PARIS – Gabriel Attal launched his campaign for the 2027 presidential election on Saturday, seeking to establish himself as Emmanuel Macron’s heir while quietly shifting the focus away from the European agenda that has defined the president’s political project.

Yet despite the symbolism, Europe featured only marginally in his vision for France.

The contrast was striking. Ahead of Attal’s speech, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko urged the French to show “wisdom and courage” in backing strong leadership, while Renew Europe leader Valérie Hayer devoted part of her address to defending the European project.

“The battle for Europe has been won,” Hayer said, crediting President Emmanuel Macron with putting Europe “back at the centre of the game”.

Attal, however, largely steered clear of the topic.

Renew Europe leader Valérie Hayer. (Credits: Daniel Peyronel)

Addressing supporters at Paris’ Porte de Versailles exhibition centre, the Renaissance leader laid out a platform built around four priorities: education, wages, borders and artificial intelligence. Europe barely surfaced, beyond references to Franco-German reconciliation and France’s place on the continent.

Attal enters the race at a turbulent moment for French politics. President Emmanuel Macron remains unpopular, public finances are under strain with one of the EU’s highest deficits, and support for both the far-right Rassemblement National and the hard-left La France Insoumise remains strong. With the first round of the presidential election scheduled for April 2027, the contest is already shaping up as a battle over an increasingly polarised France.

He focused on domestic concerns, lamenting France’s productivity gap with the United States and rejecting what he described as sterile debates over raising or lowering the retirement age.

Using well-tested slogans – “for wages, it’s straight to gross pay”, “a country that no longer controls its borders no longer controls its destiny”, and “France will be the homeland of artificial intelligence” – Attal sought to position himself as the standard-bearer of the political centre after Macron.

At the same time, the former prime minister appeared keen to distance himself from Macron, delivering a thinly veiled criticism of the president’s governing style.

“The exercise of power either confines or enlightens,” he said. “Either it traps you in the stubborn belief that you alone are right, or it sheds light on France,” in an apparent reference to Macron’s often-criticised leadership style.

Attal also sought to draw a sharp dividing line against both the left and the far right, arguing that he did not merely want to contain La France Insoumise and the Rassemblement National, but to “overwhelm” them.

Despite the high-profile launch, polls currently place Attal below 10% in a first-round scenario that includes former prime minister Édouard Philippe, leader of the centre-right Horizons party.

Still, Attal’s supporters insisted the campaign was only beginning.

“Do you know what fatalism is? It’s the opposite of Attalism,” quipped Antoine Armand, the mayor of Annecy, summing up the mood among supporters despite the unfavourable polling.

(cs)