Goodwill for the ‘right choice’ in a vote spreads far and wide across the continent. No great surprise that ‘Requiem’ by Alma is among the favourites for this weekend’s Eurovision, as was Katrina and the Waves’ victorious ‘Love Shine a Light’ for the UK in 1997.
“Emmanuel Macron is a pro-business, socially liberal politician, who has sought to create a movement to reach across the left/right political divide in France,” said Azad Zangana, senior European economist at Schroders.
“We see him as following in the footsteps of reformers such as Gerhard Schröder in Germany or Tony Blair in the UK.”
Among the measures Macron is promising to boost the competitiveness of the French economy are a cut in corporation tax and a liberalising of the labour market.
However, Zangana raises questions over how easy the president will find it to implement these reforms.
“Elections for the French legislature are coming up in June and Macron’s new En Marche! party may find it difficult to gain sufficient seats,” he warned.
“He may find himself in a ‘cohabitation’ situation where he has to work with a Republican prime minister. This would be unusual, although not unheard of, and a coalition can certainly be forged if there are enough reform-minded politicians in the legislature.”
Despite winning over two thirds of the French electorate with a brand-new party, some commentators today remain sceptical on the ‘real’ reasons behind Macron’s victory, i.e. the view that the masses were voting more to keep Le Pen out, rather than backing his policies.
