News Digest: France’s Election Candidates & Last Chance for Brits in France to Register to Vote

President Macron announced last week that he was dissolving the Assemblée Nationale and holding a snap election, and yesterday (Monday, 17th June) marked the start of the official campaign period.

There have already been a few surprises, including the return of former French president Francois Hollande, who will stand for MP in the Corrèze department, and a new left-wing political coalition, the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) or New Popular Front (formed by Les Écologistes, La France Insoumise, the French Communist Party, the Socialist Party, Génération.s and the Republican and Socialist Left), whose aim is to offer an alternative to Macronist laws without dividing the left vote.

Also campaigning are Macron’s centrist Renaissance party led by Prime Minister  Gabriel Attal, the right-wing Les Republicains party, and, of course, the far-right Rassemblement National, whose success in the recent EU elections was the tipping point for Macron in calling the snap election.

While many in politics are questioning Macron’s decision to call the election, especially as his party is not by any means the favourite to win, it is certainly turning out to be – as he intended – a vote for or against France’s far-right. On Saturday (15th June), a quarter of a million people took to the streets in cities across France to protest against the rise of the far right in France, responding to a call from unions and the new left-wing political coalition. Public figures have also been compelled to speak out, most notably footballer Mbappé, who stated clearly that he was against “extremes and divisive ideas” as he urged young people to vote.

The first round of elections will take place on Sunday, June 30^th, and the second and final round on Sunday, July 7^th.

Sporting fans have plenty to get excited about this summer, and while all eyes are on the big event – the 2024 Paris Olympics – there are two other major events kicking off this month.

First up, the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2024) officially began on Friday, with France playing a victorious 1-0 first match last night (Monday) against Austria. Next up, France will face the Netherlands this Friday, June 21st, at 9pm CET. With the focus on the Olympics, most French cities aren’t hosting fanzones for fans to watch the Euro 2024 matches this year, but there will certainly be plenty of bars and cafés screening the games.

Alternatively, you can watch the most popular matches (including all of the France, England, and Scotland matches) on freeview channels TF1 or M6, and all matches on the paid beIN sports channel. The finals will take place in Berlin on Sunday 14th July.

While football fever is still sweeping the nation, the annual Tour de France cycling race also begins, starting on Saturday, 29th June and running through until Sunday, 21st July. Due to the Paris Olympics, this year’s event will start in Florence, Italy, and finish in Nice in the south of France.

Finally, there’s good news for those with tickets for the Paris Olympics as reports show falling prices of hotels and Airbnbs in Paris, as well as discounted flights and Eurostar trains between the UK and Paris. If you still haven’t booked your transport or accommodation, this might be a great time to start searching. If you still don’t have tickets, you can now purchase resale tickets via the official website here.

There’s also another election looming, but this one only affects British citizens living in France. If you are a Brit in France and wish to vote in the upcoming UK general elections on July 4th, you must register to vote by midnight tonight – Tuesday 18th June.

This includes the thousands of people who have been settled in France for more than 15 years and have now regained their right to vote in UK elections. Previously, voting rights were withdrawn from British emigrants after 15 years, preventing them from voting in UK elections (and, controversially, the Brexit referendum). However, since January 2024, this rule has been lifted and British citizens now maintain a lifetime right to vote.

If you want to vote in the upcoming election, you can apply for a proxy or postal vote by following the online application here. Just make sure you submit your application by midnight tonight!

If you have plans to buy, build, or renovate a French property, make sure to sign up for our next FrenchEntrée webinar, where we’ll be breaking down the real cost of buying a French property. I’ll be joined by a panel of experts to look at the costs of buying property, tax, currency exchange, and property management.

Sign up for our free webinar now:

How Much Does it Really Cost to Buy a Property in France?

Thursday 27th June, 17:00 London / 18:00 France / 12:00 New York