First Round of French Presidential Elections
The first round of French presidential elections will be held on April 23. It is the next high-stake event after Brexit, US presidential elections and Italian referendum. France’s political establishment will try to resist the rise of anti-EU Marin Le Pen, the political leader of the far-right National Front. Her victory will be the biggest EU crisis to date, outshining even Brexit. Le Pen’s main rivals are Republican Francois Fillon and the independent candidate Emmanuel Macron. The second round of election between the top two candidates will be held on May 2, 2017. If Le Pen shows the best result, the single currency will suffer. If Marcon leads in the first round, the euro should strengthen.