Formation of En Marche edit

Macron first became known to the French public after his appearance on the French TV programme Des Paroles Et Des Actes in March 2015.^[1] Before forming his political party En Marche!, Macron had hosted a series of events with him speaking in public, his first one in March 2015 in Val-de-Marne.^[2] Macron threatened to leave Manuel Valls' second government over the proposed reform on removing dual-nationality from terrorists.^[3][4] He also took various foreign trips, including one to Israel where he spoke on the advancement of digital technology.^[5]

Tensions around the question of Macron's loyalty to the Valls government and Hollande increased when they turned down a bill he put forward dubbed "Macron 2", which had a larger scope than the original Macron law [fr].^[6][7] Macron was given the chance to insert his opinion into the El Khomri law and put specific parts of "Macron 2" into the law though El Khomri was able to overturn these with the help of other ministers.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}

Amid tensions and deterioration of relations with the current government, Macron founded an independent political party, En Marche, in Amiens on 6 April 2016.^[8] A liberal,^[9] progressive^[10][11] political movement that gathered huge media coverage when it was first established,^[12] the party and Macron were both reprimanded by President Hollande and the question of Macron's loyalty to the government was raised.^[13][14] Several MEPs spoke out in support for the movement^[15] though the majority of the Socialist Party spoke against En Marche including Manuel Valls,^[16] Michel Sapin,^[17] Axelle Lemaire and Christian Eckert.^[18]

In June 2016, support for Macron and his movement, En Marche, began to grow in the media with Libération reporting that L'Express, Les Échos, Le 1 [fr], and L'Opinion had begun to voice public support for Macron.^[19] Following several controversies surrounding trade unionists and their protests, major newspapers began to run stories about Macron and En Marche on their front page with mainly positive press.^[20] Criticized by both the far-left and the far-right, these pro-Macron influencers in the press were dubbed "Macronites".^[21][22][23]

In May 2016, Orleans mayor Olivier Carré invited Macron to the festival commemorating the 587th anniversary of Joan of Arc's efforts during the Siege of Orléans.^[24][25] LCI reported that Macron was trying to take back the symbol of Joan of Arc from the far-right.^[26] Macron later went to Puy du Fou and declared he was "not a socialist" in a speech amid rumours he was going to leave the current government.^[27]

Resignation from government edit

On 30 August 2016, Macron resigned from the government ahead of the 2017 presidential election,^[28][29] to devote himself to his En Marche movement.^[30][31] There had been rising tensions and several reports that he wanted to leave the Valls government since early 2015.^[32] Macron initially planned to leave after the cancellation of his "Macron 2" law^[7] but after a meeting with President François Hollande, he decided to stay and an announcement was planned to declare that Macron was committed to the government^[33] (though the announcement was pushed back due to the attacks in Nice and Normandy^[34][35]). Michel Sapin was announced as Macron's replacement.^[36] Speaking on Macron's resignation, Hollande said he had been "betrayed".^[37] According to an IFOP poll, 84% of French agreed with Macron's decision to resign.^[38]

First round edit

Macron first showed an intention to run by forming En Marche, but his resignation from the government allowed him to dedicate himself to his movement. He first announced that he was considering running for president in April 2016,^[39] and after his resignation from the position of economy minister, media sources began to find patterns in Macron's fundraising and typical presidential campaign fundraising tactics.^[40] In October 2016, Macron criticized Hollande's goal of being a "normal" president, saying that France needed a more "Jupiterian presidency".^[41]

On 16 November 2016, Macron formally declared his candidacy for the French presidency after months of speculation. In his announcement speech, Macron called for a "democratic revolution" and promised to "unblock France".^[42] He had expressed hope that Hollande would run several months earlier, saying that, as the sitting president, he was the legitimate candidate for the Socialist Party.^[43][44] Macron's book Révolution was published on 24 November 2016 and reached fifth position on the French best-seller list in December 2016.^[45]

Shortly after announcing his run, Jean-Christophe Cambadélis and Manuel Valls both asked Macron to run in the Socialist Party presidential primary which Macron ultimately chose not to do.^[46][47] Jean-Christophe Cambadélis began to threaten to exclude Socialist party members who associated with or supported Macron following Lyon mayor Gérard Collomb's declaration of support for Macron.^[48]

Macron's campaign, headed by French economist Sophie Ferracci, announced in December 2016 that it had raised 3.7 million euros in donations without public funding (as En Marche was not a registered political party).^[49][50] This was three times the budget of then-front-runner Alain Juppé.^[51] Benoît Hamon requested Macron reveal a list of his donors amidst accusations of conflicts of interest due to his work for Rothschild & Co,^[52] which Macron dismissed as "demagogy", invoking donor's right to privacy.^[53] Atlantico later reported that Macron had spent €120,000 setting up dinners and meetings with various personalities within the media and in French popular culture while he was at Bercy.^[54][55][56] Macron was then accused by deputies, Christian Jacob and Philippe Vigier of using this money to further the representation of En Marche in French political life.^[57][58] Michel Sapin, his successor to the post, saw nothing illegal about Macron's actions, saying that he had the right to spend the funds.^[59] Macron said the allegations were "defamatory" and that none of the ministerial budget had been spent on his party.^[55]

Macron's campaign enjoyed considerable coverage from the media.^{[60][61][62][63][64]} Mediapart reported that Macron had over fifty magazine covers dedicated purely to him compared to Melenchon's "handful" despite similar followings online and both having large momentum during the campaign.^[65] Macron has been consistently labelled by the far-left and far-right as the "media candidate" and has been viewed as such in opinion polls.^[66][67][68] He is friends with the owners of Le Monde^[69] and Claude Perdiel the former owner of Nouvel Observateur.^[70] Many observers have compared Macron's campaign to a product being sold^[71] due to Maurice Lévy, a former CEO using marketing tactics to try to advance Macron's presidential ambitions.^[72][73] The magazine Marianne has reported that BFMTV, owned by Patrick Drahi, has broadcast more coverage of Macron than of the other four main candidates combined,^[74] Marianne has said this may be due to Macron's campaign having links with Drahi through a former colleague of Drahi, Bernard Mourad.^[75][76]

After a range of comparisons to centrist François Bayrou, Bayrou announced he was not going to stand in the presidential election and instead form an electoral alliance with Macron which went into effect on 22 February 2017, and has since lasted with En Marche and the Democratic Movement becoming allies in the National Assembly.^[77][78] Following this, Macron's poll ratings began to rise and after several legal issues surrounding François Fillon become publicized, Macron overtook him in the polls to become the front runner after polls showed him beating National Front candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round.^[79][80]

Macron attracted criticism for the time taken to spell out a formal program during his campaign; despite declaring in November that he had still not released a complete set of proposals by February, attracting both attacks from critics and concern among allies and supporters.^[81] He eventually laid out his 150-page formal program on 2 March, publishing it online and discussing it at a marathon press conference that day.^[82]

Macron accumulated a wide array of supporters, securing endorsements from François Bayrou of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the ecologist candidate François de Rugy of the primary of the left, and Socialist MP Richard Ferrand, secretary-general of En Marche, as well as numerous others – many of them from the Socialist Party, but also a significant number of centrist and centre-right politicians.^[83] The Grand Mosque of Paris urged French Muslims to vote en masse for Macron.^[84]

On 23 April 2017, Macron received the most votes in the first round of the presidential election, with 24% of the overall vote and more than 8 million votes altogether. He progressed to the second round with Marine Le Pen. Former candidates François Fillon and Benoît Hamon voiced their support for Macron.^[85]

Second round edit

Macron qualified for the run-off against National Front candidate Marine Le Pen on 23 April 2017, after coming first place in the vote count. Following the announcement of his qualification, François Fillon and Benoît Hamon expressed support for Macron.^[85] President François Hollande also endorsed Macron.^[86] Many foreign politicians voiced support for Macron in his bid against right-wing populist candidate Marine Le Pen, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel,^[87] and former US President Barack Obama.^[88]

A debate was arranged between Macron and Le Pen on 3 May 2017. The debate lasted for 2 hours and Macron was considered the winner according to opinion polls.^[89]

In March 2017, Macron's digital campaign manager, Mounir Mahjoubi, told Britain's Sky News that Russia is behind "high level attacks" on Macron, and said that its state media are "the first source of false information". He said: "We are accusing RT (formerly known as Russia Today) and Sputnik News (of being) the first source of false information shared about our candidate ...".^[90]

Two days before the French presidential election on 7 May, it was reported that nine gigabytes of Macron's campaign emails had been anonymously posted to Pastebin, a document-sharing site. These documents were then spread onto the imageboard 4chan which led to the hashtag "#macronleaks" trending on Twitter.^[91][92] In a statement on the same evening, Macron's political movement, En Marche, said: "The En Marche movement has been the victim of a massive and coordinated hack this evening which has given rise to the diffusion on social media of various internal information".^[93] Macron's campaign had been presented a report before in March 2017 by the Japanese cyber security firm Trend Micro detailing how En Marche had been the target of phishing attacks.^[94] Trend Micro said that the group conducting these attacks was the Russian hacking group Fancy Bear that was also accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee on 22 July 2016.^[94] These same emails were released in July 2017 by WikiLeaks and some were verified.^[95] This was following Le Pen accusing Macron of tax avoidance.^[96]

On 7 May 2017, Macron was elected President of France with 66.1% of the vote compared to Marine Le Pen's 33.9%. The election had record abstention at 25.4% and 8% of ballots being blank or spoilt.^[97] Macron resigned from his role as president of En Marche^[98] and Catherine Barbaroux became interim leader.^[99]

Macron qualified for the runoff after the first round of the election on 23 April 2017. He won the second round of the presidential election on 7 May 2017 by a landslide according to preliminary results,^[100] making the candidate of the National Front, Marine Le Pen, concede.^[101] At 39, he became the youngest president in French history and the youngest French head of state since Napoleon.^{[102][103][104]} He is also the first president of France born after the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Macron formally became president on 14 May.^[105] He appointed Patrick Strzoda as his chief of staff^[106] and Ismaël Emelien as his special advisor for strategy, communication and speeches.^[107] On 15 May, he appointed Édouard Philippe of the Republicans as Prime Minister.^[108][109] On the same day, he made his first official foreign visit, meeting in Berlin with Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany. The two leaders emphasised the importance of France–Germany relations to the European Union.^[110] They agreed to draw up a "common road map" for Europe, insisting that neither was against changes to the Treaties of the European Union.^[111]

In the 2017 legislative election, Macron's party La République En Marche and its Democratic Movement allies secured a comfortable majority, winning 350 seats out of 577.^[112] After The Republicans emerged as the winners of the Senate elections, government spokesman Christophe Castaner stated the elections were a "failure" for his party.^[113]

On 3 July 2020, Macron appointed the centre-right Jean Castex as the Prime Minister of France. Castex has been described as being seen to be a social conservative and was a member of The Republicans.^[114] The appointment was described as a "doubling down on a course that is widely seen as centre-right in economic terms".^[115]

Domestic affairs edit

In his first few months as president, Macron pressed for the enactment of a package of reforms on public ethics, labour laws, taxes, and law enforcement agency powers.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017, Paris was selected for the 2024 Summer Olympics, after a bidding process that had started in 2015 during the Hollande presidency (2012-2017).

In 2018, the government announced the cancellation of the Aéroport du Grand Ouest project.^[116]

Anti-corruption edit

In response to Penelopegate, the National Assembly passed a part of Macron's proposed law to stop mass corruption in French politics by July 2017, banning elected representatives from hiring family members.^[117] Meanwhile, the second part of the law scrapping a constituency fund was scheduled for voting after Senate objections.^[118]

Macron's plan to give his wife an official role within government came under fire with criticisms ranging from its being undemocratic to what critics perceive as a contradiction to his fight against nepotism.^[119] Following an online petition of nearly 290,000 signatures on change.org Macron abandoned the plan.^[120] On 9 August, the National Assembly adopted the bill on public ethics, a key theme of Macron's campaign, after debates on the scrapping the constituency funds.^[121]

Labour policy and unions edit

Macron aims to shift union-management relations away from the adversarial lines of the current French system and toward a more flexible, consensus-driven system modelled after Germany and Scandinavia.^[122][123]

He has also pledged to act against companies employing cheaper labour from Eastern Europe and in return affecting the jobs of French workers, what he has termed as "social dumping". Under the Posted Workers Directive 1996, eastern European workers can be employed for a limited time at the salary level in Eastern European countries, which has led to disputes between EU states.^[124]

The French government announced the proposed changes to France's labour rules ("Code du Travail"), being among the first steps taken by Macron and his government to galvanize the French economy.^[125] Macron's reform efforts have encountered resistance from some French trade unions.^[126] The largest trade union, the CFDT, has taken a conciliatory approach to Macron's push and has engaged in negotiations with the president, while the more militant CGT is more hostile to reforms.^[122][123] Macron's labour minister, Muriel Pénicaud, is overseeing the effort.^[127]

The National Assembly including the Senate approved the proposal, allowing the government to loosen the labour laws after negotiations with unions and employers' groups.^[128] The reforms, which were discussed with unions, limit payouts for dismissals deemed unfair and give companies greater freedom to hire and fire employees as well as to define acceptable working conditions. The president signed five decrees reforming the labour rules on 22 September.^[129] Government figures released in October 2017 revealed that during the legislative push to reform the labour code, the unemployment rate had dropped 1.8%, the biggest since 2001.^[130]

On 16 March 2023 Macron passed a law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64,^[131] leading to protests.^[132]

Migrant crisis edit

Speaking on refugees and, specifically, the Calais Jungle, Macron said on 16 January 2018 that he would not allow another refugee camp to form in Paris before outlining the government policy towards immigration and asylum.^[133] He has also announced plans to speed up asylum applications and deportations but give refugees better housing.^[134]

On 23 June 2018, President Macron said: "The reality is that Europe is not experiencing a migration crisis of the same magnitude as the one it experienced in 2015", "a country like Italy has not at all the same migratory pressure as last year. The crisis we are experiencing today in Europe is a political crisis".^[135] In November 2019, Macron introduced new immigration rules to restrict the number of refugees reaching France, while stating to "take back control" of the immigration policy.^[136]

Economic policy edit

Pierre de Villiers, then-Chief of the General Staff of the Armies, stepped down on 19 July 2017 following a confrontation with Macron.^[137] De Villiers cited the military budget cut of €850 million as the main reason he was stepping down. Le Monde later reported that De Villiers told a parliamentary group, "I will not let myself be fucked like this."^[138] Macron named François Lecointre as De Villiers' replacement.^[139]

Macron's government presented its first budget on 27 September, the terms of which reduced taxes as well as spending to bring the public deficit in line with the EU's fiscal rules.^[140] The budget replaced the wealth tax with one targeting real estate, fulfilling Macron's campaign pledge to scrap the wealth tax.^[141] Before it was replaced, the tax collected up to 1.5% of the wealth of French residents whose global worth exceeded €1.3m.^[142]

In February 2017, Macron announced a plan to offer voluntary redundancy in an attempt to further cut jobs from the French civil service.^[143] In December 2019, Macron informed that he would scrap the 20th-century pension system and introduce a single nations pension system managed by the state.^[144] In January 2020, after weeks of public transport shutdown and vandalization across Paris against the new pension plan, Macron compromised on the plan by revising the retirement age.^[145] In February, the pension overhaul was adopted by decree using Article 49 of the French constitution.^[146]

Terrorism edit

In July 2017, the Senate approved its first reading of a controversial bill with stricter anti-terror laws, a campaign pledge of Macron. The National Assembly voted on 3 October to pass the bill 415–127, with 19 abstentions. Interior Minister Gérard Collomb described France as being "still in a state of war" ahead of the vote, with the 1 October Marseille stabbing having taken place two days prior. The Senate then passed the bill on its second reading by a 244–22 margin on 18 October. Later that day Macron stated that 13 terror plots had been foiled since 2017 began. The law replaced the state of emergency in France and made some of its provisions permanent.^[147]

The bill was criticized by human rights advocates. A public poll by Le Figaro showed 57% of the respondents approved it even though 62% thought it would encroach on personal freedoms.^[148]

The law gives authorities expanded power to search homes, restrict movement, close places of worship,^[149] and search areas around train stations as well as international ports and airports. It was passed after modifications to address concerns about civil liberties. The most punitive measures will be reviewed annually and are scheduled to lapse by the end of 2020.^[150] The bill was signed into law by Macron on 30 October 2017. He announced that starting 1 November, it would bring an end to the state of emergency.^[151]

Civil rights edit

Visiting Corsica in February 2018, Macron sparked controversy when he rejected Corsican nationalist wishes for Corsican as an official language^[152] but offered to recognize Corsica in the French constitution.^[153]

Macron also proposed a plan to "reorganise" the Islamic religion in France saying: "We are working on the structuring of Islam in France and also on how to explain it, which is extremely important – my goal is to rediscover what lies at the heart of laïcité, the possibility of being able to believe as not to believe, in order to preserve national cohesion and the possibility of having free consciousness." He declined to reveal further information about the plan.^[154]

Foreign policy and national defence edit

Macron attended the 2017 Brussels summit on 25 May 2017, his first NATO summit as president of France. At the summit, he met US President Donald Trump for the first time. The meeting was widely publicized due to a handshake between the two of them being characterized as a "power-struggle".^[155][156]

On 29 May 2017, Macron met with Vladimir Putin at the Palace of Versailles. The meeting sparked controversy when Macron denounced Russia Today and Sputnik, accusing the news agencies of being "organs of influence and propaganda, of lying propaganda".^[157][158] Macron also urged cooperation in the conflict against ISIS and warned that France would respond with force in Syria if chemical weapons are used.^[159] In response to the chemical attack in Douma, Syria in 2018, Macron directed French participation in airstrikes against Syrian government sites, coordinated with the United States and the United Kingdom.^[160][161]

In his first major foreign policy speech on 29 August, President Macron stated that fighting Islamist terrorism at home and abroad was France's top priority. Macron urged a tough international stance to pressure North Korea into negotiations, on the same day it fired a missile over Japan. He also affirmed his support for the Iranian nuclear deal and criticized Venezuela's government as a "dictatorship". He added that he would announce his new initiatives on the future of the European Union after the German elections in September.^[162] At the 56th Munich Security Conference in February, Macron presented his 10-year vision policy to strengthen the European Union. Macron remarked larger budget, integrated capital markets, effective defence policy, and quick decision-making hold the key for Europe. Adding that reliance on NATO, especially the US and the UK was not good for Europe, and a dialogue must be established with Russia.^[163]

Prior to the 45th G7 summit in Biarritz, France, Macron hosted Vladimir Putin at the Fort de Brégançon, stating that "Russia fully belongs within a Europe of values."^[164] At the summit itself, Macron was invited to attend on the margins by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Macron, who "attempted a high-risk diplomatic gambit", thought that the Foreign Minister of Iran might be able to defuse the tense situation over the Iranian nuclear programme in spite of the recent uptick in tensions between the Islamic Republic and the United States and Britain.^[165]

In March 2019, at a time when China–U.S. economic relations were troubled with a trade war underway, Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed a series of 15 large-scale trade and business agreements totaling 40 billion euros (US$45 billion) which covered many sectors over a period of years.^[166] This included a €30 billion purchase of airplanes from Airbus. Going beyond aviation, the new trade agreement covered French exports of chicken, a French-built offshore wind farm in China, a Franco-Chinese cooperation fund, as well as billions of Euros of co-financing between BNP Paribas and the Bank of China. Other plans included billions of euros to be spent on modernizing Chinese factories, as well as new shipbuilding.^[167]

In July 2020, Macron called for sanctions against Turkey for the violation of Greece's and Cyprus' sovereignty, saying it is "not acceptable that the maritime space of (EU) member states be violated and threatened."^[168] He also criticized Turkish military intervention in Libya.^[169][170] Macron said that "We have the right to expect more from Turkey than from Russia, given that it is a member of NATO."^[171]

In 2021, Macron was reported as saying Northern Ireland was not truly part of the United Kingdom following disputes with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson over implementations of the Northern Ireland protocol.^[172] He later denied this, saying he was referring to the fact that Great Britain is separated from Northern Ireland by sea in reference to the Irish Sea border.^[173][174]

French-U.S. relations became tense in September 2021 due to fallout from the AUKUS security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The security pact is directed at countering Chinese power in the Indo-Pacific region. As part of the agreement, the U.S. agreed to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. After entering into AUKUS, the Australian government canceled an agreement that it had made with France for the provision of French conventionally powered submarines, angering the French government.^[175] On 17 September, France recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the US for consultations.^[176] Despite tension in the past, France had never before withdrawn its ambassador to the United States.^[177] After a call between Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden on request from the latter, the two leaders agreed to reduce bilateral tensions, and the White House acknowledged the crisis could have been averted if there had been open consultations between allies.^[178][179]

On 26 November 2021, Macron signed with the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi the "Quirinal Treaty" at the Quirinal Palace, in Rome.^[180] The treaty is aimed to promote the convergence and coordination of French and Italian positions in matters of European and foreign policies, security and defence, migration policy, economy, education, research, culture and cross-border cooperation.^[181]

During the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Macron spoke face-to-face and on the phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin.^[182] During Macron's campaign for the re-election, nearly two months after the Russian invasion began, Macron called on European leaders to maintain dialogue with Putin.^[183]

Macron formally announced his candidacy for re-election on 3 March 2022, after delaying his announcement mostly due to the outbreak of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

After a short campaign began only 38 days before the country was due to go to the polls, on 10 April 2022, Macron topped the first round of the French presidential election with 27.8% of the votes, well ahead of RN candidate Marine Le Pen who finished 2nd with 23.2% of the votes.

In the second round, on 24 April, Emmanuel Macron went on to beat Le Pen and was therefore reelected as President of France with 58.55% of the votes. Macron had again defeated Le Pen in the runoff, but this time by a closer margin. He was the first president to be re-elected since 2002.^[184][185] On 7 May, Macron was again inaugurated as president at the Élysée Palace. His presidential second term officially began on 14 May 2022.

Marcon was reelected president of France in the 2022 presidential election. Macron won with 58.55% of the votes in the run-off against National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.^[186] He was re-inaugurated on 7 May 2022 and his second presidential term officially began on 14 May.

Borne government and June 2022 legislative election edit

On 16 May 2022, Prime Minister Jean Castex resigned after 22 months as head of government. The same day, President Macron appointed Élisabeth Borne, his then Minister of Labour and Employment, at the Hôtel Matignon, thus making her the second female PM in French history after Édith Cresson between 1991 and 1992. She then formed a new government on 20 May 2022.

Macron's second presidential term began with two big political controversies: within hours of the new Cabinet's announcement, rape accusations against the newly appointed Minister for Solidarity Damien Abad were made public^[187] and, on 28 May, handling of the 2022 UEFA Champions League final chaos at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis drew criticism at home and abroad.^[188]

In June 2022, Macron and his government fought the 2022 legislative election: after an unusually long campaign dominated by the formation of the left-wing NUPES coalition with the aim of imposing a cohabitation and political controversies affecting his new cabinet, on 12 June, the first round of the election saw Macron's centrist alliance almost tied with Mélenchon's NUPES in the popular vote (25.8% v. 25.7%), both ahead of Le Pen's RN finishing third with 18.7% of the votes.^[189]

With most opinion polls showing his coalition's lead shrinking and the increasing possibility of a hung parliament, on 14 June, 5 days before the second round of the election and moments before departing Paris to visit Eastern Europe, Macron delivered an unexpected speech on the Orly Airport's tarmac in which he called for a "solid majority" in the "higher national interest" and warned against the risk of "adding French disorder to global disorder".^[190] The speech, which intended to stress the importance of having a majority government in "troubled times", was criticized by opposition leaders and was widely regarded as "counterproductive", even inside Macron's camp.^[191][192]

On 19 June 2022, one month into his second term, Macron lost his parliamentary majority and was returned a hung parliament in the second round of the legislative election.^[193] Macron's presidential coalition, which had a 115-seat majority going into the elections, failed to reach the threshold of 289 seats needed to command an overall majority in the National Assembly, retaining only 251 out of the 346 it had held in the previous Assembly, and leaving the Borne government 38 shy of a working majority.^[194] Crucially, three close political allies of President Macron were defeated in the elections: incumbent President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand, Macron's own LREM parliamentary party leader Christophe Castaner, and MoDem parliamentary group leader Patrick Mignola, thus effectively "decapitating" Macron's parliamentary bloc leadership and further weakening the President's political position in hung parliament territory.^[195]

Furthermore, three government ministers lost their seats and, abiding to an unwritten rule constantly applied since Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency in 2007, then had to resign: Justine Bénin (junior minister for the Sea), Brigitte Bourguignon (Minister for Health and Prevention) and Amélie de Montchalin (Minister for Ecological Transition).^[196]

On 4 July, after talks with opposition parties to form a stable majority government failed, Macron's government, still led by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, was reshuffled and effectively continued as a minority government.^[197] This minority administration, which only has 251 seats in the National Assembly, a figure well below the 289-threshold needed to command a working majority in the lower house, can be considered to be the weakest Cabinet in the history of the French Fifth Republic from a parliamentary standpoint.^{[citation needed]}

Domestic affairs edit

Despite its minority status in the legislature, Macron's government subsequently passed bills to ease the cost-of-living crisis,^[198] to repeal the COVID "sanitary state of emergency"^[199][200] and to revive the French nuclear energy sector.^[201] Also, in November 2022, the Macron government reformed the French unemployment insurance.^[202]

However, the government was defeated several times in Parliament^[203] - an oddity under the Fifth Republic - and at the end of 2022, the Borne Cabinet had to repeatedly commit its responsibility (using the provisions of Article 49.3 of the Constitution) to pass the 2023 Government Budget and Social Security Budget.^{[204][205][206]}

In February 2023, Macron's government introduced an immigration & asylum bill aimed at removing deportation safeguards, fast-tracking the asylum application process and immigration litigation, while also facilitating legalization of undocumented workers.^[207] His government later pulled the draft legislation amid fears of defeat in Parliament, instead planning to hold talks with centre-right LR party before re-introducing the bill in the autumn.^[208]

In March 2023, Macron's government passed a law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, partly bypassing Parliament by resorting to the provisions of Article 49.3 of the Constitution in order to break the parliamentary deadlock;^[209] nationwide protests that had begun when the change was proposed increased after the vote. On 20 March, his Cabinet survived a cross-party motion of no-confidence by only nine votes, the slimmest margin since 1992.^[210]

On 12 June 2023, Macron's Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Borne, survived the 17th no-confidence motion attempted since the beginning of the 16th legislature: the motion, brought by the left-wing NUPES coalition, fell 50 votes short of the 289 votes needed.^[211]

In early Summer 2023, French authorities faced growing riots following the killing of Nahel M., aged 17, by a police officer during a traffic stop. The 17-year-old was shot and killed in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, on 27 June. Racial unrest spread across the Paris region and some of France's largest cities over the following days. On 29 June, after the second night of violence that resulted in over 150 arrests and multiple destructions, President Macron chaired an inter-ministerial crisis meeting and his government ordered 40,000 police officers, including elite tactical units, to be deployed across the country in an effort to stem the violence later that day.^{[212][213][214]} Nonetheless, widespread violence, looting and acts of arson continued over the following days, reaching and, in some places, even overtaking levels of unrest last seen during the 2005 French riots. Macron's administration ramped up government response, with a total of 45,000 police officers deployed on the ground and a ministerial order coming from the Justice Ministry advising courts to apply harsher sentences and sped-up procedures to rioters put on trial:^[215] this crackdown resulted in over 1,300 arrests on the fourth night of unrest alone, bringing the total number of arrests since the riots' beginning to over 2,000 as of 1 July.^[216]

On 20 July 2023, Macron carried out a government reshuffle at the end of the "hundred days of appeasement and action" he called for in April 2023 following the violent protests surrounding the passage of his pension system reform: amid little legislative progress on his top domestic priorities having been made over the period and the continued lack of a working majority in Parliament since the 2022 election, media reports emerged of a potential change of Prime Minister in the Summer. Nonetheless, on 17 July 2023, Macron asked Borne to remain in office and invited her to make proposals for a "technical" reshuffle. 3 days later, 8 new ministers were appointed, 3 senior Cabinet ministers (Education, Health and Solidarity) and 5 junior ministers. Notably, National Education and Youth Minister Pap Ndiaye, whose appointment drew vocal criticism about his alleged "woke" ideological inclinations from right-wing parties and politicians in May 2022, and State Secretary to the PM Marlène Schiappa, a prominent figure of the Macron Presidency since her initial appointment in 2017 and whose handling of the "Marianne Fund" to combat Islamist extremism as junior minister for Citizenship in 2021 came under public and parliamentary scrutiny in recent months, were sacked as part of the reshuffle.^[217]

In August 2023, in a lengthy interview to weekly magazine Le Point, Macron said that France "must significantly reduce immigration, starting with illegal immigration" because the "current situation is not sustainable".^[218]

On 11 December 2023, the "flagship" immigration bill introduced by Macron's government was unexpectedly defeated after the narrow passage of a motion for preliminary dismissal in the National Assembly.^[219] Political commentators and news media described the vote as a "spectacular debacle", eventually sparking a major political crisis for Macron's minority administration.^[220]

In an effort to salvage the bill, Macron's government sent the draft legislation to a special parliamentary committee: it resulted in a deal with the conservative-controlled Senate on a drastically hardened bill. On 19 December 2023, the French Parliament passed the piece of legislation thanks to support from the conservative LR and far-right RN parliamentary groups and in spite of a major rebellion from Macron's own coalition.^[221]

Attal government edit

In January 2024, in the wake of the political turmoil generated by the passage of the 'controversial' immigration bill, Macron requested Prime minister Élisabeth Borne to resign and subsequently replaced her by Education minister Gabriel Attal, making him both the youngest head of government in French history and the first openly gay man ever to hold the job.^[222]

Foreign policy and national defence edit

On 16 June 2022, Macron visited Ukraine alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi. He met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and express "European Unity" for Ukraine.^[223][224] He said that the nations that remained neutral in the Russo-Ukrainian War made a historic mistake and are complicit in the new imperialism.^[225] In September 2022, Macron criticized the United States, Norway, and other "friendly" natural gas supplier states for the extremely high prices of their supplies,^[226] saying in October 2022 that Europeans are "paying four times more than the price you sell to your industry. That is not exactly the meaning of friendship."^[227]

Macron and his wife attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, London, on 19 September 2022.

On 23 October 2022, Macron became the first foreign leader to meet the new Italian President of the Council Giorgia Meloni, just a day after she and her ministers were sworn into office.^[228]

During a summit to China with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which included a formal meeting with Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China, Macron called for Europe to reduce its dependence on the United States in general and to stay neutral and avoid being drawn into any possible confrontation between the U.S. and China over Taiwan. Speaking after a three-day state visit to China, Macron emphasized his theory of strategic autonomy, suggesting that Europe could become a "third superpower". He argued that Europe should focus on boosting its own defence industries and additionally reduce its dependence on the United States dollar (USD).^[229] Macron used a follow-up speech in The Hague to further outline his vision of strategic autonomy for Europe.^[230] On 7 June 2023, a report by the pan-European think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found that most Europeans agree with Macron views on China and the United States.^[231]

In February 2023, he welcomed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Paris to normalize relations between France and Ethiopia that were strained by the Tigray War between the Ethiopian government and Tigray rebels.^[232]

On 31 May 2023, Macron visited the GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, where he again delivered a speech on European sovereignty.^[233] During the question and answer session that followed the Bratislava speech he said that negotiating with Putin may have to take priority over any war crimes tribunal which some others, including Zelensky, wish to see.^[234]

On 12 June 2023, Macron promised to deliver more ammunition, weapons and armed vehicles to help Ukrainian forces with the ongoing counter-offensive to liberate Russian-occupied southeastern Ukraine.^[235] At the NATO Summit in Vilnius, he promised to supply Ukraine with Scalp long-range cruise missiles to hit Russian targets deep behind the front lines.^[236]

In June 2023 Macron hosted a global climate finance conference described by many as the new Bretton Woods Conference. The purpose is to adjust the global economy to the contemporary threats of climate change and hunger. One of the propositions is to offer low-income countries help instead of credits so they can use their resource to stop climate change and poverty instead of debt paying. Macron supports the idea, but a climate activist from Uganda remarked that the promises are senseless if, at the same time, Macron supports projects like the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, which is a major threat to climate and to the drinking water of 40 million people.^[237] At the summit Macron proposed an international taxation system and debt restructuring but stressed it can have an effect only with international cooperation.^[238] In July 2023, Macron had to postpone his planned state visit to Germany due to the ongoing Nahel M. riots sweeping across France following the killing of a 17-year-old by the police.^[239] This would have been the first state visit to Germany for a French head of state in 23 years.

On 13 July 2023, the French Parliament passed a multi-year military budget planning law for 2024–2030 in the final reading, paving the way for a 40% increase in military spending to a total of €413 billion over the period compared to 2019–2025.^[240]

According to the IFOP poll for Le Journal du Dimanche, Macron started his five-year term with a 62-percent approval rating.^[241][242] This was higher than François Hollande's popularity at the start of his first term (61 per cent) but lower than Sarkozy's (65 per cent).^[243] An IFOP poll on 24 June 2017 said that 64 per cent of French people were pleased with Macron's performance.^[244] In the IFOP poll on 23 July 2017, Macron suffered a 10-per-cent point drop in popularity, the largest for any president since Jacques Chirac in 1995.^[245] 54 per cent of French people approved of Macron's performance^[246] a 24-percentage point drop in three months.^[247] The main contributors to this drop in popularity are his recent confrontations with former Chief of Defence Staff Pierre de Villiers,^[248] the nationalization of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard owned by the bankrupt STX Offshore & Shipbuilding,^[249] and the reduction in housing benefit.^[250] In August 2017, IFOP polls stated that 40 per cent approved and 57 per cent disapproved of his performance.^[251]

By the end of September 2017, seven out of ten respondents said that they believe Emmanuel Macron was respecting his campaign promises,^[252][253] though a majority felt that the policies the government was putting forward were "unfair".^[254] Macron's popularity fell sharply in 2018, reaching about 25% by the end of November. Dissatisfaction with his presidency has been expressed by protestors in the yellow vests movement.^[255][256] During the COVID-19 pandemic in France, his popularity increased, reaching 50% at highest in July 2020.^[257][258]

Benalla affair edit

On 18 July 2018, Le Monde revealed in an article that a member of Macron's staff Alexandre Benalla posed as a police officer and beat a protester during May Day demonstrations in Paris earlier in the year and was suspended for a period of 15 days before only being internally demoted. The Élysée failed to refer the case to the public prosecutor and a preliminary investigation into the case was not opened until the day after the publication of the article, and the lenient penalty served by Benalla raised questions within the opposition about whether the executive deliberately chose not to inform the public prosecutor as required under the code of criminal procedure.^[259]

• Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy
• Presidency of François Hollande
• Political positions of Emmanuel Macron
• Foreign policy of Emmanuel Macron