Centrists humbled, far-right surges as 4-day EU polls end

French President Emmanuel Macron called snap national elections after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally humbled his pro-European centrists in the polls

Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally party parliamentary group, is surrounded by journalists as she arrives at the RN party headquarters in Paris, the day after French far-right win in European Parliament vote and the announcement of early legislative elections in France, on June 10, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters

A four-day election has shaken the foundations of the European Union, with the far right rocking ruling parties in France and Germany, the bloc’s traditional driving forces.

French President Emmanuel Macron called snap national elections after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally humbled his pro-European centrists in the polls. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats also suffered as the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) shrugged off scandals to make massive gains.

In Italy, the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which has neo-fascist roots, won more than 28% of the national vote for the EU assembly, which would make it a key player in forming future alliances.

Green and pro-business liberal groups across Europe suffered heavy defeats, but mainstream formations held their ground, with the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) remaining the biggest bloc in the 27-nation EU’s assembly.

Voters in France will return to the polls in just three weeks after Mr. Macron dissolved Parliament and called snap national elections. Ms. Le Pen’s anti-immigration, nationalist party was estimated to get around 31%-32% of the vote. While a National Rally win was expected, the scale of the victory was a surprise, more than doubling the share of Mr. Macron’s Renaissance party, which was projected to reach around 15%.

Mr. Scholz’s ruling Social Democrats recorded their worst post-Second World War result in a nationwide vote, with 13.9%. AfD finished second with around 15.9%. The result is better than the AfD’s 11% in 2019 but still short of poll ratings earlier this year. Germany’s opposition center-right Union bloc took 30% of the vote.

The center-right EPP is projected to win 191 seats in the EU assembly and remains by far the biggest group. The EPP garnered a few more seats, but Parliament is also expanding from 705 seats in 2019 to 720 seats this year, so the increase was marginal. The second-biggest bloc, the center-left Socialists and Democrats, lost some ground but with 135 seats comfortably retains its place.