![Europeans 2024: in Brussels, Macron’s failure changes the situation within the Renew group Europeans 2024: in Brussels, Macron’s failure changes the situation within the Renew group](https://media.lesechos.com/api/v1/images/view/66670023c7e9b9240d70112b/1280x720/01101773912028-web-tete.jpg)
Around midnight, Sunday June 9 in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels converted into a huge press room, we heard an unexpected announcement: Valérie Hayer, who was to speak as one of the heads of the family list centrist, will ultimately not be able to be present.
This absence is surprising – a clamor even rises from the stands occupied by hundreds of journalists. Valérie Hayer, in Paris for election night, had planned to go to Brussels, but Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly complicated her plans.
Pivot role
This absence of Renew on the scene illustrates the hesitation of this group which is one of the big losers of the European election, with the Greens. With only 79 MEPs, out of 720, it lost 23 seats compared to the ninth legislature (but hopes to recover some in Ireland, the results of which are not known).
If they are still necessary for the formation of a pro-European majority in Parliament, the dynamics do not work in their favor against conservatives who have won seats.
Internally, the balances also change. The French, dominant at Renew in the previous legislature with 23 seats, will only be 13. The German delegation now has 8 elected officials, the Czech 7, like the Dutch… The parties in the group which did well in the election June 9 are those of the “historic channel” of the centrist family, originally more liberal in terms of economic policy.
If, in 2019, the Macronian camp had succeeded in imposing its social liberal DNA, we could see a swing of the pendulum in this legislature. “The French delegation was dominant, which created imbalances,” said Sophie In’t Veld, a former member of Renew who was a candidate on Sunday under the colors of the pan-European Volt party, on Monday. Its decline offers an opportunity for rebalancing. » Towards a more economic and free trade agenda, a priori.
Presidency to be elected
The Dutch VVD, for a moment in the hot seat for having associated itself with Geert Wilders’ PVV in The Hague, welcomed with some satisfaction Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly. He implicitly sees a strategy similar to his own: putting the far right up against the wall. There no longer seems to be any question of excluding it.
The question of the presidency of the Renew group now arises in new terms. The way in which Valérie Hayer succeeded Stéphane Séjourné, when the latter was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs last January, left not only good memories. The Frenchwoman, who achieved a score of less than 15% in France, will have to convince if she wants to keep her seat.
La Mayennaise confirmed Monday afternoon that this was indeed its intention. She also affirmed that even in the event that the presidential majority finds itself in the opposition after the legislative elections in July, “this will not change anything in our central position”.
Commissions to conquer
How many commissions can Renew claim to chair in the future hemicycle? Can Pascal Canfin remain at the head of Envi, the powerful Environment Commission which was the linchpin of the Green Deal? The EPP is already maneuvering to prevent its renewal, because it wishes to moderate the environmental activism of this sprawling commission.
For Renew, the Imco committee (internal market and consumer protection), which is “co-competent” for a large number of legislative texts, would be a good fallback position. The group hopes to retain the Defense subcommittee, which has taken on new importance with the war in Ukraine. But, obviously, the negotiations will be more difficult than in 2019. This is why the group is seeking to attract new recruits, among Volt elected officials, among Belgian Engagés, for example.