One interpretation of the success of France’s Front National (FN) in yesterday’s regional elections is to see it as yet another proverbial ‘wake up call’ for European elites, enamored with the project of European integration and oblivious to their voters’ concerns over immigration and other matters.
Whether one buys into this narrative or not, it bears repeating that the party of Marine Le Pen is not an ally of conservatives or of advocates of free enterprise – in spite of her recent efforts to make FN more palatable to the general public. The FN has recently formed, for example, a student association at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the country.
If you harbor any illusions about the FN’s agenda, consult any of its program documents, such as Ms. Le Pen’s Project for France and for the French from 2012, in which the party proposed a renegotiation of EU treaties, to make a “break with the dogmatic and totally failed European construction.”
Unsurprisingly, the control over immigration ought to be returned, Ms. Le Pen argues, into the hands of the nation-states. But the FN advocated a reintroduction of the Franc, alongside capital controls to limit ‘speculation,’ and the nationalization of banks.
According to the same document, the party wants to prioritize the employment of French citizens in certain professions, as well mandate that the government use only domestic, French firms, in public procurement tenders. And, unlike the EU’s conservative critics in the Anglosphere, Ms. Le Pen is not worried primarily about market-distorting regulations or subsidies coming from an unaccountable bureaucratic body in Brussels. Her endgame is instead to restore France’s full sovereignty and empower the French government to pursue policies that are incompatible with the existence of open markets in Europe.
The FN’s website calls for the “strategic planning of re-industrialization,” under the auspices of the prime minister, using the insights of leading academics, representatives of business, and of the government, which is “to take place in parallel with the introduction of reasonable border protection against unfair international competition (targeted tariffs and quotas).” Other policy ideas include the regulation of banking fees, unspecific policies aiming to “establish an equilibrium between independent business and large supply chains,” and a ban on financial derivatives.
If that is not enough, consider Ms. Le Pen’s cozy links with the Kremlin. She famously called Vladimir Putin “a patriot.” “He is attached to the sovereignty of his people,” she claims, and “understands that we are defending common values – those of the European civilization.” Le Pen has been a frequent visitor to Moscow, and the FN received a loan of €9 million from the First Czech-Russian Bank, a small financial institution created originally to service trade between the Czech Republic and Russia, which may have been only one tranche in a series of payments totaling €40 million.
Let’s not delude ourselves. Whatever signal French voters wanted, or did not want, to send to Europe’s elites, Ms. Le Pen’s party is repugnant, statist, and in bed with Mr. Putin’s regime. The FN, therefore, is not a benign political force that just wants to shake things up a little bit and disappear; it is a direct threat to free enterprise, prosperity, and ultimately to security on the European continent.
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