(Bloomberg) — French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suffered massive defeats in the European Parliament elections Sunday, as far-right parties made gains that could sway the bloc to take a harder line on migration and upset ambitious climate change plans.
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Despite the defeats, center-left and center-right parties across Europe are set to preserve their majority in the European Union-wide election, which determines the make-up of the bloc’s legislative assembly.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won with 32.4% of the vote, while Macron’s Renaissance party trailed with 15.2%, according to polls publishes by Ifop. In Germany, Scholz’s Social Democrats crashed to their worst-ever result, falling behind both the opposition conservatives and far-right Alternative for Germany.
The outcome highlights the tenuous state of clear leadership in Europe as the bloc’s biggest economies contend with an uneasy grasp on power at home due to challenges from the nationalist parties.
With the center-left, center-right and liberal parties set to cement their majority, that means the EU’s top jobs, including the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, are likely to be dished out among leaders from those parties.
Macron’s warnings about the rise of authoritarianism and appeal for European unity in the run-up to the vote failed to boost his result as concerns about inflation, security and immigration saw Le Pen’s support increase.
The French president’s reputation as a reformer and steward of the economy has also suffered blows in recent months, with the government forced to seek tens of billions of euros in savings after its deficit ballooned, and S&P Global Ratings downgrading the country’s credit rating.
–With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss, Ewa Krukowska, Piotr Skolimowski, Dara Doyle, Andrea Palasciano, John Ainger, Katharina Rosskopf, Lyubov Pronina, Megan Howard, Wout Vergauwen, Samuel Stolton and Jorge Valero.
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