Summary The table below is a summary of the main parties contesting the 2019 European elections in France.
Lutte Ouvrière The leadership of the
New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) initially voted in favor of a common list with
Lutte Ouvrière (LO), with its national political council on 6 and 7 October 2018 voting 37–22 (with 5 abstentions and 10 non-participants) in favor of an alliance in the 2019 European elections; however, in November 2018, the parties acknowledged the failure to arrive to an agreement for a common list. The annual party congress of Lutte Ouvrière on 8 and 9 December voted to present an autonomous list, with spokeswoman and former presidential candidate
Nathalie Arthaud announcing that she would be its lead candidate. Arthaud said the party refused an alliance with the NPA because the interests of workers were not a priority for the latter, and because she did not want to run a campaign on "all the struggles that can be fought, from ecology to feminism".
French Communist Party On 1 December 2017,
Pierre Laurent, national secretary of the
French Communist Party (PCF), stated that he wanted to gather "the strongest possible left group" for the 2019 European elections, launching an appeal to
Jean-Luc Mélenchon of
La France Insoumise and
Benoît Hamon of
Génération.s. The national council of the PCF on 30 and 31 March approved the principle of a "common platform" including various left-wing groups as well as members of civil society and intellectuals, postponing discussion of electoral strategy. On 3 June,
Ian Brossat, deputy for housing to Socialist
mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, was selected as the leader of the PCF list. On 14 June, the PCF again called for a common list of the left in an open letter addressed to parties on the left, excluding the
Socialist Party (PS). In December,
Fabien Roussel, recently elected leader of the party, indicated that he did not necessarily support a common list given disagreements between left-of-centre parties, and indicated that an alliance with Hamon would only occur if Brossat led the list. On 26 January, the PCF officially unveiled its list, voted on by party members from 31 January to 2 February. It includes two incumbent MEPs (
Patrick Le Hyaric and
Marie-Pierre Vieu), trade unionist Marie-Hélène Bourlard in second position (featured in the documentary film
Merci patron! by sitting France Insoumise deputy
François Ruffin), and is half composed of workers.
La France Insoumise At the convention of his movement on 25 November 2017,
Jean-Luc Mélenchon announced that
La France Insoumise would present a list in 2019, considering the elections a "referendum on the European question" to "break the chains, exit the European budgetary treaties". The movement negotiating an
alliance with the Spanish party
Podemos and the Portuguese
Left Bloc in Lisbon on 12 April 2018. At the national level, Mélenchon continued to refuse any alliance with either Hamon's movement or the
French Communist Party (PCF). He announced on 11 March 2018 that he himself would not be a candidate. The movement published an unordered list of candidates on 5 June, with and
Manuel Bompard guaranteed spots as the presumptive list leaders, in first and second position, respectively, and
Younous Omarjee as the sole incumbent MEP. The movement received 637 applications, of which 506 were submitted by men and 131 by women; the electoral committee then ensured the demographic parity of the applicants. The resulting list was then submitted feedback until July, The list produced by the electoral committee was met with criticism by dissatisfied activists, including
Liêm Hoang-Ngoc of the "insubordinate Socialists", who "suspended" his movement's participation; former electoral committee member Lilian Guelfi, who denounced alleged favoritism by Manuel Bompard; and
Sarah Soilihi and François Cocq, who withdrew their candidacies following its publication. Djordje Kuzmanovic later quit the movement in November following his removal from the list after sexist remarks. Nevertheless, the consultation of activists from 4 to 20 July resulted in its approval by 86.97% of participants. After
Emmanuel Maurel and
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann quit the PS in mid-October. the pair formed a new political party close to the
Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC), the
Republican and Socialist Left (GRS), in early 2019. On 15 October, MRC president
Jean-Luc Laurent announced an alliance with Maurel and Lienemann to create a common list with La France Insoumise, with Maurel leaving the
social democratic group in the European Parliament. In April 2019, political scientist , in 14th position, accused La France insoumise of being "a dictatorship" : the party reacted by saying he was accused of sexual harassment and removed him from the list. On 15 November, Girard confirmed that she would neither lead the list nor be a candidate in 2019, and appeared to imply that she was sidelined. On 9 December, According to Aubry, their list included several active
gilets jaunes. As in the 2017 presidential campaign, the movement used holograms to hold virtual meetings in 471 small towns throughout France (via "holovans"). Unable to secure financing, Mélenchon called for supporters to participate in a "people's loan" to fund their campaign, collecting 1.5 million euros within five days, and reaching 2 million euros by 10 April, with an average loan of 700 euros.
Génération.s On 21 January 2018,
Benoît Hamon announced alongside former Greek finance minister
Yanis Varoufakis of
DiEM25 that
Génération.s would contest the 2019 European elections. On 10 March, Hamon called for the creation of the "first pan-European transnational list" alongside
Razem in Poland,
The Alternative in Denmark, and
LIVRE in Portugal, publishing a common manifesto in June. Hamon sought to invite
Élise Lucet, host of
Cash Investigation on
France 2, as a lead candidate, but was rebuffed.
Audrey Pulvar was also contacted, but indicated that she was not interested, as was the case with
Christiane Taubira. The movement communicated with the Greens and PCF, even if the possibility of an alliance between the three was unlikely, but ruled out running on 25 June 2018. On 29 October, the movement launched a call for applications for prospective candidates from civil society, receiving between 300 and 400 applications. In mid-November 2018, incumbent MEP
Édouard Martin confirmed that he would not seek a second term. In an interview published in
Le Monde on 6 December, Hamon confirmed that he would be the lead candidate of a "citizen alliance", and subsequently closed the door to an alliance with the PS on 7 January 2019, citing its membership of the
Party of European Socialists (PES).
Le Journal du Dimanche reported that top candidates would also include MEPs
Guillaume Balas and
Isabelle Thomas, ex-
La France Insoumise member
Sarah Soilihi, spokeswoman
Aurore Lalucq, and community activist
Salah Amokrane. In an interview published in
Le Monde in early February, Hamon proposed that the left hold a "citizen vote" in April to select a common list and program, though only
New Deal, (LRDG), and the
Movement of Progressives (MdP) were receptive to the idea. Hamon then announced on 23 February that he would lead an independent list, revealing the first thirty candidates on the list on 26 February. Lalucq later quit, announcing on 18 March that she would join
Place Publique. The movement indicated it was 600,000 euros short of financing its campaign, and considered soliciting donations via a "citizen bank".
Socialist Party, Place Publique, and Nouvelle Donne Early on, a number of PS heavyweights declined to lead the list, including
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem,
Pierre Moscovici,
Stéphane Le Foll,
Olivier Faure,
Christiane Taubira,
François Hollande,
Bernard Cazeneuve,
Ségolène Royal,
Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, and
Christian Eckert.
Julien Dray declared his candidacy, and
Emmanuel Maurel was also reportedly approached to lead the list, and did not rule out the possibility at the time. On 8 October,
Le Figaro reported that outgoing MEP
Éric Andrieu was a candidate to lead the PS list, as was
Christine Revault d'Allonnes, who announced her candidacy on 11 October. , , and
Sylvie Guillaume were also considered potential list leaders. In preparation for the elections, the PS began drafting its platform in May 2018, launching a "digital collaborative platform", laruchesocialiste.fr, Disagreements on the left wing of the party on the final form of the program persisted through September, despite commitments to create a left-wing and ecologist "intergroup" in the European Parliament, halt any new free trade treaties, and vote against the
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada. The text marked a new approach for the PS, arguing in favor of more social and environmental controls in trade agreements and a revision of the European treaties led by the left. Faure also affirmed that the PS would not support the candidacy of
Frans Timmermans as
Spitzenkandidat. In an interview with
Le Monde published on 12 October, Maurel quit the PS and castigated its failure to represent socialism, soon followed by
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann the following day, with the creating a new left-wing party associated with
Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC) in 2019, the
Republican and Socialist Left (GRS). After Royal ruled out standing as a candidate of a common list on 11 January, Faure indicated he would be ready to lead a PS list if necessary.
Raphaël Glucksmann, who co-founded
Place Publique in an effort to unite the left, was offered the position of lead candidate. On 13 February, the national office of the party approved of Faure's plans to seek an alliance with Place Publique, and Glucksmann officially announced his intention to lead a list in the European elections on 15 March, with the national council of the PS voting to designate Glucksmann as lead candidate the following day, with 128 votes in favor, 5 against, and 35 abstentions (including
Stéphane Le Foll and
Luc Carvounas). The list is composed of half PS candidates and half those of other parties and figures from civil society, marking the first time since 1979 the PS did not lead its own list in the European elections.
New Deal officially announced its support for the list on 18 March 2019, as did ex-Génération.s spokeswoman
Aurore Lalucq. After receiving 215 applications from party officials by 26 October 2018, the PS approved a list of 20 women and 20 men as candidates in the European elections on 27 March 2019, with 23 votes in favor and 11 against; Le Foll, Carvounas,
Martine Aubry, and their allies expressed displeasure at the list, as did a number of candidates and outgoing MEPs, who denounced the diluted list (given the number of PS candidates in non-electable positions). After initially coming to an agreement,
Virginie Rozière's (LRDG) quit the list on 29 April, following pressure from their former
PRG colleagues towards PS not to welcome the LRDG splitters while PRG was itself cancelling its merger into
Macron-leaning
Radical Movement. On 5 May,
Le Parisien reported that Christiane Taubira would back the list, appearing alongside Glucksmann on 15 May.
Europe Ecology – The Greens On 27 February 2018, MEP
Yannick Jadot stated that EELV would seek to present an independent list in 2019. Both Jadot and fellow MEP
Michèle Rivasi opposed a rapprochement with Hamon like that in the 2017 presidential election. Among outgoing MEPs,
José Bové,
Eva Joly, and
Pascal Durand did not intend to seek a third mandate. Durand, a supporter of
Nicolas Hulot, was seen as open to working with
La République En Marche!, as was
Karima Delli, despite her denial of any such intentions, Durand, on the other hand, ultimately joined the La République En Marche list. but was rejected the following day. Given the difficulty in finding a potential list leader,
Noël Mamère was named a possible "consensus candidate" in an alliance with Hamon, and the outlines of the party's plans for the 2019 elections were presented from 23 to 25 August. and subsequently reaffirmed that he would not ally with Hamon again in the European elections. On 23 September, the EELV federal council agreed to place
Damien Carême, mayor of
Grande-Synthe, 3rd on the EELV list, and Alexis Tiouka, a former representative to the UN for the rights of indigenous peoples, later joined the list, becoming the first-ever Native American on a European electoral list. In an interview on 25 February 2019, Jadot announced the addition of regional councilor Benoît Biteau to the list in 11th position.
Régions et Peuples Solidaires planned to contest the elections but left open the possibility of allying with the Greens, and on 16 February 2019 announced it was an alliance, with former MEP
François Alfonsi as well as Lydie Massard and Anne-Marie Hautant joining the list. On 23 February, the
Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI) duly announced that it reached an agreement with the EELV, with Caroline Roose and Salima Yenbou within the top 10 electable places on the list. The Greens intend to target both ex-Socialists and disappointed Macron voters who view his government's policies as too right-wing. Jadot has sought to portray the EELV as neither left nor right but "central", attempting to represent a "pragmatic" German-style ecology and create an "ecologist pole" as opposed to the "productivist" and "populist" poles, saying that "ecology is not the left". The Greens, led by Jadot, also unveiled their plans for a "
Green New Deal", a name borrowed from the American left, proposing dedicating 100 billion euros to investments in renewable energy and home insulation to achieve 100% electricity generation from renewables within 20 years.
La République En Marche and allies In March 2019,
Les Échos reported that the choice of lead candidate was to be made internally between either health minister
Agnès Buzyn or European affairs minister
Nathalie Loiseau. Loiseau officially announced she would seek the nomination for lead candidate following her debate with
Marine Le Pen on the set of ''
L'Émission politique on 14 March, while Les Échos
and Le Parisien'' later reported that Buzyn withdrew her name from consideration. Loiseau was officially designated as lead candidate on 26 March as the list of the first 30 candidates was unveiled.
Alain Juppé was the subject of early speculation regarding his potential candidacy to lead the list, and his appointment to the
Constitutional Council precluded his participation in the campaign, but he indicated he would have supported Macron's list. Other speculated list leaders included
Édouard Philippe,
François Bayrou,
Nicolas Hulot,
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet,
Arnaud Danjean, and
Michel Barnier.
Pierre Moscovici ruled out the possibility, as did Barnier,
Jean-Yves Le Drian, Bayrou, Danjean,
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, and
Thomas Pesquet. Outgoing Green MEP
Karima Delli, ministers
Marlène Schiappa and
Brune Poirson, deputy
Amélie de Montchalin,
Pascal Canfin, head of the French section of the
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and former
France Inter journalist
Bernard Guetta were also considered potential candidates. Canfin declined to lead the list on 16 November, and in late January 2019,
Laurence Tubiana, president of the
European Climate Foundation and former
COP21 negotiator, was mentioned as a possibility, as were Le Drian, sailor
Maud Fontenoy, justice minister
Nicole Belloubet, and
Emmanuelle Wargon. On 17 December 2017, at the congress of the
Democratic Movement (MoDem),
Christophe Castaner said he supported an "enlarged list" for the European elections based on their alliance, and on 26 September 2018, the movement officially announced the opening of applications for prospective candidates from civil society, receiving 2,673 in total, winnowed by an investiture committee chaired by
Jean-Marc Borello. Former Élysée advisor
Stéphane Séjourné was designated campaign director on 29 October, tasked with creating a list alongside
Agir, For the MoDem, Bayrou selected Régis Lefebvre to serve as deputy campaign director. On 15 February,
Challenges revealed that EELV MEP
Pascal Durand would be on the list in an electable position and Séjourné in the top 25 places. The centre-right party Agir proposed several candidates for the list, including two in electable position: Nicolas Barnier (the son of Michel Barnier and a parliamentary assistant), as well as
Fabienne Keller,
Gilles Boyer,
Élisabeth Morin-Chartier, and Xavier Fournier. In an interview published in
Challenges on 6 February,
Radical Movement co-president
Laurent Hénart indicated that the movement would likely vote to join a common list, sparking dissent among some ex-PRG members including co-president
Sylvia Pinel, who announced her departure from the party to resurrect the PRG on two days later. The candidates it proposed included outgoing MEP
Dominique Riquet, Olga Johnson, and Mélanie Fortier. One outgoing MEP,
Jean Arthuis, announced that he would not seek to run again in 2019, and Agir MEP
Tokia Saïfi also retired, as did the party's other MEP Élisabeth Morin-Chartier after learning she would not be in electable position on the list. Foreign nationals were also on the list, including former Italian undersecretary for European affairs
Sandro Gozi. After declining to run as a lead candidate, Canfin ultimately appeared in second on the list. La République En Marche considered alliances with similar European political parties including
Citizens in Spain and the
Democratic Party in Italy, as well as parties outside of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade was delegated with the task of forming contacts with potential European partners. On 9 September 2018,
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the
ALDE group, claimed that La République En Marche would ally with ALDE, which Castaner denied. Reports in October indicated Macron and Dutch prime minister
Mark Rutte reached an agreement in principle for an alliance, though Anglade emphasized that ALDE parties would merely serve as the foundation, with EPP parties on the right such as
Civic Platform in Poland and
New Democracy in Greece as well as PES parties on the left including the Democratic Party in Italy and the
Social Democratic Party of Austria in consideration. The party considered recruiting MEPs to form a group after the election. Following the airing of a report on France 2 on 11 March about ALDE's financial backing from
Monsanto, manufacturer of
glyphosate, the party announced that it would not join the ALDE, leading the latter to announce it would no longer accept corporate donations. Verhofstadt later announced on 2 May that the ALDE group would be dissolved after the elections to ally and create a new group.
Union of Democrats and Independents On 15 December 2018, Lagarde launched the party's campaign at its extraordinary congress, hoping to gain the support of pro-European voters who were not necessarily in favor of Macron's ideas on Europe. The party is also seeking to gain support from LR voters disillusioned by the hard-right political line of Wauquiez. Former LR vice president
Virginie Calmels as well as general
Pierre de Villiers were approached as potential candidates. However, Calmels later denied she was contacted and ruled out working with the UDI.
Xavier Bertrand planned to appear at the launch of the UDI congress remotely, but reiterated that he did not support a federal Europe did support the UDI list. The UDI list includes former MEP
Nora Berra, an Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional councilor elected on the LR list who later quit the party to protest its hard-right positioning, in second position, as well as longtime centrist
Louis Giscard d'Estaing, son of
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in third. While the party's sole remaining MEP
Patricia Lalonde initially supported the principle of an independent list, she later urged the party to join the LR list, expressing support for Bellamy and Wauquiez; Lalonde did not seek another mandate in the elections. though his political inexperience and conservative profile initially raised concerns. Wauquiez decided to submit three names to the CNI on 29 January, naming not only Bellamy but Agnès Evren and Arnaud Danjean as top candidates for the list, balancing the various strands of the party, with Evren close to
Valérie Pécresse and Danjean a committed pro-European close to
Alain Juppé. On 29 January, the CNI validated the nominations of Bellamy, Evren, and Danjean with 38 out of 40 votes. Other potential list leaders included
Laurent Wauquiez, who declined,
Virginie Calmels,
Damien Abad,
Jean Leonetti,
Arnaud Danjean,
Luc Ferry,
Pierre de Villiers,
Éric Woerth,
Christian Jacob, Geoffroy Didier,
Philippe Juvin,
Michel Dantin, and
Arnaud Danjean, though Leonetti declined, Ferry was uninterested, Pécresse,
Rachida Dati, and
Michel Barnier also declined to lead the LR list. and was subsequently threatened with expulsion from the party; he ultimately joined the RN list. On 12 February 2019,
Hervé Morin of
The Centrists met with Wauquiez about a possible alliance for two out of the top 20 places on the list. On 6 March, the LR national investiture committee designated the first 26 candidates on the list. Alexandre Vergnes, general secretary of
Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions (CPNT), was initially slated to appear in 13th – and later 15th – position, but was later demoted to 30th; ultimately, the party announced on 11 April that its candidates would be Martine Aury in 48th and Pascal Marie in 31st.
Geoffroy Didier was appointed campaign director in March. Despite pressure from La République En Marche to support their list ahead of the 2020 municipal elections and implied threats not to support them in case of their refusal denounced by some as "blackmail", "Macron-compatible" mayors (including
Arnaud Robinet and
Christian Estrosi) largely backed Bellamy's list. Among outgoing MEPs, Nadine Morano, Brice Hortefeux,
Alain Cadec,
Franck Proust, Geoffroy Didier, with Rachida Dati also opting out in view of the
2020 municipal elections in Paris.
Marc Joulaud and Philippe Juvin are also not running for another term. On 20 March, the
National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP) voted unanimously to join Dupont-Aignan's "The Lovers of France" (
Les Amoureux de la France), a political formation including the
Christian Democratic Party of
Jean-Frédéric Poisson and mayor of
Béziers Robert Ménard. On 31 May, the three figures of "The Lovers of France" presented a "common program" with president of the
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group
Ryszard Legutko in attendance, coinciding with the defection of FN MEP
Bernard Monot to join DLF and the publication of an open letter from Le Pen inviting Dupont-Aignan to form a common list, which the latter subsequently rejected publicly. On 23 September, Dupont-Aignan officially announced that he intended to lead a "union list" of the right in the 2019 European elections, and DLF officially concluded its alliance with the ECR on 21 December. RN MEP
Sylvie Goddyn, who was expelled from the party on 19 October 2018 after indicating her support for Dupont-Aignan's initiative for a union list, as did Poisson. According to a report in
Le Figaro, Dupont-Aignan also sought to invite
Jean Lassalle to lead his list but was rebuffed, as was the case with
Thierry Mariani, who chose to join the RN list.
Jeannette Bougrab also refused to join the list, while both Dupont-Aignan and Le Pen failed to recruit LR member Erik Tegnér. DLF attempted to draft another LR figure,
Malika Sorel, while UBS whistleblower
Stéphanie Gibaud became a candidate on the DLF list. On 11 February, ''
L'Opinion reported that wealthy financier and writer Charles Gave would appear on the DLF list and provide the party with nearly 2 million euros in funding, while his daughter Emmanuelle Gave would also be on the list in an electable position. After Quotidien'' revealed the younger Gave's history of controversial tweets, DLF announced on 20 February that she would not be nominated, thus losing the elder Gave's guarantee of funding. Following the departure of the Gaves and denial of loans, the party relied on 1.2 million in funding via a "people's loan" from supporters, in addition to around 1 million euros provided by candidates on the list. On 28 March 2019, Dupont-Aignan unveiled the first 23 candidates on the list, excluding Poisson because of his alleged refusal to embrace a collective approach, with outgoing MEPs Monot and Goddyn also absent "by mutual agreement". Poisson reportedly threatened to launch his own list with Gave after being told he would appear in fifth position, rather than third as originally planned. Despite their participation in
Les Amoureux de la France, Ménard and
Nicolas Dhuicq ultimately supported the list of the RN.
National Rally According to a report in ''
L'Obs'' on 22 November 2018,
Jordan Bardella, the 23-year-old head of the party's youth wing
Génération Nation, was favored by Le Pen to lead the list. and on 7 January 2019,
Louis Aliot confirmed that Bardella would lead the party's list in the European elections after being confirmed unanimously by the members of the RN's leadership. Two LR members, former minister
Thierry Mariani and
Jean-Paul Garraud, as well as economist
Hervé Juvin, appeared on the party's list. In addition,
André Rougé, who advised Le Pen during the presidential campaign and another ex-UMP member, employed in the mayoral office of
Jacques Chirac until 1995, was also on the list. A number of other lead candidates were considered but did not ultimately run. On 1 December 2017,
Nicolas Bay announced that
Marine Le Pen would not lead the party's list in 2019. Juvin was also considered a possibility, and on 12 October 2018, Aliot confirmed said he would seek to become lead candidate, but announced on 20 November that he would instead seek the mayoralty of
Perpignan in the
2020 municipal elections. On 13 December 2017, Le Pen claimed that she wanted an alliance with
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, president of
Debout la France, and met with Dupont-Aignan the same day to discuss "a possible partnership", but was rebuked a month later, Le Pen campaigned with Bardella at public meetings on Saturday afternoons in 20 small communes over the course of a campaign, the cost of which is anticipated to be around 4 million euros, in addition to a single major campaign event in a regional capital on 1 May, with
Hénin-Beaumont mayor Steeve Briois appointed campaign director. Like
La France Insoumise, the party launched an appeal for a "popular loan", soliciting donations from supporters in order to finance its campaign after being denied loans by French banks, and on 23 April announced that it raised 4 million euros using this scheme, which promised to repay lenders with 5% interest. Le Pen and
Matteo Salvini plan to hold a joint campaign meeting in Italy in mid-May, likely in
Milan on 18 May.
The Patriots On 23 November 2017,
Florian Philippot announced that his movement,
The Patriots (
Les Patriotes), would present candidates in the 2019 European elections, fighting for the French exit from the
European Union. The party had three
MEPs, including
Sophie Montel and
Mireille d'Ornano, Philippot launched the party's campaign for the European elections with the publication of his book
Frexit, setting out his vision of Europe, in September 2018. Despite his hopes to build a cross-party list, his appeals to
Henri Guaino,
François Asselineau, and
Jean Lassalle went unreciprocated. Lacking public financing, Philippot called for donations to help fund the party's campaign. As with other parties, the movement sought to recruit
gilets jaunes onto its list, with Philippot seeking to register the name with the
National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) as well. Philippot confirmed on 22 February that his party would have the financial means to contest the elections, saying that he would lead the list, followed by d'Ornano in second place. On 30 April, Philippot filed his list, which was joined by members of Jean-François Barnaba's list
Jaunes et citoyens; Barnaba himself is ninth on the list. On April 24, close to the deadline for filing of lists, Philippot publicly called for a common list with Asselineau; according to ''
L'Opinion'', he delegated Thibaud Lonjon with the task of soliciting an alliance, offering 300,000 euros in additional financing for the list (which had then already raised around 1.2 million euros). In addition to Asselineau, Philippot sought a last-minute alliance with Dupont-Aignan, this time offering 400,000 euros for the third spot on the list, but was again rejected, with
Bertrand Dutheil de La Rochère confirming these approaches.
Popular Republican Union On 18 November 2017,
François Asselineau, founder of the
Popular Republican Union (UPR), said at the party congress in
Tours that he would "probably" be a candidate on the party's list in the 2019 European elections. Asselineau intends to leverage the party's online presence to help raise funds from its 32,000 members.
Gilets jaunes Present lists In a press release on 29 April,
Francis Lalanne announced that he would present a list under the banner of
Alliance jaune on 30 April, having allied with the abortive RIC list now led by Jérémy Clément, with a financial guarantee of 800,000 euros from
Jean-Marc Governatori, co-secretary of the
Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI) – allied with the Greens – in order to ensure the list would be able to contest the elections. The list was led by Lalanne, with Sophia Albert-Salmeron in second and Clément in third position. This effort began following the publication of an open letter signed by Lalanne and Governatori, co-secretary of the
Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI), on 7 December 2018 supporting the principle of a
gilets jaunes list. On 17 December, Lalanne announced the launch of the
Rassemblement gilet jaune citoyen list, though was opposed by many gilets jaunes who felt that he did not represent them. According to
Le Figaro, Jean-François Barnaba was expected to be chosen as the lead candidate for this list, despite having once considered launching his own list, but on 22 March instead announced that he wanted to lead his own list,
Jaunes et citoyens, which later allied with Philippot's list,
The Patriots, with ten candidates in non-electable positions. On 3 March, Christophe Chalençon announced the creation of the
Évolution Citoyenne (Citizen Evolution) list for the European elections. Though Chalençon is a notable figure of the movement, he says the list is not a list of "yellow vests", even if most of its candidates are, but consists of members of civil society representing "citizens of the left and right". though it existed long before the movement, with its foundation in 2006 and presence in the
2009 elections. Other parties ultimately included
gilets jaunes on their lists, including the
French Communist Party (PCF) with three, two present on the pro-
Frexit Popular Republican Union (UPR) list led by
François Asselineau, and right-wing activist Benjamin Cauchy in 9th position for
Debout la France (DLF), of which he was already a member and spokesperson. On 10 December, Hayk Shahinyan announced that he would also attempt to constitute a list. Christophe Chalençon, one of the leaders of the "free" gilets jaunes, also supported the ambition of presenting a list in the European elections. Shahinyan's association,
Gilets Jaunes, le mouvement, was the best-organized group, with 85,000 euros and 14,000 members. On 23 January, the group announced in a press release that they would present a list called ''Ralliement d'initiative citoyenne'' (RIC, or Citizens' Initiative Rally, referencing the acronym of the proposed referendum desired by many gilets jaunes) led by
Ingrid Levavasseur, a 31-year-old nurse assistant, and also revealed the first 10 names on the list, with the remaining spots open to applications. Shahinyan was chosen as campaign director. The announcement of a list provoked largely negative reactions among other gilets jaunes, many of whom were skeptical and considered them opportunists. Marc Doyer, eighth on the list, was revealed to have previously supported Macron, and withdrew from the list on 28 January. Shahinyan also stepped down as campaign director, citing doubts. On 31 January, Brigitte Lapeyronie, ex-UDI member and trade unionist, also announced that she would not stand as a candidate for personal reasons. Barnaba, who hoped to lead his own list, also quit. On 13 February, Levavasseur announced that she would quit the RIC list, a week after a controversial meeting with
Luigi Di Maio, and announced on RTL on 11 March that she would not attempt to present a list. Two others on the list, Côme Dunis and Ayouba Sow, confirmed their departure from the initiative on 26 February. Jérémy Clément said that he would be ready to be lead candidate for the list unless a "more legitimate" candidate emerged. On 5 April, Frédéric Mestdjian, spokesman for the RIC list, said that he expected to arrive at an alliance with "two or three" other lists of yellow vests within weeks, working with Lalanne's list. On 29 January, a gilet jaune leader from
Nice, Patrick Cribouw, announced his intention to present a list in the European elections under the banner of
Union jaune. Spokesman Fréderic Ibanez claimed the list already had around 40 candidates and would attempt to remain apolitical in terms of its composition. Appearing on
BFM TV on 2 March, Cribouw claimed the list was complete and called for alliances with Mouraud, Levavasseur, and Valette. On 1 February, Thierry Paul Valette announced the creation of a European election list under the banner of the
Rassemblement des Gilets jaunes citoyens, claiming to have already chosen 10 candidates, after having quit Lalanne's initiative, but subsequently announced on 26 April that he would not present a list. Shahinyan and Chalençon announced their intention to create the
mouvement alternatif citoyen (MAC) and hold a member vote in March to decide whether to present a list. For her part,
Jacline Mouraud launched a party,
Les Émergents, on 27 January, and reiterated her intention not to present a list in the European elections but the
2020 municipal elections. Many of Macron's supporters considered gilets jaunes lists desirable, given that an internal poll suggested that such a list would siphon votes from the opposition and increase turnout by engaging traditional abstentionists, paradoxically strengthening Macron as a result. Others, however, warned that an electoral transformation of the movement could result in a French
Five Star Movement.
Absent lists New Anticapitalist Party While the
New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) initially sought to ally with
Lutte Ouvrière (LO), with its national political council of 6 and 7 October 2018 approving of the principle of an alliance by a 37–22 vote (with 5 abstentions and 10 non-participants), soliciting donations from its members, with its leadership deciding on 24 March whether to contest the European elections. On 18 February, the party reiterated its desire to be present in the elections, requiring a million euros to ensure its ability to do so. The NPA ultimately announced on 25 March that it would not present a list in 2019, lacking the financial means to do so, and called on its supporters to vote for Lutte Ouvrière.
Résistons! In an interview published in
Valeurs actuelles on 3 May 2018, former presidential candidate
Jean Lassalle announced his intention to present a list under the banner of his movement Résistons! in the European elections, hoping to defend the "territories and rurality" from the "European supranationalism, globalization and hypercapitalism". He voted "no" in the
1992 Maastricht Treaty referendum as well as the
2005 referendum on the European Constitution and opposed the
Treaty of Lisbon in 2008. He intended to create a list composed of local mayors, farmers, business executives, and professionals inadequately represented in politics. On 6 March 2019, Lassalle indicated he had about a "quarter" of the 800,000 to 1 million euros needed to finance the campaign, and ultimately announced on 11 April 2019 that he would not present a list in the European elections, lacking sufficient funding.
Other electoral lists On 23 November 2018,
Delphine Batho of
Ecology Generation confirmed that she intended to present a list, and on 18 March 2019, she confirmed alongside
Antoine Waechter of the
Independent Ecological Movement (MEI) that
Dominique Bourg would lead their
Urgence Écologie list, also supported by the
Movement of Progressives (MdP), as well as a significant contingent of the
Union of Democrats and Ecologists (UDE). The
Animalist Party presented a list in the elections led by Hélène Thouy, with several notable candidates including journalist
Henry-Jean Servat and Sylvie Rocard, wife of the late former prime minister
Michel Rocard, as well as backing from numerous film and television personalities, and former MEP
Michèle Striffler in 11th position. and
Une Europe au service des peuples, the list of the
Union of French Muslim Democrats (UDMF) led by Najib Azergui, which was validated after a delay due to incomplete paperwork. == Election platforms ==