It was one of the highlights of this European election campaign, two weeks before the vote. The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, and the head of the National Rally (RN) list, Jordan Bardella, debated for 1 hour 15 minutes, Thursday May 23, on the France 2 set.
Read also | Europeans 2024: find the main exchanges between Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella
Add to your selections
As he became accustomed to during this campaign, the RN MEP tried to nationalize the issues of the election, attacking Emmanuel Macron from the start. According to Mr. Bardella, with this debate, “it’s a project and an assessment that will face each other “. “This assessment is that of Mr. Attal, of Mr. Macron, of Macron’s Europe, which for seven years now has been eroding the purchasing power of the French with the increase in energy prices, imposing migratory submersion, a punitive vision of ecology and unfair competition »he said.
For his part, the Prime Minister dramatized the issues of these elections, “the most important in our history”evoking “the return of war in Europe, climate change” or the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. MM. Attal and Bardella then discussed the energy transition, immigration and European defense.
For Jordan Bardella, Europe has become “the sick man of developed economies”
For the RN MEP, elected for the first time to Parliament in 2019, Europe has become “the sick man of developed economies”. He notably denounced a “major economic decline” who makes you run “a risk of France disappearing on the European scene, but also on the international scene”.
Reiterating his ambition to “change the rules” And “the current functioning of the European Union”Mr. Bardella expressed his wish to “ “moving from the idea of total free trade to fair trade”. He notably defended the “economic patriotism” and the increase in ” tariffs “.
Gabriel Attal then castigated Jordan Bardella’s proposal to set up the “national priority in public procurement”, who, he recalled, “always been proposed by the National Front”. After giving several examples of French companies which have concluded contracts in European countries, “if Jordan Barella’s proposal is implemented, all these companies will have their legs cut off”he castigated.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers “The Attal-Bardella debate illustrates the deadly mano a mano between the Macron camp and the RN”
Add to your selections
“You say: “France will now reserve these public contracts as a priority for French companies”. Other European countries will do exactly the same thing and our companies will lose markets”continued Mr. Attal, affirming that “80% of our SMEs export to a European country”. Gold for Mr. Bardella, the Prime Minister “does not trust French know-how”. “I accept the end of naivety”defended Mr. Bardella.
For Gabriel Attal, “the fight against climate change is the fight of our generation”
Then questioned about the fight against climate change, Gabriel Attal reiterated that the list of the presidential camp proposes a “massive investment plan of a thousand billion euros in 2030 for the ecological transition, for the carbon-free industry”. Because, according to the Prime Minister, “the fight against climate change is the fight of our generation”arguing that Europe “is the continent that has set itself the most ambitious objectives on the ecological transition”.
In response, Jordan Bardella “join[t] » Mr. Attal’s point of view: “The climate challenge is one of the great challenges of our generation. » But, for him, ” Hell is paved with good intentions “and the RN MEP denounced “unrealistic environmental ambitions” of the government, referring to the ban on the sale of thermal vehicles in 2035. With this agreement, beyond 2035, only battery electric vehicles will be authorized for sale on the new market, while the sale second-hand thermal cars will remain possible.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers European elections: a campaign marked by the decline of ecological ambition
Add to your selections
“You are going to make us move from a known dependence on hydrocarbons, which is certainly not viable in the long term, to a completely unknown dependence which will put us back in the hands of China in particular”, attacked Mr. Bardella. A European decision justified by Gabriel Attal: “Why is setting the long-term objective of moving away from thermal vehicles good for the French? The price of a barrel, in the years to come, will necessarily continue to increase. » After the opening of megabattery gigafactories, “in 2030 we will be able to produce 2 million electric vehicles on French soil”assured the Prime Minister.
On agriculture, Jordan Bardella wants fewer free trade agreements
For Jordan Bardella, the anger of farmers in France and Europe at the start of 2024 was caused by “the model that Mr. Attal defends”saying, he, “believe in French agricultural power”. To respond to farmers’ concerns, Mr. Bardella proposes” to stop [les] put in competition with products that come from the ends of the world and which do not respect any of the economic, social or health standards that are imposed” to the French.
Newsletter
” Policy “
Every week, “Le Monde” analyzes current political issues for you
Register
Attacker “the multiplication of free trade agreements with economic areas with which we will never be competitive”, the far-right candidate believes that these agreements “clearly threaten the existence of our sectors today”wishing “defend the French agricultural exception”.
The Prime Minister, in return, accused Mr. Bardella of quoting “trade agreements that are very different from each other”and recalled that the government and the President of the Republic opposed Mercosur, the trade agreement negotiated between the EU and the South American bloc. “Moreover, if Mercosur was not adopted or signed, it is precisely because France, through the president, opposed it”argued Mr. Attal.
On the migration issue, Gabriel Attal ironically comments on Jordan Bardella’s “double border” proposal
During the second major theme addressed in the program, the Prime Minister questioned the head of the RN list on his proposal for “double border” within the European Union for foreign nationals from outside the EU. “The double border is first of all the systematic pushback of migrant boats arriving on European soil”, explained Mr. Bardella. Who then proposed that “free movement in the Schengen area is reserved for European nationals”.
“You are Syrian, Libyan, you arrive in Italy, in Sweden, you obtain a residence permit, for example to work. I do not want this residence permit to give you the right to travel in all countries of the European Union”developed Mr. Bardella.
“How do you manage to control everyone at France’s land borders? »replied the Prime Minister, recalling that there are “half a million French people who cross the borders of Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Spain by car to go to work”.
Also read the report | Article reserved for our subscribers Jordan Bardella, the Italian: a look back at the Piedmontese origins of the leader of the RN in the European elections
Add to your selections
The Schengen code allows “reestablish border controls which are random, I want to strengthen them”replied Jordan Bardella. “In a few seconds, we moved in the program that you are presenting to the French from a double border where everyone will be checked at the borders to an increase in random checks”the Prime Minister immediately quipped.
For Jordan Bardella, “there was a collective naivety towards Vladimir Putin”, including himself in
MM. During the last minutes of the show, Attal and Bardella addressed the issue of Russia and the war in Ukraine. The opportunity for the Prime Minister to attack his evening opponent on the links of the National Rally with Moscow. If he affirmed that his opponent is not “particularly Russophile or fan of Vladimir Putin”Gabriel Attal believes “that at some point there was an alliance of mutual interest “.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Russia: cascading disgraces at the top of the army
Add to your selections
“Your party, that of Mme Le Pen and Jean-Marie Le Pen, needed money. Russia needed a party in Europe to weaken Europe from within”continued Mr. Attal, for whom the RN has “nice to have reimbursed [sa] debt, you have a moral contract with them, which means that you are not free in your votes and your decisions in the European Parliament”. “Why did you not vote for the resolution which provides support for Alexeï Navalny who was languishing in Russian jails and who died today? » asked Gabriel Attal.
“In the European Parliament, I have always been very clear and [j’ai] always condemned without the slightest ambiguity the aggression of Ukraine by Russia, which today is a multidimensional threat”, replied Jordan Bardella. For the RN MEP, there was, in France, “a collective naivety towards Vladimir Putin and his intentions”including itself in it.
While this face-to-face meeting had been widely criticized by the other parties for the lack of fairness on the part of France 2 in terms of speaking time, the eight main heads of the list meet on Monday May 27 on BFM-TV to a new debate.
