It's a face-to-face that Yannick Jadot has been waiting for a long time. The environmental MEP and presidential candidate took advantage of the presence of the Head of State in the Strasbourg hemicycle to highlight their differences on the European question. Denouncing a "
climaticide alliance with Poland and Hungary
", Yannick Jadot immediately accused Emmanuel Macron of "
promoting gas to save a nuclear power plant condemned to bankruptcy
", which would be, according to him, a "
sacrifice
" of "
the Europe's climate ambition
". The candidate of Europe Ecology Les Verts concluded by saying that "
our Europe will never be yours
".
Responding to a journalist before speaking in Strasbourg, Yannick Jadot assured that this exchange was going to be a kind of first presidential debate, “
since the president is campaigning
” and that the European question is “
absolutely essential
” for ecologists.
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Yannick Jadot is not, however, the only one who wants to bring the French president back to national electoral issues. The MEP and acting president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, also took the floor to attack the policy of the head of state. “
Your Europe is 60 years old, ours is 3000
,” he said at the start of his speech. According to the RN MEP, the head of state would advocate "
the establishment of a Europe of migration
" and would even seek to "
deprive people of the legitimate right to be and remain themselves
". The support of Marine Le Pen also recalled that the presidential election on April 10 and 24 "
will not only decide the fate of France but that ofall of Europe
“, hammering that Emmanuel Macron cannot”
claim to be a unifier in Europe
“, when he will have been”
until the end the divider of France
“and a”
liquidator at the head of the French state
“.
“
Arrogance, impotence and scheming
”
On the left, it is MEP LFI Manon Aubry who led the offensive against the head of state, whom she accuses of being the "
president of contempt
". Joining the platform of the environmental candidate, she accused the head of state of being "
allied to the far right of Orbán to defend gas and nuclear
". The elected official made fun of the slogan "
revival, power, belonging
" of the French presidency of the European Union (PFUE), believing that in reality, Emmanuel Macron's European record "
is nothing but arrogance, impotence, and scheming
", accusing the Head of State of being "
the champion of compromises and double talk
".
Read also Presidential 2022: LFI asks the popular primary to remove Mélenchon from the list of candidates
Responding to the accusations of his adversaries, the Head of State accused them of wanting to "
block Europe at all times
", and considered that he was not compromising but rather seeking to "
find compromises
", affirming that the France is not alone at the negotiating table, “
even though we are very ambitious
”.
On the climate issue, the Head of State also affirmed that "
France does not have a gas agenda
", while emphasizing that for countries wishing to get out of coal, which is not the case of France, “
using gas is relevant
”. The Head of State also considered that "
recognizing nuclear power as a low-carbon energy source is simply a scientific reality
", recalling that it is produced on French soil, while gas is imported. Faced with opposition united against him, the president boasted of an "
ambitious agenda on glyphosate
" at European level as well as on carbon neutrality. “
We have always been able to progress
“, Judged the head of state, who wants to be the defender of a progressive and voluntary Europe on environmental issues, although he failed to keep his promise to ban glyphosate in France.
Finally responding to Jordan Bardella, the President of the Republic did not mince his words.
“
It is not by saying anything methodically that we can end up in the end by telling the truth
”, he asserts with regard to the MEP RN.
The president underlines that the latter would have "
very methodically said anything about all the European texts that we have signed
", however ironically underlining a "
spirit of method
" which "
deserves a form of respect
".
After Emmanuel Macron's response, several other French MEPs also took the floor to react to the Head of State's vision of Europe.
Among them, François-Xavier Bellamy of the Republicans, Nicolas Bay of the RN and Manuel Bompard of LFI.
