European elections, 2019

An Ciarraioch

It seems Macron has declared his intentions for En Marche, forming an alliance with Spain's Ciudadanos. This is somewhat of an odd coupling, as in 2017, EM were launched as a progressive centrist, social liberal party, whereas C's have built their electoral support within both Catalonia and Spain through appeals to Castilians and Spanish unionism, so has the French president moved firmly to the right?

https://www.politico.eu/article/macrons-en-marche-spains-ciudadanos-working-on-joint-2019-platform/

laoch na mona

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

It seems Macron has declared his intentions for En Marche, forming an alliance with Spain's Ciudadanos. This is somewhat of an odd coupling, as in 2017, EM were launched as a progressive centrist, social liberal party, whereas C's have built their electoral support within both Catalonia and Spain through appeals to Castilians and Spanish unionism, so has the French president moved firmly to the right?

https://www.politico.eu/article/macrons-en-marche-spains-ciudadanos-working-on-joint-2019-platform/

I can't see pan European alliances having much appeal, it's as if the centre refuses to learn the lesson from the upsurge in far right populism.

Diem25 are attempting the same thing but from a liberal left perspective.

Macron has always been pretty right wing, his main policies so far include attacking unions and launching a pan European military alliance

Chips Lovell

Doesn't strike me as being that odd. I never saw Ciudadanos as being especially right wing (at least, not like PP are), nor Macron as being that left wing.

FreudianSlippers

I don't think Macron "attack[ed] unions", I think his concern is the vast power that unions in France have to hold the entire nation hostage - a power that union bosses here, between sips of the finest wines, are drooling over.