Wikipedia

Ensemble (political coalition)

(Redirected from Citizens Together)
"Citizens Together" redirects here. For the American political organization, see Citizens United.
Not to be confused with Ensemble!, a political party bearing the same name.

Ensemble (lit. 'Together', stylised in all caps) is a liberal political coalition in France created by Emmanuel Macron.[1][2] Formed in November 2021 as Ensemble Citoyens,[3] it makes up the presidential majority and includes Renaissance (RE, formerly known as En Marche), Democratic Movement (MoDem), Horizons, En commun, and the Progressive Federation. The coalition included the parties Agir and Territories of Progress (TDP) until they were merged into the rebranded Renaissance. Ensemble has mainly been described as being centrist,[4][5][6][7] and sometimes as centre-right[8][9][10] on the political spectrum.

Together for the Republic
Ensemble pour la République
LeaderStéphane Séjourné (RE)
Secretary-GeneralStanislas Guerini (RE)
Vice Presidents
Founded2019; 5 years ago (2019) (as Renaissance) (For the 2019 European Parliament election)
29 November 2021; 2 years ago (2021-11-29) (as Ensemble Citoyens)
Political positionCentre to centre-right
Colours
  •      
    Azure-to-chartreuse gradient[a]
  •   Black[b]
  •   Yellow (customary)
Senate
46 / 348
National Assembly
159 / 577
European Parliament
23 / 79
Website
ensemble-2024.fr

History

edit
 
Alternative logo for Ensemble

On 17 December 2017, at the congress of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), Christophe Castaner said he supported an "enlarged list" for the European elections based on their alliance,[11] and on 26 September 2018, the movement officially announced the opening of applications for prospective candidates from civil society,[12] receiving 2,673 in total,[13] winnowed by an investiture committee chaired by Jean-Marc Borello.[14] Former Élysée advisor Stéphane Séjourné was designated campaign director on 29 October, tasked with creating a list alongside Agir,[15] and seeking a lead candidate with a "green profile".[16] For the MoDem, Bayrou selected Régis Lefebvre to serve as deputy campaign director.[17]

In March 2019, Les Échos reported that the choice of lead candidate was to be made internally between either health minister Agnès Buzyn or European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau.[18] Loiseau officially announced she would seek the nomination for lead candidate following her debate with Marine Le Pen on the set of L'Émission politique on 14 March,[19] while Les Échos and Le Parisien later reported that Buzyn withdrew her name from consideration.[20] Loiseau was officially designated as lead candidate on 26 March as the list of the first 30 candidates was unveiled.[21] Alain Juppé was the subject of early speculation regarding his potential candidacy to lead the list,[22] though confirmed on 19 March 2018 that he would not stand,[23] and his appointment to the Constitutional Council precluded his participation in the campaign, but he indicated he would have supported Macron's list.[24]

LaREM was expected to sign a cooperation agreement with the ALDE group for the 2019 European Parliament election.[25] However, owing to the Gilets Jaunes protests and the rise of national populism within France, Macron opted to run a campaign focusing more on electing representatives of his party to the European Parliament, than campaigning for ALDE. Macron styled his campaign as "Renaissance", calling for a renaissance across Europe.[26] The electoral slate which comprised Macron's LaREM, MoDem and other parties was subsequently named the Renaissance List.

On 15 February, Challenges revealed that EELV MEP Pascal Durand would be on the list in an electable position and Séjourné in the top 25 places.[27] The centre-right party Agir proposed several candidates for the list, including two in electable position: Nicolas Barnier (the son of Michel Barnier and a parliamentary assistant), as well as Fabienne Keller, Gilles Boyer, Élisabeth Morin-Chartier, and Xavier Fournier.[28] In an interview published in Challenges on 6 February, Radical Movement co-president Laurent Hénart indicated that the movement would likely vote to join a common list,[29] sparking dissent among some ex-PRG members including co-president Sylvia Pinel, who announced her departure from the party to resurrect the PRG on two days later.[30] The candidates it proposed included outgoing MEP Dominique Riquet, Olga Johnson, and Mélanie Fortier.[31] One outgoing MEP, Jean Arthuis, announced that he would not seek to run again in 2019,[32] and Agir MEP Tokia Saïfi also retired,[33] as did the party's other MEP Élisabeth Morin-Chartier after learning she would not be in electable position on the list.[34] Foreign nationals were also on the list, including former Italian undersecretary for European affairs Sandro Gozi.[35] After declining to run as a lead candidate, Canfin ultimately appeared in second on the list.[36]

La République En Marche considered alliances with similar European political parties including Citizens in Spain and the Democratic Party in Italy, as well as parties outside of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade was delegated with the task of forming contacts with potential European partners.[37] On 9 September 2018, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group, claimed that La République En Marche would ally with ALDE, which Castaner denied.[38] Reports in October indicated Macron and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte reached an agreement in principle for an alliance, though Anglade emphasized that ALDE parties would merely serve as the foundation, with EPP parties on the right such as Civic Platform in Poland and New Democracy in Greece as well as PES parties on the left including the Democratic Party in Italy and the Social Democratic Party of Austria in consideration. The party considered recruiting MEPs to form a group after the election.[39] Following the airing of a report on France 2 on 11 March about ALDE's financial backing from Monsanto, manufacturer of glyphosate, the party announced that it would not join the ALDE,[40] leading the latter to announce it would no longer accept corporate donations.[41] Verhofstadt later announced on 2 May that the ALDE group would be dissolved after the elections to ally and create a new group.[42] Following the election, the ALDE parliamentary group reformed into Renew Europe, incorporating Macron's Renaissance.

François Bayrou, the leader of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) has previously proposed the formation of a coalition that would include centrist and centre-right parties. In November 2021, president of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, accepted his proposal and together they had formed Ensemble Citoyens for the upcoming 2022 legislative elections. Besides the Democratic Movement and Renaissance, Agir was also its founding member.[43][44][45] In the following month, they were joined by the Radical Party, Horizons, Territories of Progress, and En Commun.[46][47]

From its foundation in November, the coalition has been headed by Ferrand as its leader, Bayrou and Édouard Philippe as vice-presidents, and Stanislas Guerini as secretary-general.[48][49] Jean Castex has also affiliated himself with the coalition.[50] Philippe suspended its participation in the coalition on 14 January 2022, although, four days later he had announced that his party was reinstated into the coalition.[51][52] In April, LREM announced that it would change its party name to "Renaissance", and a month later, the name of the coalition was shortened to just Ensemble.[53][54] The Progressive Federation joined the coalition in May 2022.[55]

Members

edit
Logo Party Abbreviation Main ideology Position Leader
  Renaissance RE Liberalism Centre to centre-right[c] Stéphane Séjourné
  Democratic Movement MoDem Christian democracy Centre to centre-right François Bayrou
  Horizons HOR Conservative liberalism Centre-right Édouard Philippe
  Union of Democrats and Independents (since 2024) UDI Liberalism Centre to centre-right Hervé Marseille
Radical Party PRV Liberalism Centre Laurent Hénart
  En Commun EC Green politics Centre-left Philippe Hardouin [fr]
Progressive Federation FP Social democracy François Rebsamen
  Republican Refoundation RR
Jean-Yves Autexier

Objectives

edit

The coalition aimed to bring the presidential majority of Emmanuel Macron together in order to present its joint candidates for the 2022 French legislative election.[43][45] In May 2022, Ferrand indicated their commitment for "a stable majority in the National Assembly", while Philippe specified that the program of Ensemble "is that of the Macron". Bayrou indicated that the parties would form a joint parliamentary group in the National Assembly, however Renaissance, MoDem, and Horizons each formed separate parliamentary groups following the legislative elections.[72] Some media sources consider it as a modern incarnation of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Union for French Democracy (UDF), founded in 1978.[73]

Election results

edit

Legislative elections

edit
National Assembly
Election year Leader First round Second round Seats Role in government
Votes % Votes %
2022 Élisabeth Borne 5,857,364 25.71 8,002,419 38.57
245 / 577
 Presidential minority
2024 Gabriel Attal 6,820,261 21.27 6,692,358 24.53
159 / 577
 Presidential minority

European elections

edit
European Parliament (France)
Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2019 Nathalie Loiseau 5,079,015 22.42 (#2)
23 / 79
 New RE
2024 Valérie Hayer 3,589,114 14.56 (#2)
13 / 81
   10

Regional elections

edit
Election year First round Second round Presidencies Seats
Votes % Votes %
2021 1,551,669 10.57 1,088,398 7.13
1 / 17
138 / 1,926

Symbols

edit
  •  
    Initial logo of Ensemble, upon its creation
  •  
    Second logo, utilized during the 2022 legislative election
  •  
    Logo used by Ensemble's delegation to the European Parliament
  •  
    Logo of the 'Besoin d'Europe' list of RE, MoDem, Horizons and other liberal parties

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ as Ensemble pour la République
  2. ^ as Ensemble
  3. ^ The party has also been described as radical centrist,[62], right-wing,[67] or a big tent/catch-all party.[71]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Présidentielle : la majorité s'affiche unie en lançant ' Ensemble Citoyens ! '". Les Echos (in French). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  2. ^ Opalín, León (30 May 2022). "El débil triunfo de Macron y la Unión Europea". El Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. ^ "France: LREM devient "Renaissance", au sein d'une confédération pour les législatives". RFI (in French). 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ "France's old duopoly is officially dead". UnHerd. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. In first place, on 24% of the vote, is Ensemble Citoyens (Citizens Together) which is the centrist alliance dominated by Macron's party
  5. ^ "Macron tried to make the center the biggest force in French politics. A land-grab by fringe parties has been the result". CNN. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. While his centrist alliance, Ensemble!, took the largest share in Sunday's second round of elections – winning 245 out of 577 seats ...
  6. ^ "France: Macron to hold talks with opposition parties over hung parliament". Deutsche Welle. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. Negotiations will seek to "build solutions to serve the French" with Macron's centrist Ensemble (ENS) alliance taking the ruling role.
  7. ^ "Will 'drifting' Macron need conservatives to save his majority?". France 24. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. The French parliamentary elections' first round on Sunday put Emmanuel Macron's centrist Ensemble group barely ahead of the leftist...
  8. ^ Bloch, Michel (9 June 2022). "Législatives : voici les quatre scénarios possibles au soir du second tour". Le Journal du dimanche (in French). Retrieved 13 June 2022. C'est sans aucun doute les élections législatives les plus indécises depuis l'instauration du quinquennat et l'inversion du calendrier électoral en 2002. Le premier tour de la présidentielle a révélé la présence de trois blocs dans le pays (un bloc macroniste de centre-droit, un bloc d'extrême-droite et un bloc de gauche).
  9. ^ "Macron coalition, leftwing bloc neck and neck in first round of French elections". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022. The election 'confirms the fact that Ensemble (Macron's coalition) is now the centre-right,' says Mathieu Doiret of FRANCE 24's polling partners Ipsos, noting that the president's camp now draws most of its support from an elderly, centre-right constituency that previously voted for the mainstream conservative party, Les Républicains. Should Macron's coalition fail to win an outright majority, an alliance with the rump of the Républicains is the most likely outcome, Doiret added. 'We have a centre-right majority because elderly people hold the balance of power, because they vote twice as much as the young,' he said. 'That's why Angela Merkel stayed in power for so long in Germany and why Boris Johnson wins in the UK.'
  10. ^ "Macron's bloc falls short of absolute majority, leftist coalition second, large gains for far right". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  11. ^ Gaël Vaillant (17 December 2017). "Européennes : Bayrou et Castaner ébauchent une liste commune MoDem-En Marche". Le Journal du Dimanche. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Européennes: LREM lance sa campagne avec un appel à candidatures". Le Figaro. Agence France-Presse. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  13. ^ Matthieu Deprieck (26 December 2018). "Européennes: chamboulée, la majorité se donne le temps d'entrer en campagne". L'Opinion. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  14. ^ Alain Auffray (21 February 2019). "Elections européennes : Macron joue la protection rapprochée". Libération. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  15. ^ Alexandre Lemarié (9 November 2018). "Européennes 2019 : Macron tente d'imposer sa vision des progressistes contre les populistes". Le Monde. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Européennes : En marche cherche un "profil écolo" pour prendre la tête de liste". Le Journal du Dimanche. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  17. ^ Mathilde Siraud (1 February 2019). "Européennes : Bayrou choisit un proche pour co-diriger la campagne de la majorité". Le Figaro. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  18. ^ Grégoire Poussielgue (27 February 2019). "Européennes : match entre Buzyn et Loiseau pour la tête de liste En Marche". Les Échos. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  19. ^ "VIDEO. "Je suis prête à être candidate" : la ministre Nathalie Loiseau annonce vouloir être tête de liste LREM aux élections européennes". franceinfo. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  20. ^ "Européennes : Richard Ferrand vote Nathalie Loiseau". Le Journal du Dimanche. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  21. ^ Marion Bothorel (26 March 2019). "Qui sont les 30 premiers candidats de La République en marche pour les élections européennes ?". franceinfo. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  22. ^ "L'exécutif veut revenir à des listes nationales pour les élections européennes de 2019". Le Monde. Agence France-Presse. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  23. ^ Yann Quercia (19 March 2018). "Élections européennes : Juppé "n'a pas l'intention d'être candidat"". Public Sénat. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  24. ^ "Alain Juppé, bientôt "Sage" tenu à la réserve, aurait soutenu la liste d'Emmanuel Macron aux européennes". Europe 1. Agence France-Presse. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  25. ^ Baume, Maïa de La (18 January 2019). "Macron's liberal love affair goes cold". POLITICO.
  26. ^ Baume, Maïa de La (6 March 2019). "Renaissance reborn again — as name of Macron's campaign". POLITICO. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  27. ^ Rémi Clément (15 February 2019). "Les premiers noms de la liste La République en marche pour les européennes". Challenges. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  28. ^ Loris Boichot; Marion Mourgue (19 February 2019). "Liste LREM aux européennes: Nicolas Barnier, Fabienne Keller et Gilles Boyer proposés". Le Figaro. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  29. ^ Thiébault Dromard (6 February 2019). "Européennes: le Mouvement radical veut convaincre En Marche et le Modem". Challenges. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  30. ^ Tristan Quinault-Maupoil (11 February 2019). "À gauche, les échéances électorales divisent les radicaux". Le Figaro. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  31. ^ Matthieu Deprieck (20 February 2019). "La relation privilégiée du MoDem avec Macron suscite la jalousie". L'Opinion. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  32. ^ Alan Le Bloa (5 January 2019). "Élections européennes. Le Mayennais Jean Arthuis ne se représentera pas". Ouest-France. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  33. ^ "Européennes: les partenaires de LREM jouent des coudes pour placer leurs candidats". Le Point. Agence France-Presse. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  34. ^ Isabelle Marchais (28 March 2019). "Européennes 2019: ces sortants maltraités ou recalés par les partis". L'Opinion. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  35. ^ "Elections européennes : La République en marche envisage d'ouvrir sa liste à des ressortissants étrangers". franceinfo. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  36. ^ "Européennes : Nathalie Loiseau va démissionner du gouvernement dès lundi soir, Pascal Canfin rejoint la liste En Marche". franceinfo. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  37. ^ Vincent Kranen (18 May 2018). "INFO LCP - Le plan de Macron pour les élections européennes". LCP. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  38. ^ "Elections européennes : le Belge Guy Verhofstadt veut s'allier avec Emmanuel Macron". Le Monde. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  39. ^ Isabelle Marchais (12 October 2018). "Européennes 2019: LREM ne veut pas d'alliance exclusive avec des partis". L'Opinion. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  40. ^ "VIDEO. Européennes : le parti allié à LREM financé par le fabricant du glyphosate". France Télévisions. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  41. ^ "Européennes : sous pression de LREM, son parti allié ALDE met fin aux financements d'entreprises". franceinfo. Reuters. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  42. ^ Fabien Cazenave (3 May 2019). "Européennes. Le futur " nouveau groupe " d'En Marche sera bien une nouvelle version de l'ADLE". Ouest-France. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  43. ^ a b "Investiture unique aux législatives, parité... Les défis du mouvement "Ensemble citoyens !" porté par LREM et le MoDem". Franceinfo (in French). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  44. ^ "La majorité lance sa " maison commune ", pour quoi faire ?". www.20minutes.fr (in French). 28 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  45. ^ a b "Qu'attendre d'"Ensemble citoyens !", le mouvement lancé par la majorité ?". Europe 1 (in French). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  46. ^ "L'offensive d'Édouard Philippe bouscule l'aile droite de la majorité". LEFIGARO (in French). 23 September 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  47. ^ "Politique. Pôle de gauche dans la majorité". www.ledauphine.com (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  48. ^ "Des députées s'agacent de la gouvernance trop masculine de la "Maison commune" de la majorité". TF1 INFO (in French). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  49. ^ "Ces élues de la majorité ne veulent pas "juste être sur la photo" de la maison commune". Le HuffPost (in French). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  50. ^ ""Ensemble citoyens !" : la majorité lance son alliance en soutien à Macron". LEFIGARO (in French). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  51. ^ "Entre Edouard Philippe et Emmanuel Macron, les relations tournent à l'aigre". Le Monde.fr (in French). 14 January 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  52. ^ "Tensions dans la majorité présidentielle : Édouard Philippe accepte de réintégrer la maison commune". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  53. ^ "Détail d'une annonce | Associations — Journal Officiel". www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  54. ^ Tronche, Sébastien; Pol, Chez. "Législatives: avec Ensemble et Renaissance, la macronie vole à gauche". Libération (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  55. ^ "Attribution des nuances aux candidats aux élections législatives de 2022". www.legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  56. ^ ""L'extrême centre" du président Macron : politique de la vertu ou posture autoritaire ?" (in French). Philosophie magazine. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2023..
  57. ^ Corentin Pastoret (16 March 2017). "Emmanuel Macron « l'extrême centre » pour lutter contre l'extrême droite". Public Sénat. Retrieved 9 June 2023..
  58. ^ Zaretsky, Robert (24 April 2017). "The Radical Centrism of Emmanuel Macron". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 4 August 2023..
  59. ^ McAuley, James (8 April 2023). "Macron's 'radical centrism' sure looks a lot like conservatism". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  60. ^ Maher Nicolas Firzli (10 May 2018). "La République En Marche: Macron's Resolute Walk Towards Radical Centrism" (pdf). Radix. SSRN 3167188.
  61. ^ Chotiner, Isaac (14 April 2022). "Will Macron's Centrism Defeat France's Growing Right Wing?". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  62. ^ [56][57][58][59][60] · [61]
  63. ^ Ryan Johnston (Fall 2022). "Comparing France's La Republique en Marche and Poland's Law and Justice Party" (PDF). The Journal of Foreign Affairs at Carolina. Vol. VIII, no. I. p. 11. Retrieved 9 June 2023..
  64. ^ "One year on, Macron governs as a right-wing French president". France 24. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2023..
  65. ^ Charles Guyard (24 May 2023). "Les adieux de l'ex-maire de Saint-Brevin au terme d'un « tourbillon médiatique »". Le Point. lepoint.fr. Retrieved 3 June 2023..
  66. ^ "Pour la presse, Emmanuel Macron « ancre le macronisme à droite »". Les Échos (in French). 17 January 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  67. ^ [63][64][65][66]
  68. ^ "Présidentielle : Macron le candidat attrape-tout". Le Parisien (in French). 17 November 2016..
  69. ^ Virginie Martin, Docteur sciences politiques, Kedge Business School (26 January 2017). "Emmanuel Macron, le candidat attrape-tout". La Tribune. {{cite web}}: |author1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
  70. ^ "Emmanuel Macron dévoile enfin son projet attrape-tout". Le Figaro (in French). 2 March 2017.
  71. ^ [68][69][70]
  72. ^ "Législatives : LREM devient " Renaissance " et se rapproche du Modem et d'Horizons avec " Ensemble ! "". Public Senat (in French). 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  73. ^ "Investiture unique aux législatives, parité... Les défis du mouvement "Ensemble citoyens !" porté par LREM et le MoDem". 29 November 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ensemble_(political_coalition)&oldid=1259338212"