French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen faced off on Wednesday evening in their only debate ahead of Sunday’s presidential election run-off, battling over who would be best placed to lead the second biggest economy in the EU. As Mr Macron accused the far-right leader of secretly wanting to take France out of the EU, Ms Le Pen took the opportunity to launch an attack on Brussels and the EU Commission.
“Your ideas mean leaving the European Union,” Macron said, comparing European Union membership to owning a flat in an apartment building with other owners.
“You can decide to fix up the facade on your own, but with joint ownership, you cannot say from one day to another ‘things have to be done this way or that way because my name is Madame Le Pen’,” Macron said.
Ms Le Pen replied: “There’s no European sovereignty because there is no such thing as European people.”
She added: “I wish to remain in the EU but I want to overhaul it.
“I disagree with their wraft of free trade agreements where we sell German cars but we sacrifice farmers.”
“How come France can never defend its own interests? I have served as an MEP, I saw Germany stand toe to toe with us and other countries defending its own interests.
“France never does that. How come? How come France never defends its farmers? Its industries? Its businesses?
“That’s what I want to do.
“I want the EU Commission to respect sovereign nations, member states.
“When we vote we, the people of France, make choices on the kind of society we want to live with and I do believe that the EU should respect that.
“So yes, I want to overhaul the European Union from the inside.
“Mr Macron, I didn’t think you’d believe in conspiracy theories.
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“If I wish to exit the EU, I would say it. I don’t!”
Defending the “Franco-German” alliance in the EU, the French President said: “I have always been clear on this. I believe in Europe and the French-German partnership.
“The vaccines are an example. We turned into the first continent to produce and export vaccines. Because of Europe, we are more independent in many sectors.
“We have together started to lay the foundations for a Europe of defence and I am convinced that our sovereignty is national and European and that the two complement each other.
“It is through Europe that we will be more independent for our energy, our technology, our defence, our agri-food. We need a stronger Europe. It’s good for our country.”
The election presents voters with two opposing visions of France: Mr Macron offers a pro-European, liberal platform, while Ms Le Pen’s nationalist manifesto is founded on deep euroscepticism.
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Much haggling went on behind the scenes ahead of the debate, from the temperature of the room to flipping a coin to decide which theme they would start with – the cost of living – to who would speak first – Ms Le Pen.
Last time they faced off in a debate, in 2017, Ms Le Pen’s presidential challenge unravelled as she mixed up her notes and lost her footing.
The prime-time debate on that occasion cemented Mr Macron’s status as the clear front-runner.
But Mr Macron is no longer the disruptor from outside politics and now has a record that Ms Le Pen can attack.
Meanwhile, she has tacked towards mainstream voters and worked hard at softening her image.
After more than half of the electorate voted for far-right or hard left candidates in the first round, Mr Macron’s lead in opinion polls is much narrower than five years ago, when he beat Ms Le Pen with 66.1 percent of the vote.
Voter surveys on Wednesday projected he would win with 55.5-56.5 percent this time.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega