Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) the Greens
President Emmanuel Macron’s drift to the centre-right of France’s political spectrum has opened up a sea of opportunity for the country’s fractured and rudderless left – a space the Greens, long a byword for factionalism and division, hoped to span and unite. Green candidates for the French presidency are often at pains to prove they are radical enough for the party’s base. But Germany’s “Grünen” have long opted for the opposite path: persuading the broader electorate that they can compromise and be trusted as a party of government.
After years of oblivion, France’s fragmented left is once again in the news, buoyed by its recent electoral successes in municipal elections. But the landscape has changed dramatically since the days when the Socialist “journées d’été” set the tempo and satellite parties danced to the tune. This time, the ball is in the Green camp, long derided as a chronically divided amateur outfit that is ill-equipped for the challenges of France’s Fifth Republic.
After years of playing junior partner in coalitions dominated by the Socialists, France’s resurgent ecologists rode a so-called “Green Wave” of successes on 28 June 2020, conquering a string of major cities that included strongholds of the right. Backed by an array of local left-wing coalitions, Green candidates notched up victories in the likes of Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg and Bordeaux – a conservative bastion for 73 years. Humiliatingly for Macron, they did so by defeating centre-right coalitions that included his ruling LREM party, reduced to the role of auxiliary of the right.
Galvanised by these successes, members of Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV), commonly known as the Greens, gathered to discuss their next objectives. They agreed that uniting the left was of the essence, but that their ideas and platform must necessarily be at the heart of the process. Along with climate change and ecology, discussions centred on societal issues such as women’s rights, racial discrimination and police violence. On the economic front, the focus was on relocating national production amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The idea was to build a “clear, coherent and bold programme” rather than focusing on “alliances between parties”, said EELV leader Julien Bayou, with the ultimate goal of “averting another second round between Macron and [Marine] Le Pen”.
With the all-important presidential election less than two years away, all parties knew they were fast running out of time to avoid a repeat of the 2017 presidential run-off that saw Macron defeat the far right’s Le Pen. While Macron, who was elected on a centrist platform, is deeply unpopular, particularly on the left, his rivals are yet to produce credible challengers. And though she is detested by a majority of the French, Le Pen can count on a rock-solid support base.
Nobody in their ranks enjoyed the notoriety required to vie for the presidency,” he said. “They are known only to pundits and the media. Furthermore, the Greens have a history of choosing the “wrong” ticket and picking nobodies over celebrities – “as though fame were something dirty”. In 2002, Green party members ditched the largely popular Noël Mamère in favor of a leftist candidate whose bid floundered after he called for Corsican separatists with blood on their hands to be amnestied. Ten years later, they shunned environmental activist Nicolas Hulot, one of France’s most popular figures, in favor of an investigative judge with a distinctly lower profile and weaker appeal.
Despite stunning successes in 2020 local elections -- which saw Greens claim control of key city halls including Bordeaux and Lyon -- the Europe Ecology The Greens (EELV) party had yet to make a major impact at a national level. Their influence is far behind that of their Green counterparts in Germany, who have already tasted coalition government and are eager to feature in the next administration where they may play a kingmaker role.
In July 2022, an internal EELV unit on sexual violence and harassment was informed of a report concerning he leader of France's EELV Green party Julien Bayou. The facts of the case were not clearly known, as no complaint had been filed with the police and no judicial investigation had been opened. Some weeks later, MP Sandrine Rousseau accused him of "behaviour likely to break the moral health of women." The ecofeminist also maintained that several women have been affected by Bayou's behaviour. "We are a feminist party, and so we place ourselves at the service of women's testimony," Sandra Regol, vice-president of the Greens group, said. Julien Bayou announced 26 Septmber 2022 that he had resigned from all of his functions as leader of France's Green party, saying he has been "trapped in an untenable situation" from which he maintains he cannot defend himself. He added that he will tell his parliamentary group of his "resignation from the presidency of the Green group at the National Assembly" – a position from which he was already suspended for several days. Bayou said he stood "accused of facts that have not been presented to him, which [his] accusers say are not criminally reprehensible" and which he cannot defend himself against "because they refuse to hear me." His resignation followed in the wake of far-left deputy Adrien Quatennens' recent admission to domestic violence against a former girlfriend.
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