How Businesses Should Engage With French Policymaking
Following Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the April presidential elections with nearly 58.55% of the vote against Marine Le Pen, his party and allies obtained the largest number of seats in the National Assembly (245) but not enough to obtain an absolute majority (289). President Macron finds himself in a constitutional dead end, with a government unable to pass reforms in parliament on its own, but an opposition too divided to form an alternate government. Macron's only solution to govern and attempt to reform France over the next few years will be to secure the support of his more moderate opponents through compromises on the major reforms he is seeking.
While parliamentarism has not historically worked very well in France, the current situation significantly strengthens the role of parliament in the French legislative process. President Macron’s recent comments suggest that he will mostly focus on parliamentarians from the moderate right-wing opposition bloc (the Republicans) to continue to implement his pro-business, liberal-leaning economic policy, against a backdrop of budgetary austerity expected in the second half of the year.