By Michel Rose

PARIS (Reuters), – On Sunday, the French will choose whether they want to re-elect President Emmanuel Macron who is pro-business and centrist or to end decades of consensus with Marine Le Pen.

Let’s see what they have to say about major topics.

The Economy:

LE PEN : LE PEN – The former National Front was transformed by the far-right heiress, who has made her father’s party of free-market small government into a large-spending protectionist party.

Her plan is to create a “Buy French” policy in public tenders. She also wants to reduce the retirement age to 60 years for people who began work before 20. Income tax will be eliminated for anyone under 30. And, she would like to cut 20% of VAT from 20% on energy.

Her budget would include spending 2 billion euros ($2.18billion) to raise the salaries of hospital workers and recruit 10,000 additional nurses over five years. The average salary of teachers would increase 15% in five years.

Gilles Ivaldi (political scientist, Sciences-Po) says Sciences-Po’s party’s economic plan is farther to the left now than for many decades.

During a debate on TV with Macron, she stated that “free trade kills our planet.”

MACRON – The French leader intends to increase the number of supply-side measures he implemented under his first mandate. However, the key plank in his manifesto is an increase in minimum pension age from 62 to 65.

Macron stated that he did not want to raise taxes or increase the debt. He even said that he wanted to pay it off in the next five year. So I would like us to work harder.

Macron has also promised to make certain welfare benefits contingent on 15-20 hours of training. It is similar to the policies implemented in Britain and the United States. The strength of the economy would determine the amount of unemployment benefits.

To keep true to his “neither Left nor Right” mantra, he also pledged to make the benefits automatically available to all who meet his criteria instead of asking recipients to apply.

EUROPE

LE PEN?She insists that she does not have a secret agenda to expel France, a founding member of EU. She has neither a single currency nor if it wants to be reunified with the Schengen area.

Opponents fear that her policies will create tensions in the bloc, whose unity was tested recently by the migration crisis and Britain’s departure.

Le Pen stated that she will cut French contributions towards the EU budget and would renegotiate Schengen agreements to reintroduce controls on goods coming into the country from EU countries.

Elle would like to establish the preeminence of French law over EU laws – which is the fundamental basis for European integration.

According to one diplomat, “It amounts a total hollowing-out what the EU tried to achieve all those years.” It’s just not that simple.

MACRON – The ardent Europhile would keep pushing for Europe’s strategic autonomy in defence, technology, energy and defense and decrease its dependence on other countries.

Macron sought to shift the EU’s stance towards protectionism, blocking free trade deals with South America’s Mercosur. He also created a mechanism for increasing scrutiny over outside takeovers by strategic EU businesses.

Macron will likely push for greater regulation of U.S. technology giants. He has also stated that he wants to establish a European metaverse to rival Facebook’s (NASDAQ:).

For shaping Europe’s future, the relationship between Berlin and Paris will be crucial.

He said, “I believe that the Franco-German pair is right.”

– THE WESTERN ALIANCE

LE PEN – Le Pen is attempting to force France to withdraw from the transatlantic NATO military alliance’s integrated command. This would be a direct challenge to West’s post-1945 security architecture.

Her opponents accuse her being too close to Moscow. A Russian bank provided a loan to her party in 2014. She was also hosted at the Kremlin by Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

Macron charged Le Pen with being on Putin’s payroll. She said to her: “You don’t talk about Russia when you talk of your banker.”

While she condemned Russia’s invading of Ukraine, she believes that Moscow may be a good ally once again after the war. She indicated that she would continue a foreign strategy at the same distance as Washington and Moscow.

MACRON – Although Macron caused a stir in the transatlantic alliance (especially in east Europe and Germany) when he called NATO “brain dead” in 2019, he later stated that the Russian invasion in Ukraine “jolted it back into life”.

But he will still seek to reduce the dependence of Europeans on U.S. security forces.

Macron has encouraged the EU to place more emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region and China’s growing influence there. He clashed with Washington and London after Australia dropped a major submarine deal with France.

The question of whether or not he would cooperate with the U.S., UK-Australia security alliance (dubbed AUKUS) against China has been a concern.

($1 = 0.9195 euros)