Macron’s top candidate for EU election says she’s ‘proud’ of Green Deal and ‘appalled’ by far-right campaign

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron's pick to lead his party during June's European election said she was "proud" of the bloc's Green Deal despite the ire it has provoked among farmers across the continent.

Speaking to POLITICO at an event in Paris, Valérie Hayer also said she was "appalled" by far-right rival Jordan Bardella's decision to skip debates, a strategy reminiscent of former U.S. President Donald Trump's approach during the ongoing Republican primary.

"He is approaching this campaign in the same way he approached his European mandate: with no respect for the French people," Hayer said of the 28-year-old Bardella.

Hayer, the president of the Renew group in the European Parliament, used the interview to double down on a record of centrism and compromise while portraying Macron’s Renaissance party as one that can pass legislation and get things done in Brussels.

She cited her efforts to secure the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy, thereby ensuring that French farmers would continue to receive billions of euros in subsidies.

Farmers have been protesting across Europe for months to complain of excessive red tape and burdensome environmental norms such as the Green Deal, which they claim are affecting their livelihoods. The demonstrations have caused significant disruptions in France in particular.

In a bid to appease farmers, Macron eased pesticide controls in France while Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reversed green farming rules and restricted food imports from Ukraine that many argue were undercutting European prices.

Hayer, who was raised on a dairy farm in western France, said the protests were the result of both "national and European" policies. She insisted, however, that the EU's agricultural policy worked for farmers, and that European Green Deal was not contrary to their interests.

"I'm proud of the Green Deal," Hayer said, adding she had "never pit agriculture against the environment" nor "pit agriculture against Europe."

Whether that argument will resonate with the agricultural community remains to be seen.

While Bardella's tardiness in shaping EU policy since being elected MEP in 2019 has fueled criticism by opponents, his party, the National Rally (RN), appears poised to capitalize on the growing discontent of farmers and other rural French communities.

Surveys show the National Rally could secure a landslide victory in the June 9 vote. The latest polling has Hayer's Renaissance at around 20 percent support and trailing the RN by roughly 10 percentage points.