The Republicans are once again counting on François-Xavier Bellamy to represent them in the European elections. How many running mates will the MEP be able to elect with his result? And who are the candidates on the list?
The Republicans have chosen the same head of list as five years ago for the European elections, but they hope to obtain a better result on voting day. Will François-Xavier Bellamy be up to the mission? The MEP wants to convince and win back the part of his electorate which has shifted towards the presidential majority and that which has been seduced by the National Rally. But in view of the results of the polls, the LR candidate for the European elections is still struggling to compete with these two camps. He also jostles with three other lists at the back of the pack.
François Xavier-Bellamy, however, seems able to secure a minimum of seats for the right in the European Parliament, but only a handful of candidates can hope to join the hemicycle. Which ?
François-Xavier Bellamy had already led the Republican list in the 2019 European elections and had assured the right of a presence in the European Parliament with just over 8% of the vote. The score wasn’t fabulous, but it saved the furniture. The right has, however, decided to renew its confidence in the MEP who has made his mark in the hemicycle. The man chairs the French delegation of the European People’s Party, the majority group in which LR elected officials sit.
The MEP is also well established at the national level within his party: he became executive vice-president of the Republicans in 2023. But not having had a national mandate, his face presented to the French only for the European elections speaks little to voters.
The Ministry of the Interior has formalized the list of LR candidates in the European elections. The list includes 81 candidates, including the head of the list François-Xavier Bellamy, but the party kept a large part of the names secret until May 17. Only the first 30 candidates were known before the list was made official:
A list must obtain at least 5% of the votes in the European elections to see some of its candidates elected. The number of people elected out of the 81 candidates present on the lists of each party is proportional to the result obtained on election day. A minimum of 5% gets 4 seats, 10% gets 8 seats, etc. Thus according to the results of the polls, François-Xavier Bellamy seems able to win between 6 and 7 seats in the European Parliament. The party has had 7 since 2019. Note that the survey results and projections are only forecasts representing voting trends at a given time and cannot be understood as reliable predictions.
Controlling immigration and European sovereignty are the two pillars of François-Xavier Bellamy’s campaign and program. In terms of migration policy, the Republicans are campaigning for better control of Europe’s external borders and a strengthening of the Frontex agency. They also want to ensure better cooperation with countries of origin and third countries involved in the migratory flow and want to make this a condition for welcoming migrants. But in addition to controlling external borders, the right is considering maintaining a “safeguard clause” allowing each country to reestablish controls at its own borders in the event of an emergency.
The reconquest of European sovereignty requires a vast program, in particular the end of regulations considered abusive and more investments in progress. On the economic level, François-Xavier Bellamy proposes the implementation of a “Made in Europe 2030” plan and refuses any new free trade agreement which would lead to unfair competition or would not contain mirror clauses favoring European production . With this in mind and that of preserving the environment, the party also plans to tax foreign products that do not comply with European environmental standards. Still on the environment, the right wants to tax the use of coal-fired power plants or the burying of waste, finance the construction of nuclear power plants and promote the hydrogen sector.
European sovereignty also translates, according to Les Républicains, into the defense of the territory. They therefore wish to force all member countries of the European Union to allocate 3% of their GDP to NATO and allocate more resources to the EU so that it becomes a European pillar of NATO.
