The French far right
entity where immigrants are only accepted if they assimilate] (Laruelle, 2022). Le Pen has also frequently expressed admiration for Putin’s leadership style and is an advocate for strengthening ties between the two countries. This relationship undermines European unity, as it could disrupt the EU’s efforts to present a united front against Russian aggression in Ukraine, given Le Pen hopes to limit military support for Ukraine, a policy backed by the new leader of the RN, Jordan Bardella. He has ruled out sending any troops to Ukraine which presents difficulties for the EU in creating a united front versus Russia (The Economist 2024). Despite this potential threat to EU unity, Bardella did however confirm that, while the Russia- Ukraine war continues, his party would no longer advocate France’s exit from NATO’s integrated military command , suggesting the RN may be adopting a less destabilizing foreign policy. Nevertheless, the Le Pen- Putin relationship could be a challenge to France’s political independence and democratic elections, given that in her 2017 presidential bid, Le Pen obtained a loan of 9 million euros from a bank with close ties to Putin. This financial support is seen by many to be a threat to the French democracy as people are concerned over who is in charge of the RN – Le Pen or Putin? The prospect of a hard- right French government in the future running the Eurozone’s second -largest economy has alarmed financial markets and created a sense of uncertainty within the economy. The RN have proposed many economic policies that aim to help strained household budgets, including lowering the rate of VAT on energy and motor-fuel bills from 20% to 5.5%, which could cost up to 13.6 billion euros a year (The Economist 2024) . Other policies include potentially reversing Macron’s pension reform, allowing those who start working at 20 to retire at 60, which would cost an estimated 17 billion euros annually. The party also advocates cutting payroll taxes to encourage firms to raise low- level salaries by 10%, a move that could carry an annual cost of 10.5 billion euros. Together, these measures, at a time when France already has high levels of public debt and a large deficit after big spending programmes to protect the economy from the Covid-19 pandemic and a European energy crisis, would place further stress on France’s financial situation. The IMF forecast for 2024 shows France to have the second highest budget deficit in the Eurozone – 4.89% of GDP. The RN’s plans would potentia lly push the annual deficit up to 6.4% of GDP by 2026 which is hugely alarming for France’s already vulnerable public finances (White, Klasa and Abboud 2024). Finally, populist parties are not only threating EU unity and economic stability but also progress on climate change given their hostility to policies designed to address climate change. In the June 2024 European Parliament election, far-right parties sceptical of climate change gained seats and influence while green parties lost votes and over 20 seats, which could potentially lead to less green ambition over the next five years (Financial Times 2024) . For example, Europe’s signature Green Deal, which aims to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050, is likely to be scaled back with the presence of a larger far-right presence in government. Populist parties like the RN and the AfD are opposed to climate policies, as they entail globalist thinking and cooperation, call for alternative ways of living and have been the cause of the economic downturn in many European countries. As a result, the RN, prioritizing national sovereignty over international cooperation, have begun to advocate national environmentalism instead, promoting local climate policies while rejecting multilateral agreements like the Paris Agreement. This far- right stance undermines the EU’s efforts to address climate change, potentially forcing policy changes such as the proposal to agree a legal target of cutting net emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040. In France, political protests against cl imate policies such as the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ ,
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