Europeans: Macron’s speech at the Sorbonne is considered a speech of the Renaissance

Emmanuel Macron’s speech at the Sorbonne last Thursday must count “in full” as his camp’s European election campaign time, audiovisual regulator Arcom ruled on Thursday.

“If the statements of the President of the Republic did not express explicit support for the list headed by Ms. Valerie Hayer, they nevertheless generally represented a direct connection with the elections,” Arcom said in a letter addressed to LR. according to AFP.

The regulator, in particular, emphasizes that these statements, “contributing to summing up past actions and disclosing elements of the program, may have an impact on the elections” on June 9. The independent body also notes that the speech, which lasted almost two hours, was delivered “at the height of the election campaign.” Therefore, the various channels broadcasting the speech will have to take this into account by balancing the timing of speeches from other political camps.

“Political manipulation”

Eric Ciotti, head of LR, congratulated himself on X that “thanks to the Republicans, political manipulation (has been exposed).” His party last week asked the regulator to deduct the entire speech, which they call an “election propaganda operation”, from the Renaissance list’s “speech time”.

LFI did the same, recalls the head of its list, Manon Aubry, who also works for X.

PS head Olivier Faure also announced his intention to request Arcom, citing “inequality between candidates.” The TV channels themselves questioned themselves, and some questioned the regulator.

The head of state returned to this topic before reporters in Strasbourg on Friday: “Yesterday there was a word from the President of the Republic. After that, others decide the rules, and that’s very good and independent.” “But I think we shouldn’t be hypocritical on this issue. We must take responsibility for the policies we are pursuing, for the role that France has played in recent years and for the fact that I have put Europe at the center of our project,” he added.

From April 15, as before every election, television channels and radio stations are obliged to observe the principle of fairness in relation to political forces.

Arkom did not give any specific instructions regarding this speech. The rules provide that speeches of the President of the Republic that “are part of political debates related to elections, in particular those that include expressions of support for a candidate or list of candidates, party or political group, are subject to separate polling” on antennas compared to his other speeches , not related to elections.

The antennas “take this into account, ensuring that other candidates, lists, parties or political groups, in turn, benefit from equal access to the antenna.”