–Calls For EMU States To Participate In Concerted Euro Breakup
PARIS (MNI) – Marine Le Pen, the presidential candidate for
France’s far-right National Front, served up a large helping of economic
nationalism Friday, one day after a new opinion poll showed her closing
the gap with incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy for second place.
Le Pen renewed her argument that the Eurozone should be dismantled
and member states return to using individual national currencies. And
she pressed for a 3% tax on imports, a measure also hinted at recently
by Sarkozy – perhaps in an effort to woo potential National Front
voters.
Speaking to a group of foreign and French journalists, Le Pen
argued that the euro was a faulty project from the start and that it was
no longer sustainable.
“The euro will not last,” she said. “The pressure from the
sovereign debt crisis is such that there is no way to save it. The only
thing they are doing is putting it on life support to gain a little
time. That has already cost a lot, is costing more today, and will cost
even more tomorrow.” She added: “The survival of the euro is completely
artificial.”
Le Pen said that to avoid the financial stress of a Eurozone
breakup falling disproportionately on France and other countries that
choose to leave, all Eurozone members should prepare for the split and
execute it in unison. “I would like to participate in an exit from the
euro in a concerted manner with our partners,” she said.
Le Pen criticized what she called “an almost religious” deference
to the euro on the part of Europe’s mainstream parties, especially in
Germany and France.
“We were told it would bring growth, jobs, and prosperity,” she
recalled. “But growth [in the euro area] has been the weakest in the
world.” In France, “we are engaged in a massive de-industrialization,
and explosion of unemployment,” with a trade deficit that “is
exploding each year and has reached dizzying levels,” she added.
“The true question is, ‘can we afford to remain in the euro?'”
The National Front leader argued that if the Eurozone were to
crumble with no plan B, it would bring a lot more pain than if it had
been prepared in advance. There is no reason why Eurozone countries
couldn’t plan an organized exit from the euro, she said.
She noted that some of the world’s major central banks, including
the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England, as well as many private
sector financial institutions, are beginning to take a hard look at what
a post-euro world would look like. “If you are telling me our
governments, in France and Germany, are not preparing for the collapse
of the euro, then I’d say we need to change them,” Le Pen said.
She proposed a series of national referendums on the euro,
expressing confidence that both the French and German people would vote
to leave it if given the chance.
She also asserted that France was the only major world economy that
did not protect its industry, “with the consequences that we know all
too well.” That, and the need to finance the country’s social safety
net, is “why I have proposed a very light import tax of 3%,” Le Pen
said.
In other times, Le Pen’ voice might be considered a marginal one,
unlikely to exert a significant influence on French policies. But with
unemployment on the rise and skepticism of the euro rising, Le Pen has
transformed the National Front into a surprisingly strong party in this
election year.
A new opinion poll published late Thursday by IFOP-Fiducial and the
magazine Paris-Match showed Le Pen nipping at the heels of Sarkozy, with
21.5% of the intended vote compared to 23.5% for the incumbent.
Socialist party candidate Francois Hollande is in first place with 27%.
Hollande has consistently led in all the polls of recent months.
In another recent poll by Opinion Way, Le Pen was also in third
place, but with a more modest 17%, compared with 25% for Sarkozy and 27%
for Hollande.
Le Pen’s relatively strong standing in the polls, and the
candidacies of several smaller party candidates that could draw votes
from the Socialists or from Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, means that she
has a non-negligible shot of making it to the second round of France’s
two-round presidential election.
If that were to happen, it would be a political earthquake in
France, as it was in 2002, when Le Pen’s father and predecessor
Jean-Marie Le Pen beat out Socialist Lionel Jospin to make it to the
first round against incumbent Jacques Chirac.
But nine years ago, the Socialists and virtually entire French left
rallied behind the conservative Chirac, who won in landslide. Most
political analysts believe Marine Le Pen would suffer a similar fate
were she to make it to the second round.
The first round of the French presidential elections will be held
on April 22, followed by a second round on May 6.
–Paris newsroom, +331-42-71-55-40; bwolfson@marketnews.com
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