The Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune returned, Sunday April 17 on Europe 1, to Marine Le Pen’s program on Europe and castigated some of its measures.
Following Emmanuel Macron’s meeting in Marseille on Saturday April 16, Clément Beaune had to react to Mourad Boudjellal’s comments [pro-LREM], who said that the National Rally voters were “racist”. The Secretary of State retorted: “To say that the voters are racist, I do not share it at all […] I do not believe that we are faced with two irreconcilable Frances. He added that “voters know why they are voting”, that “there is anger, a feeling to say that Marine Le Pen can be more protective, but that is all wrong. »
Le Pen or Macron: according to the French, who is more credible on major issues?
He also said that he did not believe in the myth of “Marine Le Pen candidate for purchasing power”: “The candidate for purchasing power is a complete lie. All of its measures are the least protective. She is an anti-social, anti-republican and anti-European candidate. For him, “there is a lot of deception on the merchandise. People adhere to it, but when we see that most of the proposals are unconstitutional, when Marine Le Pen says that dual nationals will not have the same rights, yes I think there is a trap. »
A discussion followed on the program of the RN candidate, more particularly on the European component. The Secretary of State reiterated his concern about a potential “Frexit” if Marine Le Pen were to be elected: “If the French chose Marine Le Pen on April 24, this would be a project that would quickly get us out of the EU. It is a Europe in pieces that it sells to us. When she wants to lower the French contribution by five billion euros, that French law will take precedence over European law, what will happen? His allies are Mr. Orban and a little Poland. »
Defending Emmanuel Macron’s record on Europe – and the blissful and pro-European image attached to the government -, he admitted that there was “a Europe that is sometimes too slow, too bureaucratic, too liberal and we can change it . At the same time, Clément Beaune criticized Marine Le Pen: “When you stop paying common charges, the others do too. It must be said that there is no more CAP, no more common market which for one job in ten in France is an outlet. »
He also took Brexit as a counter-example and the fact that “the United Kingdom has always had less than 50% of its trade with the rest of the European Union”, adding in passing that “we are not a island, our economy depends on it and a million workers cross the border to work in Luxembourg, Germany and Italy. We are integrated into Europe. »
What about Russian gas? What additional measures will the government take? The “New York Times” told in an article that the president-candidate hesitated to decide on the question of the embargo for fear of not being re-elected: “This so-called information from the “New York Times” is false. There have been trains of sanctions on energy: Russian oil and gas. Mr. Bardella is a Member of the European Parliament, if he needs to read an American newspaper to find out something that has been on the table in Europe for more than a month, it is worrying. »
The Secretary of State also declared that “the argument is the conspiracy, but also that one prepares the explosion of the prices at the pump. Russian oil is 10 to 15% of the oil we have in France. Prices rose long before the war in Ukraine. This is not related to the sanctions but to the war itself […] Jordan Bardella rushed to talk about the explosion in prices at the pump, he gave no figures. »
What about the days to come? Will the situation get worse with Russia? “Yes, we are in a very serious situation. Will it get worse in the next few days, most likely. It’s not a complete surprise, by the way, Mr. Putin said so […] The sanctions are not linked to the timing of the French elections. »