The Brief – TV duel that may set France’s political course

It’s a face-off that could shake up the French political landscape. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal will take on the up-and-coming president of the Rassemblement National (RN), Jordan Bardella, in a televised debate on the national TV channel France 2 on Thursday (23 May).

The French love televised duels. They love a good put-down.

Some have even made history: During the second round of the 1988 presidential debate, the Socialist President Francois Mitterrand constantly referred to his Prime Minister Jacques Chirac as a subordinate, when the latter wanted to confront him as an equal – a rhetorical humiliation that cost Chirac the election.

TV debates in France are a ritual that helps voters gauge the strengths and weaknesses of individual candidates, particularly important as the leader’s political character is at the heart of the country’s presidential system.

The French know that one word, or a single facial expression, can turn an election upside down.

But while debates make sense between, say, presidential hopefuls, the announcement two weeks ago that Attal would face off against far-right EU lead candidate Bardella just doesn’t sit right.

Sure, Attal has always been seen – or, at least, portrayed – as an excellent debater. His rhetorical skills are badly needed as President Emmanuel Macron is desperately seeking to turn around the campaign of Valérie Hayer’s Renaissance list, which has dropped to 15% of voting intentions from 19% in January, trailing Bardella’s RN.

As usual, the president wants to organise a duel between the nationalists and those he calls the progressives, i.e. himself and his party.

For Marine Le Pen’s protégé, who is barely 28, the aim is to establish the RN as the only credible opposition to the government and to prepare for the 2027 presidential elections. Bardella’s list is leading the polls ahead of the European elections on 6-9 June with over 30% of the vote.

Le Pen is, of course, aware of what is at stake. “We need [Emmanuel Macron] to suffer the worst possible defeat to bring him back down to earth”, she declared, wanting to make the vote on 9 June a turning point for the European Union and France.

So this is truly an important moment. But is such media distortion of the campaign normal? Should a prime minister, who is not even running, really get into the boxing ring with a member of the European Parliament, one candidate among many others, whose institutional position is way below that of Attal ?

ARCOM, France’s audiovisual and digital regulator, took the view last week that ‘the privileged exposure that the two speakers will enjoy is likely to compromise compliance with the rules that apply to the handling of the campaign for the European elections’.

Simply put, none of the representatives of the 36 other lists registered for the European elections will have the privilege of debating with the prime minister. This, of course, poses a fundamental democratic problem, according to the opposition, who nevertheless do not seem to question the principle of confronting the prime minister.

“Is it the role of the public service (broadcaster) to organise such a debate so close to the election? The public service is there to serve the public. It’s not the government’s service,” said Raphaël Glucksmann, the Socialist party’s head of list for the European elections.

Others, like the chairman of the conservative Les Républicains group in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, referred to a “confiscation” of French democracy.

In Italy, national broadcaster Rai had considered organising a debate of the same type between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD) Elly Schlein, but withdrew in the face of public criticism.

French television does not have the same modesty.

But that said, the French love televised duels and the ratings will be good.

The Roundup

Israel will recall its envoys from Norway and Ireland and possibly other European countries, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday after several EU countries announced in a historic move the recognition of a Palestinian state.

The June EU election results will jeopardise the implementation of the Green Deal, according to a majority of experts questioned by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).

The German far-right AfD has barred their lead EU candidate, Maximilian Krah, from any further campaign events amid mounting pressure to suspend his membership in AfD’s next EU delegation in the wake of a series of scandals that rattled the party in recent months.

The Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD/ID) said on Wednesday it would not share the same European political group with the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), following the same move by the French Rassemblement National.

Shortly after last week’s assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Meta took down the Facebook account of the shooter, the tech giant confirmed to Euractiv on Wednesday.

The first article of the national agricultural orientation law has been voted through French parliament, removing the targets of 15% of farmland for organic agriculture and 8% for legumes.

Private competitors have reacted against a European Commission-approved €1.7 billion German subsidy scheme to support shorter freight trains, which is expected to mainly benefit state-owned DB Cargo.

For more policy news, don’t miss this week’s Green Brief and the Health Brief.

Look out for…

• Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič receives delegation of European business and investor leaders to discuss 2040 climate target on Thursday.
• Competitiveness Council (Space, research and innovation) on Thursday.
• Competitiveness Council (Internal market and industry) on Friday.
• Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni participates in G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Stresa, Italy on Thursday-Saturday.

Views are the author’s

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Rajnish Singh]