The flag of discord. The National Assembly is examining from this Tuesday evening a bill from the Renaissance group aimed at making the European (and French) flag compulsory on the facade of town halls. On the occasion of “Europe Day”, this waving of the starred blue flag is symbolic but also… very strategic. The macronists want to set a trap for the elected representatives of Nupes, while the negotiations on the left for the European elections, scheduled for next year, are already looking very complicated.
What are the macronists proposing?
If the tricolor flag and that of the European Union are often present on the facades of municipalities, the practice is however not compulsory, as it is in public and private schools, colleges and high schools under contract. This text, with “the eminently symbolic scope” therefore aims to “consolidate a republican use” and to “consecrate a practice which is widespread”, explained its rapporteur, the macronist Mathieu Lefèvre.
On this anniversary of Robert Schuman’s declaration on May 9, 1950 on the pooling of coal and steel, considered to be the founding text of European construction, the elected Macronists – fervent Europeans – wanted to mark the occasion. “This May 9, let us proudly carry the European flag alongside the French flag. It is the symbol of solidarity that unites our continent as never in history,” tweeted Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
Why does this cause discord within the Nupes?
The European subject often arouses tensions and divisions within the left. Especially since the MEP for La France insoumise, Manon Aubry, tripped over the flag, Monday, on France Info. Asked about the Renaissance bill, the MEP from La France insoumise presented the European flag as “a democratic forfeiture”, evoking the 2005 referendum on the European Constitution. The text had been approved by the Parliament meeting in Congress in 2008 despite its rejection by the French three years earlier.
The little sentence did not fail to strangle several allies of the left, especially among environmentalists and socialists. “This flag is above all a symbol of peace on the continent and a symbol of freedom and democracy for certain countries, such as Georgia or Ukraine…”, whistles David Cormand, MEP EELV. “This formula reveals an unconscious of LFI, where the EU is systematically thought of as a hostile threat that should be rid of”, plague with 20 minutes the former boss of ecologists. Symbol of the divisions: LFI and the PCF should vote against the text, unlike EELV and the PS.
Why does it happen at the worst time for the Nupes?
The Renaissance bill has almost no chance of being voted on by the deputies, especially since Les Républicains have announced that they will “overwhelmingly” oppose the text. But the essential is perhaps elsewhere for the walkers. “This law also aims, and we fully assume it, to demonstrate that there are hidden Frexit inclinations on the far right and on the far left,” said Renaissance elected official Mathieu Lefèvre, this Tuesday, at a press conference.
The objective is clear: to awaken the divisions of the left on the European question to derail the already badly embarked project of a common list on the left for the European election of 2024. “This example shows that, unlike the rebellious, we have a vision federalist of the European project. This difference in vision cannot be carried together during a European campaign”, adds David Cormand.
Manon Aubry tried to put out the fire, ensuring that MEPs from the various left-wing parties voted “jointly” on “more than 80%” of the texts in the European Parliament. The rebellious castigated on Twitter the “gross diversionary operations” of the majority and called on its allies not to fall into the “trap” which was set for them. This Tuesday at the Assembly, the president of the Renaissance group Aurore Berge seemed, she, rather satisfied with the blow carried out. “I am always surprised that political groups accuse us of playing politics”.