Wednesday

22nd Mar 2023

France's Hamon meets Merkel, secures Schulz backing

  • Benoit Hamon described his meeting with Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel as amiable, but not without differences.

Benoit Hamon, the Socialist contender in France's presidential race, criticised Germany's handling of the eurozone crisis during a visit to Berlin on Tuesday (28 March).

Hamon spoke to reporters after a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel. He described the meeting as amiable, but not without differences.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I repeated to her my disagreement with austerity policies, the consequences that they have had on people, the fact that they have produced today social desperation that produces votes for the far right," he said.

He said that Merkel disagreed with his analysis, but that she had not closed the door on his proposal for a reform of eurozone governance.

The proposal suggests to replace the Eurogroup - an informal gathering of eurozone finance ministers that is not enshrined in the EU treaties - with an assembly of politicians from national and the European parliaments.

Hamon said they had agreed on the Minsk ceasefire deal, which aims to stop Russian-controlled forces from waging war in eastern Ukraine, and the need to strengthen EU defence.

Merkel did not comment on the meeting. The German chancellor has previously met with centre-right and centrist presidential-hopefuls Francois Fillon and Emmanuel Macron, and said she would meet all candidates except for the far-right's Marine Le Pen.

According to the latests poll published on Tuesday, Macron and Le Pen are neck-and-neck in the race for the first round on 23 April, with 25.5 percent and 25 percent of the voting intentions each.

Fillon, whose wife was put under formal investigation on Tuesday in a "fake jobs" inquiry, was credited with 17.5 percent of voting intentions. Radical leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon had 14 percent and scored better than Hamon, who trailed with 10.5 percent of the poll.

The socialist candidate, who was elected in a primary vote, is struggling to secure even the support of his own party. Many socialist heavyweights have bet on Macron instead.

Former prime minister Manuel Valls became the latest socialist to break party ranks and announced on Wednesday morning that he would vote for Macron, adding that it was a "question of reason".

Hamon was endorsed by Martin Schulz, the German social democratic party (SPD) candidate for chancellor, on Tuesday.

The former president of the European Parliament said he had "long wished Benoit Hamon success in the presidential race in France" and that he had the support of socialist parties across Europe.

Earlier this month, while handing the SPD leadership over to Schulz, vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel had suggested that the party supported Macron instead of Hamon.

"Imagine that Emmanuel Macron becomes president in France, and Martin [Schulz] chancellor. [Imagine] all the things we'll be able to change," he said.

Varoufakis back in push for ECB transparency

The former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and German left-wing MEP Fabio De Masi want to know whether the European Central Bank overstepped its powers when putting capital controls on Greek banks in 2015.

Macron meets Merkel, says France must reform

The independent liberal candidate to the presidential election said in Berlin that France must reform itself if it wants to remain close to Germany and play a role in Europe.

French candidates clash on EU visions

The eleven candidates in the French presidential elections aired competing EU visions in a TV debate, with the far-right Le Pen coming under fire.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Opinion

When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers

The EU must back the UN's Human Rights 75 initiative at the end of the year to rekindle the spirit of the original declaration made in 1948 — and also demand a similar recommitment from all its 27 members.

Latest News

  1. EU Parliament joins court case against Hungary's anti-LGBTI law
  2. Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist
  3. Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown
  4. When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers
  5. EU starts talks on 11th round of Russia sanctions
  6. EU fears Tunisia turmoil will spark migrant boat departures
  7. 'Symbolic' Putin indictment gets some EU backing
  8. 'Final warning' to act on climate change, warns IPCC

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us