.
The National Rally, which dealt a severe blow to Macron’s centrist party by taking more than 31% of the votes In the European elections, he leads the main polls. According to an OpinionWay poll for ‘Cnews’, ‘Europe 1’ and ‘JDD’ published on Friday, the French ultras could obtain 35% of the votes in the national elections, ahead of the leftist alliance of the New Popular Front ( 27%) and Macron’s liberal coalition (20%).
‘Euronews’ breaks down your proposals.
“Dramatically” reduce immigration and double borders
Immigration is one of the key themes for the extreme right. In its campaign pamphlet, the National Group claims to want to “stop the migratory flow, drastically reducing immigration legal and illegal” and “deporting foreign criminals.”
To implement these measures, leader Jordan Bardella wants to present to Parliament an “emergency law” on immigration if his party obtains an absolute majority (at least 289 seats).
Bardella declared in an interview with the French network ‘BFMTV’ that, if he were sworn in as prime minister, he would approve “in the first weeks” of his mandate “an immigration law that will have as its initial objective facilitate the expulsion of foreign criminalslifting the current administrative obstacles”.
In particular, this emergency law would abolish the “right of place”, the right to citizenship of a country for having been born in it. In France, any child born on French soil to two foreign parents can automatically obtain French nationality. upon turning 18.
The emergency immigration law also seeks to change the state medical assistance (AME) program, State-funded medical aid for undocumented immigrants.
The current AME covers 100% of medical expenses of undocumented immigrants.
The advantages are over
For the president of the National Group, this fund should only cover medical emergencies and “it will no longer be possible for illegal immigrants benefit from all free medical assistance“.
Bardella confirmed on Monday that “the most strategic jobs” in the Government “they will be reserved for the French”which means that people with dual nationality will be excluded from access to these positions.
The introduction of a double border It was another of Jordan Bardella’s key proposals during the European election campaign.
This measure, according to Bardella, aims to limit circulation within the Schengen area to European citizens and thus prevent immigrants from reaching European territory can circulate within the space.
No long-range missiles for Ukraine
“Ukraine must be able to defend itself,” Bardella declared last week during his visit to the Eurosatory arms fair in Paris. For a couple of years, the National Rally has been trying to get rid of accusations that its members have bowed to the Kremlin.
Bardella has not specified what kind of help would you give to kyiv. However, he has outlined the “red lines” that his party is not willing to cross. For example, he has refused to provide long-range missiles and weapons capable of reaching Russian territory.
He also reiterated the extreme right’s opposition to the deployment of French soldiers or instructors on Ukrainian soil, something that Macron has proposed several times.
The cost of living will be the absolute priority
Bardella declared to the French newspaper ‘Le Parisien’ that, as prime minister, he would lower the value added tax (VAT) from 20% to 5.5% for electricity and fuel.
ADVERTISINGTo finance it, Bardella wants close certain tax loopholes and reduce the contribution of France to the EU budget by 2,000-3,000 million euros, out of a total of 21.6 billion for 2024 alone.
Bardella’s second emergency measure would consist of starting negotiations with the European Commission to abolish electricity pricing rules. This would “reduce bills by 30%,” he told the newspaper.
However, this would require the support of other Member States of the EU to support the reform and approve it. criticizing the “irresponsible” spending of the French president Emmanuel Macron, Bardella confirmed that he wants to launch a major “audit of the nation’s accounts.” His intention is to cut “public spending that favors immigration.”
The environment and the climate crisis They do not appear in the first line of the National Group’s programalthough it is one of the main concerns of French voters, according to an Ipsos poll published in May.
However, the candidate declared on Monday that he wants a moratorium on the construction of more wind turbines and focus on building more nuclear reactors.
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