In last month's French local elections, newly elected mayors from the far-right National Union, which created a shock wave, have been taking down European Union (EU) flags at government buildings one after another, sending ripples through the entire French political scene.
As in the Brexit (the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union) case, there is growing tension that if public sentiment inside France spreads in backlash against the established political class and European Parliament bureaucracy, an exit move like Frexit (France's exit from the European Union) could gain full momentum.
According to a roundup of major outlets including Politico on the 31st (local time), National Union mayors who secured 55 mayoral posts in the recent election swiftly took down EU flags hung on the exterior walls of city halls right after taking office and replaced them with the French tricolor.
French law currently has no rule that requires EU flags to be flown on public buildings such as city halls. However, for a long time, public buildings customarily displayed the French flag alongside the EU flag. The new mayors shattered this long-standing practice in one stroke and mounted a hard-hitting publicity drive that emphasized the French flag.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on the same day strongly criticized the actions on his social media (SNS) account as a "serious regression for democracy and historical progress." In the post, Barrot said, "These acts are a clear betrayal of the identity that shows who we are," adding, "The EU is a body for peace and prosperity that France took the lead in building in the past."
France's hard-line conservative camp argues that the EU headquarters is seriously infringing on national sovereignty. France is the European Union's top agricultural power, with 55% of its land being farmland. The French farming and livestock industry harbors strong complaints that they bear massive expense in the field due to laws unilaterally enacted by the EU and excessive pro-environment regulations. Among the general public, there is a widespread perception that because the EU fully opened borders under the Schengen Agreement to guarantee free movement, immigrants have flowed in at an uncontrollable level.
Experts said the hard-line conservative camp skillfully executed a so-called Trojan horse strategy to induce internal collapse of the EU system, using its landslide win in local elections as a springboard. Rather than playing the strong card of declaring an EU exit from the outset, the approach is to repeatedly deploy veto and delay tactics within the administration against EU-driven policies to weaken its real power.
For example, the hard-right Meloni government in Italy is not touting an EU exit. Instead, by pushing hard-line immigration policies such as transferring refugees to Albania, it has repeatedly clashed with the EU legal framework. The Financial Times (FT) in the United Kingdom predicted that if the National Union expands its power step by step within the French Parliament, it could, as in the Italian case, undermine cohesion within the EU and paralyze decision-making processes. The warning is that even without declaring an exit, neutralizing internal norms could trigger a shutdown of EU functions.
Some projected that National Union mayors who seized local power are highly likely to lead policy resistance by rejecting the EU-level agreed refugee intake quota system or by enacting a local government ordinance that prioritizes hiring citizens.
In the early days of the Brexit debate, the United Kingdom also remained at a localized level, with right-wing politicians from neglected industrial regions or small provincial cities in England harshly criticizing EU bureaucracy. But after a long slump swept across the U.K. following the financial crisis and the issue of a surge in low-wage workers from Eastern Europe intertwined, public discontent exploded into a nationwide political agenda. As a result, the U.K.'s exit from the EU moved from a 2016 referendum to reality in 2020.
Experts warned that if hard-right forces that have seized control over local governments in France foment conflict, it could directly lead to a massive political explosion that shakes the entire system. If they disregard EU norms in local government ordinances or welfare administrative guidelines closely tied to daily life, and if minor friction or administrative disobedience accumulates, it could ultimately become a fatal threat that rattles cohesion. Reuters, citing experts, reported that "deviant acts by National Union heads of local governments could provide powerful inspiration to far-right populist parties across Europe and become a key detonator that triggers a chain rebellion."