Farmer discontent spooks Macron as he weighs EU election pick

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron is keeping close tabs on the risk that French farmers could rise up in major protests like their peers in Germany, with the concern likely to determine whom he chooses as the face of his liberal party’s campaign for the European election in June.

The French president has told his cabinet to pay careful attention to potential flashpoints for rural workers, in order to avoid further demonstrations and another flare-up of the Yellow Jackets movement, a minister told POLITICO’s Playbook Paris. Small numbers of farmers blocked highways in southwest France on Thursday to protest issues like water storage and the tax on tractor fuel.

The big question is whether these rural support concerns will translate politically into whom Macron nominates as lead candidate for his Renaissance party. It was originally expected to be Stéphane Séjourné, former boss of the Renew Europe liberal bloc in the European Parliament, but his promotion to foreign minister last week means Macron now has to find a new candidate.

The Les Echos daily has reported that Pascal Canfin, a Renew MEP and former head of the French branch of the WWF environmentalist NGO, is a strong contender to take up the role, noting he could prove attractive to disaffected voters on the left.

The difficulty for Macron — with an eye on discontent in the agricultural sector — is that Canfin might prove too much of an eco-warrior.

Well aware of the threat from the right and the far right, particularly Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Macron is increasingly styling himself as a defender of more traditional values.

The problem is that Canfin represents the most environmentalist wing of president’s camp and, in a 2017 interview with FranceInfo, accused France’s top farmer union, FNSEA, of being stuck in the past. Despite some efforts at reconciliation, he continues to find himself at odds with farmer representatives and was targeted for being out of touch by FNSEA head Christiane Lambert in a social media post in July.

Macron’s farmer-friendly former minister

For his part, Macron is out to prove he’s a friend to farmers. On Tuesday he vowed to “help farmers” while transitioning to a green economy, and to “ensure that they are never left without a solution.”

A person close to Macron said the French president was keen on Julien Denormandie, a former agriculture minister and early Macron supporter, to head the party’s list for the European election.

Others in Macron’s circle are also pushing for Denormandie to lead Renaissance into the next European race, fearing the far-right National Rally could benefit from farmer discontent. Heading the French Renaissance list is attractive as it puts the nominee in pole position to lead the liberal Renew group in the European Parliament.

As agriculture minister, Denormandie defended the interests of farmers, speaking out against lab-grown meat products and pushing for the EU’s trade policy to “impose its standards on others and not have others’ standards imposed on it.” While in government he repeatedly stated France’s opposition to the EU-Mercosur trade deal, which would have seen significant extra meat imported from South America.

Pascal Canfin, a Renew MEP and former head of the French branch of the WWF environmentalist NGO, is a strong contender to take up the role | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

He was even mentioned as a potential contender for prime minister before Gabriel Attal took the post this month.

Denormandie left politics in 2022 and joined the private sector, working with a consultancy on environmental, social, and corporate governance issues.

“I missed those I love too much,” he told l’Opinion daily in an interview shortly after his exit from politics. “In the face of climate change we need public action, society and private-sector innovation to join forces.”

It now remains to be seen whether a summons from Macron can overcome Denormandie’s feeling that public life has taken too great a toll.