Analysts warn that the far-right National Rally's success may challenge relations between Paris and Berlin and complicate Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s agenda.
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00:00It's a French election but with a major impact on Germany.
00:05Analysts told Euronews that Berlin's influence over the EU could decline after the national
00:11rally gained a strong lead in the first round of France's parliamentary elections.
00:17The Franco-German relationship builds a lot on very close contacts between all levels
00:21at the ministerial level and beyond.
00:23If the Rassemblement National had a majority in parliament and that would mean that they
00:27would hold a lot of these positions, it would fundamentally change Franco-German work together
00:32because people do not know one another and the Rassemblement National has had a very
00:37explicitly anti-German stance.
00:39So a lot of work would have to go into normalizing relations between France and Germany.
00:44Germany calls France its most important and closest ally in Europe.
00:48Chancellor Schulz said about a week ago that he was concerned about the election.
00:52He said he'd be happy for any party without Le Pen to be successful.
00:56And he said it was up to French people to decide.
01:00German news outlets are focusing on the risky gamble and loss for French President Emmanuel
01:06Macron.
01:07A leading member of Chancellor Schulz's party told a newspaper that the results mean his
01:12country may have to prepare for Le Pen as president.
01:17One political economist says Germany will be limited in taking on bigger projects in
01:21the EU if the national rally succeeds.
01:24German politicians are really afraid of a Euro-sceptic government in France.
01:29They are afraid of Jean-Bernard Mandela, who has questioned the European Energy Union,
01:35for example, and who has also questioned the European rulings on the growth and stability
01:43pact, namely on fiscal conservatism.
01:47Cornelia Voll says France's focus may shift away from Germany if the national rally gets
01:53a majority.
01:56I think it would definitely mean that the center of cooperation would move away from
02:01Franco-German cooperation, possibly to Franco-Italian cooperation, where it's easier to build bridges.
02:07I do not think that France and Germany, which have always had a difficult working relationship
02:11that they've invested a lot in, would be able to bridge this gap in partisan politics.
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