Emmanuel Macron’s victory in France introduced a new political entity. Progressives elsewhere on the continent should take heart A tide of political change is sweeping across Europe, with France the latest and arguably most spectacular example of a quest for fresh new faces and platforms. Old structures born from the continent’s postwar political landscape have worn thin or are coming loose. A continent that was beginning to adapt to the idea of technological and economic change finds it must also address a transformation that is intensely political. Emmanuel Macron’s victory last weekend marked the emergence of an entirely new entity on the French political stage. There have been pre-echoes of similar developments elsewhere in Europe. A new normal arises, in which once tightly held beliefs and clear left-right divides are dissolved. Voters want something new that doesn’t fit old, failed patterns – and it is not only extremists who can respond to this demand. Though Mr Macron is not quite the outsider that he likes to portray, there is no better illustration of this than his La République En Marche, a self-proclaimed “neither right nor left” movement whose rise has been meteoric. It seeks to bridge liberal values in economics (a traditional feature of the right) with liberal values on social and identity matters (a characteristic of the left). Its success may largely depend on his capacity to convince Germany that an overhaul of eurozone governance through a common budget and finance minister is possible, if France introduces the structural reforms he envisages. Early signs are that Berlin might be amenable, but very cautiously; nothing will be clear until after the German elections in September. Interestingly, Mr Macron made himself an ally of Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister who fell foul of Germany’s hardline approach. Mr Varoufakis recalled that Mr Macron was rare in “understanding what the eurozone finance ministers and the troika were doing to our government and, more importantly, to our people, was detrimental to the interests of France and the European Union”. Continue reading...
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