French elections: Emmanuel Macron’s vision will shape the future of France and Europe | World News

Emmanuel Macron may have defeated Le Pen, but the many issues raised during the election campaign may force him to focus more energy on domestic issues.

Here’s a look at some of the elements of Macron’s vision:

Mr. Macron is no longer seen as an outsider as he once was He came to power in a radical reshuffle of French politics in 2017. Enthusiasm for a new kind of politics that led to candidates from the French left and right not being able to even get ahead in 2017 has waned, as he has made his name.

Read more: Macron will be re-elected after convincingly defeating far-right rival Le Pen

Instead, there have been widespread protests over the past five years, led by a large group of people who feel that he does not represent their interests – especially in his attempt to simplify employment law, which can be seen as the main basis of French identity.

Mr. Macron’s dynamic, sometimes authoritarian style is seen by some as arrogant, exacerbating his opponents, including the rebellious Gillet Jaunes (yellow vest). If he wins, Mr. Macron has pledged to go further with his liberalization reforms and raise the pension age from 62 to 65. Analysts say they expect more protests. again.

Mr Macron is a registered Euro enthusiast – and has made clear his ambitions for the bloc consistently over the past five years, during Brexit making his resolve harder. He currently holds the presidency of the Council of Europe and has taken the opportunity to defend the solidarity and democracy – also the foundation of French identity – at the heart of the Europe project.

Read more: Marine Le Pen receives failure – follow live updates

His plan for the next five years includes strengthening the rights of Europeans, reducing Europe’s reliance on imported coal, gas and oil and increasing the bloc’s reliance on infrastructure and their own essential technology. Among the issues to which he has repeatedly turned is the impetus for a common approach to the use of European troops, with the aim of turning Europe into a military power.

For a while, it seemed that Mr. Macron could be the West’s main hope for averting the war in Ukraine, as the French President still chats and talks regularly. share occasional visits with Vladimir Putin. But the invasion of Ukraine made him immediately appear more naive than he could have wished, given the Russian leader’s misjudgment.

Despite Mr. Putin launching war, Mr. Macron kept trying to talkuntil the sheer scale and brutality of Russia’s actions became excessive and since then he said he has ended the dialogue and is now showing his unequivocal support for Ukraine.

He disagreed with other Western leaders that Russia’s actions constituted genocide, possibly to keep the Kremlin open to future negotiations. However, he has been in favor of sending weapons to Ukrainian forces and stepping up sanctions against Russia.

As a pro-European company, Mr. Macron joins the established Western framework of collective defense rely on NATO. France was one of the founding members of the treaty, and although it withdrew from a command structure that allowed the group to act collectively using joint forces between 1966 and 2009, it joined participated in many NATO missions over the years.

Since Mr. Macron became president, France has continued to contribute significantly to NATO efforts, although also carrying out non-NATO activities such as its intervention in the Sahel, from which it withdrew.

To demonstrate its commitment to NATO, under Mr Macron, France’s defense spending has risen to the minimum threshold of 2% of GDP supported by the US and he has pledged to continue at that level, with plans to cooperate with other EU countries.

Some commentators have said that with growing support from the far-right, Mr. Macron has pivoted to the right from his often-central positions, with immigration pledges coming up.

He said he wanted to reform Schengen to strengthen European borders, create a national ‘border force’ to strengthen national borders, revise asylum procedures to expedite decisions and deport foreigners who break the law.

France has come under close scrutiny for its commitment to its goals Paris Climate Agreement, with Extinction Rebellion protests taking place last week in the country’s capital. It has led to Mr Macron affirming his enthusiasm for his country’s net zero 2050 goal and backing plans that he says will help them achieve it.

Among them are plans to massively upgrade solar, offshore wind and nuclear, he said, adding that Europe should levy a carbon tax on anyone within its borders.

He also promised more public transport nationwide to prevent people from taking cars.