German MEP Andresen: 'Even people close to Macron don’t really understand what he is doing'

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00:00Let's cross to a member of the European Parliament who hails from neighbouring Germany,

00:05Rasmus Andersen of the Greens, member of the European Parliament's Economic Committee.

00:13Thanks for joining us here on France 24.

00:17Thank you so much.

00:19What's your reaction from the outside looking in to what's unfolding here in Paris?

00:25Well, I mean, we are following the developments quite closely, both in the European Parliament,

00:32but I think this is also true, for example, for Germany as the country I'm elected in,

00:38because French economy is a very important one for stabilizing also European economy.

00:45So this means that like the political uncertainty you are dealing with in France right now

00:51also has a huge impact for Europe and especially for the countries closest to you.

00:58Rasmus Andersen, we can call up a graph that shows the makeup currently of the French Parliament.

01:07And in it you see this split.

01:09There's the far right to one side.

01:11There's various shades of the left to the other.

01:19And in the middle, there's sort of a central block.

01:23There we see the graph.

01:26I mean, is it very different from Germany?

01:30It doesn't seem to be.

01:31So why is it so much more difficult here than it is there?

01:34Well, I think that the way I understand that this French politics is not working very well

01:45in collaborating beyond the aisle and the system, political system of having normally a president

01:54which basically with the party of the president can do whatever they want is not working any longer.

02:04And this is a big difference, for example, to the way we are working in the European Parliament

02:08or the German Bundestag is functioning because we are much more used to collaborating

02:14with different parties and to find compromises.

02:17So I definitely think this is part of the situation.

02:21It's up to the French colleagues to decide.

02:24But my feeling is that it's now time also for the president to show leadership

02:29and also to talk to other parties and to build up a compromise linked to the budget.

02:40Linked to the budget.

02:42Is it a problem with France or is it just the way politics are going, more and more splintered?

02:51And we saw regional elections in your home state recently where, again, the far right made inroads.

02:57We're seeing in the Netherlands where they have a caretaker government for a caretaker government, actually, right now.

03:05Is it just that there just aren't Big Ten parties anymore?

03:08Well, I mean, that's for sure true that we are facing difficulties in all of our countries

03:15when it comes to the race of the far right, when it comes to citizens who are feeling that politics are not working for them any longer.

03:25There are big economic problems in Germany as well as in France.

03:30We can see an economic divide and polarisation, which I also think needs to address much better,

03:38both from national politicians but also from the European level.

03:42Fighting inequality needs definitely to be part of the agenda.

03:46But then I still think with the majority still possible in the French parliament,

03:52that there is room for compromising.

03:54And this means to find solutions which are reducing the deficit of the national budget,

04:03but also means not to further economic polarisation.

04:07We all know it would hurt the French economy as well.

04:11Austerity cannot be a solution either in France or at the European level.

04:16Yeah, the question of you're on the left wing of the spectrum,

04:20and yet here you are saying that a top priority right now is bringing the deficit down.

04:26Is that France's deficit, the fears of a snowball effect for the rest of the continent?

04:33I mean, the first reactions on the financial markets show that we are in the same boat.

04:39And France, as one of the most important economies in Europe, definitely has a role to play.

04:46We are connected through the single markets, through our currency and other things.

04:54This means that, of course, the further development of the French economy has an important effect for other parts of Europe as well.

05:02And your reaction to the fact that Marine Le Pen is calling for a dissolution of parliament?

05:09Well, giving power to the far right means more uncertainty, meaning the economy would not be solved,

05:30but even it would get more problematic and the financial markets would definitely react if this would happen in France,

05:39as they would react if this would happen with the alternative for Germany in Germany as well.

05:46And this is why I think it's really important to keep the far right out of power

05:51and to try to find balanced compromises and solving the inequality questions with the other parts

06:00which are not interested in a crisis and in populism like the far righters,

06:05but really want to find a solution for the citizens.

06:07So this, I think, was important for France, but for all of Europe as well.

06:13One quick final question in the halls of the European Parliament.

06:16Are the French just the subject for some memes and jokes right now, or is it serious?

06:25No, it's serious, and we are definitely discussing this a lot with our French colleagues.

06:31I'm a member of the Green Group here in the Parliament with our Green colleagues from France,

06:38but also with the other groups.

06:39And my feeling is that they all are very concerned about the situation and that they all want to find a solution.

06:46But there is also a big wondering about the role President Macron is playing right now.

06:53And my feeling is that even people closer to him doesn't really understand what he is doing.

06:58And this is what I think is the biggest concern we are having here right now,

07:04because we know that this is important for France and for French citizens,

07:10but it's definitely also important for the rest of the EU.

07:13Rasmus Andressen, many thanks for speaking with us here on France 24.

07:18Thank you so much.

07:19You heard the perplexity there of that German lawmaker about the role of the French President himself.

07:25Well, really, you know, the German system is totally different.

07:30There is indeed a President, but it's more…

07:33I'm wondering what Emmanuel Macron is doing.

07:34Right, right, yes.

07:35And the thing is, everything is still a semi-presidential system here.

07:40But in the end, the President is the one who appoints a prime minister.

07:45He is the one who can dissolve Parliament.

07:48So the two key decisions, the two options, are sitting on the desk of Emmanuel Macron.

07:54And so that's why there's a lot of pressure on him.

07:57There is also a lot of anger at him.

07:59If you look at the polls, a poll taken today shows that his popularity is 14%, 1-4%.

08:06This is at the level of his predecessor, François Hollande, who was so unpopular,

08:12he was around 15%, that he was not able to run again for a re-election.

08:19So clearly this shows that Emmanuel Macron is very isolated.

08:23He has to listen to the French, find a solution, and hopefully for him not being forced to dissolve Parliament,

08:30because this could be even more trouble.

08:32All right, this crisis will run.

08:34We're not going to hear from Emmanuel Macron, at least not this Wednesday evening.

08:38Mark Perlman, many thanks.

08:39More to come.

08:40You're watching France 24.

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