Bardella Vows ‘New European Architecture’ If He Wins Power In France
By EurActiv
By Eddy Wax
(EurActiv) — Ursula von der Leyen should step down as European Commission president, said Jordan Bardella, raising the prospect of a profound EU shake-up if he or Marine Le Pen wins the French presidential election next April.
“Ursula von der Leyen is jointly responsible for the decline that European nations find themselves in today,” Bardella, president of the right-wing nationalist National Rally party, said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.
“We have fought, we are fighting and we will continue to fight the politics of the European Commission. And we consider that she should go,” said Bardella, speaking alongside Tom Van Grieken, the leader of the far-right Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang.
Repeating that his first trip abroad would be to Brussels, Bardella said he was ready to work with right-wing leaders in Germany and Italy as “chosen allies” on key priorities, from slashing EU bureaucracy to re-industrialising Europe and clamping down on migration.
He also used a phrase that’s becoming one of his campaign mantras: “We want to change everything without destroying anything.”
That raises the prospect of Bardella working with a Commission president whose wings are clipped.
Because it is a major contributor to the EU’s budget, France should enjoy extra influence in EU decision-making, he argued.
Don’t say remigration
Bardella distanced himself from the controversial far-right term ‘remigration’ – employed by his Flemish ally – which refers to a policy of mass forced deportations of migrants from European soil.
“We do not use this term because we don’t really know what it means,” he told reporters.
Bardella would reject the EU’s new migration pact as Hungary and Poland have done, and hold a referendum to assert that French law is superior to EU law on migration. His government would revoke the automatic right of anyone born on French soil to acquire citizenship.
Bardella is also an MEP leading the Patriots for Europe grouping, and led the National Rally in breaking off ties with the far-right Alternative for Germany ahead of the 2024 European elections, seeking to soften his party’s image and win voters on the centre-right.
PM for now
It’s not yet clear whether Bardella or Marine Le Pen will be the French party’s candidate after she was convicted of misusing EU funds. Much rests on a court judgement expected on 7 July, which will determine whether Le Pen is eligible to hold political office.
The latest polling puts both Bardella and Le Pen streets ahead of other candidates when it comes to the likely winner of the first round next April.
Bardella told reporters when leaving the room after the press conference that he was “a candidate for prime minister – for now.”
- Elisa Braun contributed reporting
