Could a divided or minority government in France pose a risk to EU's stability?

The next French government promises could scramble or slow down the country's commitments on urgent Europe-wide matters.

Transcript

00:00The result of the French legislative elections could influence EU policy the years to come.

00:07Based on the first round of voting, President Macron faces a challenging decision.

00:12Either enter into cohabitation with a prime minister from an opposing party or a minority government.

00:19Both scenarios will affect France's political role in Europe.

00:24So what might happen if Macron has to collaborate with a far-right prime minister?

00:30I would suspect the RN who has been very cautious on its financial means

00:36and wants to audit the public accounts to see how the deficit is running.

00:43It would perhaps be more aggressive against the EU on agriculture,

00:49on trade agreements, on environment policy, rather than on budget.

00:56This is not the first time France has seen a president and prime minister with opposing agendas govern together.

01:06As for the far-left, according to its pledges and promises,

01:12would try to stop this procedure against our deficit and keep running the deficit.

01:25Between 1997 and 2002, conservative President Jacques Chirac shared leadership of France

01:33with socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin and a left-leaning majority in the lower chamber.

01:40Notable achievements were made during this period.

01:44The question is, can we find a solution when there is the leadership vacuum at the European level

01:51that we are confronted with and that is now the main possibility in the next months and years?

01:57We can still continue business as usual as we do right now,

02:03but this is particularly worrying in the medium to long term.

02:08The rise of the anti-EU far-right extends beyond France,

02:13as the recent European election results revealed a surge in support for far-right parties.

02:19In Germany, the far-right AfD party also topped the polls ahead of the governing parties.