Macron's Party Presents EU List Including Ex-Italian Minister

(Bloomberg) -- Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party on Tuesday presented its slate of candidates for the May 26 European elections, which as expected is headed by European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau and includes a former Italian minister, as well as a farmer and a sailboat racer.

Loiseau said at a news conference in Paris that she’ll attend tomorrow’s cabinet meeting and then resign afterward.

As it did for the French legislative elections in 2017, LREM chose a mix of people including many with no political experience. Any EU citizen can run in any country, and LREM’s list includes former Italian European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi and a Greek doctor. LREM didn’t exist during the last EU elections, and the list includes just two outgoing MEPs, a Green and a Radical who defected.

France will select its MEPs through nationwide proportional representation. Recent polls put LREM between 22 percent and 24 percent, just ahead of Marine Le Pen’s far right and euro-skeptic National Rally, which would mean about 16 or 17 LREM deputies sitting in the next parliament.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Geraldine Amiel, James Regan

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