Marine Le Pen, on the other hand, has recently opted for a “normalization” of her person. She is now less extreme in her positions.
But what exactly do the two presidential candidates Macron and Le Pen stand for? Where do they come from, who do they address, and on which topics do they differ? Read here ten points in which the two opponents differ specifically.
As a former banker and economy minister, Emmanuel Macron is a representative of globalization. He appeals to the better off, pensioners and the elderly. Its electorate lives mainly in the big cities. He started in 2017 as a social liberal, today he is more likely to be classified as a liberal. Abroad, he is often seen as the head of state who reinvigorated France’s ailing economy through reforms. Domestically, however, he is also the enemy of the yellow vests, and many have criticized him as the “president of the rich”.
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Marine Le Pen sees herself as a patriot who wants to strengthen the French nation. She appeals to the common people, workers and employees and the less well educated. Their electorate is mainly found in the provinces, in the more distant suburbs of the metropolises, regionally in northern and southern France and in the east of the country. This time she appears less aggressively, avoiding topics that could cause polemics. She describes herself as the “protector of the French”, but her far-right issues remain at the center of her politics.
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2. Purchasing power and social policy
Macron is banking on purchasing power, and has been since he was economy minister from 2014 to 2016 under socialist President François Hollande. So far, the government under him had supported needy French people with energy checks because of inflation, so that they did not lose purchasing power. However, he refrained from lowering VAT, which would have benefited the entire population. He wants to increase the allowance for inheritance from 100,000 to 150,000 euros per child. Teacher salaries are to be increased. Social assistance should only be given if further training is not rejected. New social housing is to be built. 700,000 apartments are to be renovated every year.
Le Pen has also discovered the topic of purchasing power for himself. She intends to strengthen this through various measures. Taxes on petrol, gas, oil and electricity are to be reduced and VAT on essential goods is to be abolished. Families with two or more children are to be given more tax privileges and allowances for inheritance taxes and gifts are to be increased. Young people under the age of 30 should no longer pay taxes. Teacher salaries are increased and social housing is built. French people are given preference when it comes to jobs, housing and social benefits. Social assistance is only available to foreigners who have worked in France for at least five years.
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3. Economic Policy
Macron wants to further reduce corporate taxes to make companies more competitive and create more jobs. His goal is to further reduce unemployment. Social security contributions are also to be reduced for freelancers. With this, Macron wants to achieve even more start-ups. In France, there has always been pressure from unions to protect employees’ jobs and their rights. Macron, on the other hand, has also turned its attention to freelancers and start-ups in order to modernize the economy.
Le Pen is more about protecting the domestic economy from foreign competition. Employers should raise wages. Corporate taxes are to be lowered to make companies more competitive. Farmers, industry and entrepreneurs should be protected from competition from abroad – including from Europe. She is therefore skeptical about free trade agreements, which could exclude agricultural products.
>> Also read here: Isolation or free markets: That’s at stake in France’s presidential election
4. pension
Macron wants to raise the retirement age to 65 by 2031. It is to be increased by four months every year from 2023 for those born after 1961. There are not many other ways of financing the social system: either more taxes or fewer pensions, according to Macron. His plan caused outrage among many and brought him criticism, especially from the left, who spoke of social injustice. The minimum pension with full payment will be increased from 980 to 1100 euros. In view of the criticism in politics, Macron has already rowed back a little. He hinted that it could also be 64 years: “65 years is not a dogma.” For Macron, the pension was the big project of his first term in office. That led to months of strikes and protests between December 2019 and February 2020. But then that was it world is dealing with the corona pandemic and the project has been postponed.
Le Pen abandoned the 2017 plan to introduce a general pension at 60, as advocated by leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon. With her, the pension remains at the age of 62 for employees who have completed their retirement years. But only at the age of 67 does France currently have a full pension. But for workers who started work early, Le Pen wants to lower the retirement age to 60 when they reach 40. In doing so, she accommodates her voters, who often started working 20 years ago. The minimum pensions with full payment into the pension fund will be increased to 1000 euros.
5. Relationship to Germany
Macron has always been a great defender of Franco-German relations and backed all negotiations, including the pandemic aid package. This should continue. The first trip abroad always takes the French President to Germany. That should also be the case this time.
Le Pen will break with the strong German-France axis in Europe. Le Pen has always criticized Germany for its dictatorship in Europe. Joint European projects will hardly be realized, and the hitherto customary agreements between the partners are likely to be dropped. That would put a strain on Franco-German friendship.
6. Europe
Macron is pro-European, he believes in increasing sovereignty and strength in Europe. With Macron, things would continue as before in Europe. Projects such as common defence, European economic projects or environmental protection projects could be further developed in the continuity of the first term of office. Macron presented himself as a defender of a “project of progress, of French and European opening”. He is backing the European Green Deal climate agreement.
A rift runs through French society.
In contrast to 2017, Le Pen is no longer proclaiming an exit from the EU and the euro. A Europe of free nations will be created with more sovereignty for the individual countries of the EU. State law should take precedence over EU law. There is to be a referendum to introduce “national priority” for jobs, housing and welfare. European agricultural policy is being called into question. Le Pen wants to pay less into the EU budget. The Green Deal is also being questioned. She could block European projects with like-minded people from Hungary and Poland.
7. Nato
Macron is committed to a strong position for France in NATO. France’s defense budget is therefore to be increased to 50 billion euros in 2025, compared to 40 billion at the moment. He is also in favor of strong European defence, which should not, however, compete with NATO.
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Le Pen wants France to regain its strength – including on a military basis. Investments are made in defense and independent diplomacy is introduced. 55 billion euros are to be spent on defense each year by 2027. She also wants to leave NATO. France becomes a great balanced power between the big blocs.
8. Ukraine war and Putin
Macron relies on negotiations with all partners. But he doesn’t want to let the thread of the conversation break off with Putin either. He wants to avoid an escalation at all costs, even if France organizes heavy arms deliveries to Ukraine. However, he is cautious about joining Ukraine in NATO.
Under Le Pen, the united front against Russia in the Ukraine war would probably be threatened. Le Pen has always admired Vladimir Putin, having met him in the last presidential election in 2017. Even if she now condemned his attack: “He crossed a red line.” She is in favor of a diplomatic solution and does not want to send French troops to help Ukraine. She is against Ukraine joining NATO because it could worry Russia. She warns that sanctions will put a strain on the purchasing power of the French. Putin could again become an important ally for Europe in the future, she stressed. After the Ukraine war, she advocated “a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia” so that Russia and China do not form an alliance.
9. Immigration and Security
Macron wants to create a new border police force. Schengen reforms continue. He relies on protecting the Schengen external borders and a common EU asylum policy.
The police presence is to be increased in France. Rejected asylum seekers should be deported faster.
Le Pen is planning social assistance that will only be available to foreigners who have worked in France for at least five years. This is to deter immigrants, who are attracted by the generous French social benefits. Family reunification of foreigners is to be drastically reduced. Asylum applications should not be examined in France, but in the home countries by French authorities. Border controls are being reintroduced. Illegal immigrants will be deported. The current birthright in France is abolished. Radical mosques are closed. Le Pen also speaks out against veiled women in public. There should no longer be a zone of lawlessness in France. She emphasizes: “We’re going to put France back in order.”
10. Climate
Macron relies on 50 percent nuclear power. Six new EPR nuclear power plants are to be constructed by 2050. Eight more could be built. The lifetime of nuclear power plants is to be extended to over 50 years. This is intended to preserve jobs and knowledge in the field of nuclear power. In addition, renewable energies are to be strengthened and 50 new wind farms are to be built in the sea by 2050.
Le Pen relies on 100 percent nuclear power because that has always been the cheapest energy alternative for the French. She doesn’t want to invest in renewable energies such as wind and solar energy because they are said to be too expensive. She even wants to dismantle wind farms. It wants to have a total of ten new EPRs built by 2031 and ten more by 2036. The planned construction time is far too short compared to current EPR construction projects. The term of the nuclear power plants is to be increased to 60 years, Fessenheim (shut down in 2020) could go back on the grid.
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