A cause for optimism
The victory of French President Emmanuel Macron’s party in the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday – which came on top of his presidential triumph last month – inspires optimism about the future of Europe.
Here we have a young politician who managed to dominate France’s political scene on the promise of a bold reformist agenda. He managed to win without descending into populism and swept aside the old political class because he chose not to rely on spent forces, but to set up a new movement.
For us, Macron could serve as an example about how the country could pull itself out of the crisis: Having faith in reforms can only take you so far without some radical political decisions.