The 2019 EP election in France

Since the last election to the European Parliament in 2014, France saw itself confronted with two major transformations shaping the 2019 election to a large extent. In the context of the 2017 presidential election, the two mainstream parties collapsed, while Macron’s En Marche party recorded a notable success. Additionally, France returned to a single constituency system for EP elections, making the national level more relevant in the campaign. This chapter draws upon novel data from the RECONNECT 2019 EP election panel survey to assess to what extent the 2019 French EP election resembled a first-order or second-order contest. The results are rather ambivalent, making it harder to assess the true nature of the election. While over time, second-orderness was a key characteristic of EP voting behaviour in France, the 2019 election is more of the exception that confirms the rule. The results hint at the ‘Europe matters’ argument, with Le Pen’s Nationally Rally as well as En Marche enjoying increased electoral support, due to their strong European stances. However, it is indeed the changes in the first-order national arena that seem to have shaped the election outcome.