For the first time, France's Front National party (described by some as 1930s Social Nationalism) is running level with the two governing parties in post-war France - the Socialists and the Gaullistes. With all around 21%, the Front is rapidly gaining support as its leader, Marine Le-Pen exclaims, "Europe is just a great bluff. One side there is the immense power of sovereign peoples, and on the other side are a few technocrats." As The Telegraph reports [5], following a massive victory securing 46% of the vote in a recent by-election, her anti-euro sentiment is clearly gathering attention. "The euro ceases to exist the moment that France leaves, and that is our incredible strength. What are they going to do, send in tanks?" she notes, adding that should she be elected she will demand an EU referendum, "I will negotiate over the points on which there can be no compromise. If the result is inadequate, I will call for withdrawal." While her rhetoric is strong, it is clear by the gains and her purging of the more extreme members of her cantankerous father's party that she is serious as she concludes somewhat ominously, "France is not a country that can accept tutelage from Brussels."
Via The Telegraph [5],
[Front National Party leader Marine Le-Pen is] brimming with confidence after her party secured 46pc of the vote in a by-election earthquake a week ago.
For the first time, the Front National is running level with the two governing parties of post-War France, Socialists and Gaullistes. All are near 21pc in national polls, though the Front alone has the wind in its sails.
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"The euro ceases to exist the moment that France leaves, and that is our incredible strength. What are they going to do, send in tanks?"
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"Europe is just a great bluff. One side there is the immense power of sovereign peoples, and on the other side are a few technocrats,"
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Asked if she intends to pull France of the euro immediately, she said: "Yes, because the euro blocks all economic decisions. France is not a country that can accept tutelage from Brussels," she said.
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She said the EMU crisis is structural. North and South need different exchange rates. "The D-Mark would be rising if it were not for the euro, and that means Germany has a chronically undervalued currency. The euro is far too strong for France, and it is eating away our competitiveness,"
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A recent Pew Foundation survey said French support for the EU Project has collapsed from 60pc to 40pc over the last year, and 77pc think economic integration has been damaging.
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France endured the same slow torture in the early 1930s under the Gold Standard, stoically accepting the "500 deflation decrees" of premier Pierre Laval. The dam broke in 1936 with the election of spurned outsiders, then the Leftist Front Populaire, with Communist support. The Gold Standard collapsed.
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"We have succumbed to a spirit of slavery in France. We have forgotten how to lead, and our voice is not heard any more," she said. It will be heard now.