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00:00In a move that has surprised the country, French President Emmanuel Macron says he is
00:04dissolving the National Assembly and calling a snap election, in response to his party's
00:09heavy defeat in Sunday's EU polls.
00:12It's a decision he describes as a heavy one, but an act of trust.
00:15The far-right National Rally Party was the overwhelming winner, taking over 31% of the
00:21vote, with Macron's Renew Alliance trailing with 14.5%, just ahead of the Socialist Party
00:27on 14.
00:28Here's Eliza Herbert with the story.
00:34French President Emmanuel Macron has asked the country to decide the fate of its future,
00:39calling a snap election immediately after his party's crushing defeat in the EU elections.
00:45After having consulted Article 12 of our Constitution, I have decided to give you back the choice
00:56of our parliamentary future through the vote.
00:59I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly and will sign in a few moments a decree for
01:05legislative elections, which will be held on June 30th for the first round and July
01:117th for the second.
01:16Projections indicated Macron's pro-European centrist party was to get just 15% of the
01:21vote at the European elections, less than half of the far-right National Rally Party
01:27with 31 to 32%.
01:30It was a poor result for Macron and his party, and one he said he could not resign himself
01:35to, suggesting he sees the rise of nationalism as a danger to Europe.
01:40Macron made the announcement shortly after Jordan Bardalla, the triumphant president
01:44of the National Rally Party, called on him to take note of this new political situation.
01:51Marine Le Pen, the party's leader, then welcomed the legislative elections.
01:57We are ready to exercise power if the French trust us in the upcoming legislative elections.
02:03We are ready to rebuild the country.
02:06Ready to defend the interests of the French.
02:08Ready to put an end to mass immigration.
02:11Ready to make the purchasing power of the French a priority.
02:15Ready to begin the re-industrialisation of the country.
02:21Now French voters have just weeks to decide.
02:24Do they want a future governed by the far-right?
02:30And in those European elections on Sunday, the centre-right European People's Party maintained
02:35its leading position in Brussels with 184 seats won so far, and second is the Socialist
02:40and Democrats grouping on 139 seats.
02:44But the biggest gains have been for the far-right, with the European Conservatives and Reformists
02:48raising their share of seats to 73 and Identity and Democracy taking 58.
02:54It was a night of gains for the far-right, but also celebrating was European Commission
02:58President Ursula von der Leyen, who hailed a successful election for the centre-right
03:03European People's Party, which topped the polls across the bloc.
03:07She said the elections showed that the centre is holding.
03:10Here she is speaking in Brussels last night.
03:40Now for more on Emmanuel Macron's dissolution of the National Assembly and the European
03:46elections, we can bring in Hervé Joan-Jean, former Director General for Budget and Financial
03:52Programming at the European Commission.
03:55Good morning Hervé.
03:56The news that Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the National Assembly and called snap elections
04:01has overshadowed the election results in Europe and France as well.
04:06Is this a risk for the President, do you think?
04:11Good morning.
04:12I think it's quite a smart move.
04:15President Macron still has three years for his term as president and had he not done
04:22that, he would be under pressure during the next three years because, as we have already
04:30witnessed, a number of parties in France would claim that he is not legitimate.
04:37So I think he has made a very good movement.
04:41He will put the RN before its responsibilities and he will put the French before their responsibilities.
04:50They have a certain tendency in France and in other member states at the time of the
04:53European election to vote in a kind of provocative way, most unfortunately.
05:02But now they have got to put their hearts together.
05:08And it's not unprecedented for French presidents to dissolve Parliament.
05:12But this is the first time since the presidency and the National Assembly's terms were synchronized
05:17in 2000.
05:19Can we expect to see a repeat of 1997, for instance, when Jacques Chirac surprisingly
05:24lost the elections and was forced into a power-sharing arrangement?
05:28I think there is no doubt that the far right in France will certainly have a good result
05:37in the upcoming elections.
05:39The question is whether they will get or not the capacity to make a government.
05:47It means that they have a majority.
05:49I have not seen the polls.
05:51We will have plenty of polls in the coming days and weeks.
05:54But the fact that if they have no majority, which is probably the most likely scenario,
06:02then we will end up with an impossibility for them to govern.
06:07And with regard to Sunday's election results, it was a big win for the national rally in
06:12France, but it certainly wasn't unexpected.
06:14The polls all showed that they would do very well.
06:18Now, traditionally, you're a sceptic party.
06:21Does the national rally seem to be changing its tone on Europe?
06:26I just can't answer your question.
06:28It is impossible to say.
06:31Mrs. Le Pen and Mr. Bardella have made various statements.
06:34They seem to consider, yes, we will not leave the euro.
06:37We will not do this.
06:38We will not do that.
06:40We will have to judge the facts.
06:43The facts will come very, very soon.
06:46When, let's admit we have an election with a majority for the RN, then they will have
06:58to go to Brussels and explain what they are doing from a budgetary policy standpoint.
07:03And I think that if they follow the lines which they have defined, they may have some
07:08trouble.
07:09At that moment, we will see exactly what is the orientation of this party.
07:17And looking at the wider angle of the elections yesterday, there was a wave of gains for the
07:24far right across Europe.
07:26Of course, they don't actually have control of the European Parliament.
07:29That remains with the European People's Party.
07:31But how is this electoral shift going to change the way the EU is run?
07:39Well, first, I think we've got to look at how the various political parties which organize
07:46themselves.
07:47I'm not talking about the EPP or the S&D or Renew Europe, but those which are the right,
07:53ECR, so the Europe Conservatives and Reformists, ID and all which are non-listed and others.
08:03I mean, here we may have movement because there are, for instance, certain members of
08:08the European Parliament who are members of ECR who are not willing to be sitting with
08:14other MEPs who are totally opposed to the European Union construction or who are totally
08:19opposed to the policy vis-a-vis Russia.
08:22So I do not exclude that in the coming negotiations, we will have some movement between the EPP,
08:29the ECR.
08:30And then the question is whether Mrs. Le Pen and Mrs. Melanie will get together and find
08:35an agreement.
08:36I am not so sure that they will find an agreement.
08:39And the recent elements which we have at our disposal do not tend to prove that this will
08:46be an easy thing.
08:48I don't think that Mrs. Melanie wants to be on the same wavelength, is not on the same
08:53wavelength as Mrs. Le Pen.
08:55I don't think they want to sit on the same benches.
08:58Thank you very much for that, Hervé Jean-Jean.
09:01My pleasure.