2019 European Parliament election in France

European Parliament constituencies of France in the 2014 election

Starting from the 2004 elections, France was divided into eight large regional electoral constituencies for the purposes of European Parliament elections with members elected by proportional representation. The electoral system changed ahead of the 2019 election, with broad support in the French political class for a return to a national vote.[1] On 29 November, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced that all parties consulted except for The Republicans supported returning to national lists, and confirmed the intention of the government to prepare a bill to change the voting system to that end,[2] which was officially unveiled on 3 January 2018,[3] preserving the 5% threshold for representation and 3% for reimbursement of campaign expenses. The possibility of transnational lists following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union was also considered. The return to national lists in effect benefits smaller parties which were previously disadvantaged by the system of large regional constituencies, while larger parties would win fewer seats.[2]

The bill creating a single national constituency was approved by a vote the National Assembly vote on the first reading on 20 February 2018,[4] and the Senate officially adopted the bill on 23 May 2018,[5] which was promulgated on 25 June after its validation by the Constitutional Council.[6]

As the European elections are scheduled from 23 to 26 May 2019 and French votes are traditionally held on Sundays, the date of the 2019 European election in France was confirmed to be 26 May 2019.[7] Declarations of lists and candidacies were to be submitted between 23 April and 3 May 2019, while voting in some of the overseas territories and for nationals in the Americas officially took place on 25 May 2019.[8]

On 23 January 2018, the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted a proposal to reduce the size of the hemicycle from 751 to 705, splitting 27 former British seats between 14 underrepresented member states of which France was set to gain 5, increasing its representation from 74 to 79.[9] On 7 February, the European Parliament voted 368 to 274 against the principle of reallocating British seats to transnational lists, though the idea's fate was ultimately in the hands of the European Council.[10]

After the agreement on 10 April to postpone the British departure from the EU to 31 October, the participation of the United Kingdom in the European Parliament elections will mean that the number of elected MEPs will remain fixed at 74 until the eventual withdrawal of the UK. As a result, legislation to "provide for two phrases", one with 74 MEPs, and later with 79 in total,[11] was tabled on 24 April; electoral lists will still require 79 candidates, of which 74 will take their seats immediately and the remaining 5 "virtual" MEPs upon the departure of the UK from the EU.[12]

The length of campaign clips for each list was determined by its declared support among national parliamentarians (senators, deputies, and MEPs),[14] a change largely to the benefit of the governing majority at the expense of opposition parties.[15]

From 15 April 2019, the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) ensured that all candidates receive a fair distribution of time in broadcast media, with the exact timing monitored by stations themselves and speaking time relayed every Monday until the elections. The campaign officially commenced on 13 May.[16]

Hamon appealed against his exclusion from the France 2 debate on 4 April on 27 March, questioning the choice not to invite him given the inclusion of other lead candidates;[17] this came after the earlier non-invitation of Brossat and Lagarde.[18] He was joined in his case by Philippot and Asselineau, with the Paris administrative court subsequently ordering France 2 to invite the three to its debate, judging France Télévisions's excuse that Hamon's views were sufficiently represented by the invitation of Glucksmann to have been insufficient.[19]

France Télévisions contested this decision, and although the Conseil d'État ultimately ruled that France 2 was not obligated to invite the three, France 2 maintained its invitation out of courtesy.[20] This first debate was watched by only 1.62 million viewers, representing an audience share of 9.8%.[21]

On 9 April, just before the debate hosted by RFI and France 24, the RN announced Bardella would not participate in the debate, taking issue with its format and apparent lack of preparedness on the part of the hosts.[22] As Mélenchon was unable to appear on the CNews debate on 10 April due to a planned campaign meeting,[23] Adrien Quatennens was invited to take his place instead.[24]

The decision of to split the debate on 22 May, hosted by France 2 and France Inter, into two separate segments provoked consternation among those invited to the second part, as did the choice not to invite the lead candidates of three of the principal lists (Bellamy, Loiseau, and Bardella) but their party leaders (Wauquiez, Guerini, and Le Pen) instead. On 14 May, Brossat said he would file an appeal with the CSA to intervene in the debate, while Hamon castigated France Télévisions president Delphine Ernotte for the decision, with Lagarde, Dupont-Aignan, and Philippot also denouncing the arrangement.[25] On 15 May, Hamon, Lagarde, and Dupont-Aignan held a joint press conference in front of the France Télévisions headquarters to announce that they would boycott the debate unless its format was modified,[26] and Yahoo! later announced that the three would participate in a debate on its site before the debate that evening, hosted by Clément Viktorovitch.[27] The LCI debate on 20 May was held in a similar fashion, with the first part dedicated to "small" lists and the later part of the evening reserved for the "main" ones.[28]

Meanwhile, doubts about her performance meant Loiseau would not appear at the debate hosted by France 2, but rather Bayrou, while some considered inviting Canfin to the LCI debate.[29] On 19 May, both Canfin and Loiseau demanded that the three final debates feature live fact-checking in spite of logistical difficulties.[30]

On 23 September 2018, the national congress of the Association of Rural Mayors of France (Association des maires ruraux de France, or AMRF) announced that they would refuse to directly transmit the results of the elections to the state on the night of the election to voice their discontent with the lack of attention given by the government to rural policy.[40]

The 3 February 2019 edition of Le Journal du Dimanche revealed that Macron was interested in holding a referendum concurrent with the European elections on 26 May to conclude the grand débat national (great national debate) and end the gilets jaunes protests.[41] The opposition, suspicious about the referendum's timing, expressed skepticism, and the idea also lacked support from members of the government.[42]

Following the Notre-Dame de Paris fire on 15 April, several parties briefly suspended their campaigns for the European elections.[43]

The table below is a summary of the main parties contesting the 2019 European elections in France.

The leadership of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) initially voted in favor of a common list with Lutte Ouvrière (LO), with its national political council on 6 and 7 October 2018 voting 37–22 (with 5 abstentions and 10 non-participants) in favor of an alliance in the 2019 European elections;[47] however, in November 2018, the parties acknowledged the failure to arrive to an agreement for a common list.[48] The annual party congress of Lutte Ouvrière on 8 and 9 December voted to present an autonomous list, with spokeswoman and former presidential candidate Nathalie Arthaud announcing that she would be its lead candidate.[49] Arthaud said the party refused an alliance with the NPA because the interests of workers were not a priority for the latter, and because she did not want to run a campaign on "all the struggles that can be fought, from ecology to feminism".[50]

On 1 December 2017, Pierre Laurent, national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), stated that he wanted to gather "the strongest possible left group" for the 2019 European elections, launching an appeal to Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise and Benoît Hamon of Génération.s.[51] The national council of the PCF on 30 and 31 March approved the principle of a "common platform" including various left-wing groups as well as members of civil society and intellectuals, postponing discussion of electoral strategy.[52] On 3 June, Ian Brossat, deputy for housing to Socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, was selected as the leader of the PCF list.[53] On 14 June, the PCF again called for a common list of the left in an open letter addressed to parties on the left, excluding the Socialist Party (PS).[54] In December, Fabien Roussel, recently elected leader of the party, indicated that he did not necessarily support a common list given disagreements between left-of-centre parties, and indicated that an alliance with Hamon would only occur if Brossat led the list.[55] On 26 January, the PCF officially unveiled its list, voted on by party members from 31 January to 2 February. It includes two incumbent MEPs (Patrick Le Hyaric and Marie-Pierre Vieu), trade unionist Marie-Hélène Bourlard in second position (featured in the documentary film Merci patron! by sitting France Insoumise deputy François Ruffin), and is half composed of workers.[56]

At the convention of his movement on 25 November 2017, Jean-Luc Mélenchon announced that La France Insoumise would present a list in 2019, considering the elections a "referendum on the European question" to "break the chains, exit the European budgetary treaties".[58] The movement negotiating an alliance with the Spanish party Podemos and the Portuguese Left Bloc in Lisbon on 12 April 2018.[59] At the national level, Mélenchon continued to refuse any alliance with either Hamon's movement or the French Communist Party (PCF).[60] He announced on 11 March 2018 that he himself would not be a candidate.[61]

The movement published an unordered list of candidates on 5 June, with Charlotte Girard and Manuel Bompard guaranteed spots as the presumptive list leaders,[63] in first and second position, respectively,[64] and Younous Omarjee as the sole incumbent MEP. The movement received 637 applications, of which 506 were submitted by men and 131 by women; the electoral committee then ensured the demographic parity of the applicants. The resulting list was then submitted feedback until July,[63] when the list was ranked,[64] with another nine spots on the list reserved for members of civil society and trade unions and associations.[63] On 4 July, following a meeting of the electoral committee on 30 June, the movement published an updated list consisting of 66 candidates, with 13 spots reserved for members of civil society.[65]

The list produced by the electoral committee was met with criticism by dissatisfied activists, including Liêm Hoang-Ngoc of the "insubordinate Socialists", who "suspended" his movement's participation; former electoral committee member Lilian Guelfi, who denounced alleged favoritism by Manuel Bompard; and Sarah Soilihi and François Cocq, who withdrew their candidacies following its publication.[66] Djordje Kuzmanovic later quit the movement in November following his removal from the list after sexist remarks.[67] Nevertheless, the consultation of activists from 4 to 20 July resulted in its approval by 86.97% of participants.[68] After Emmanuel Maurel and Marie-Noëlle Lienemann quit the PS in mid-October.[69] the pair formed a new political party close to the Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC), the Republican and Socialist Left (GRS), in early 2019.[70] On 15 October, MRC president Jean-Luc Laurent announced an alliance with Maurel and Lienemann to create a common list with La France Insoumise,[71] with Maurel leaving the social democratic group in the European Parliament.[72] In April 2019, political scientist Thomas Guénolé, in 14th position, accused La France insoumise of being "a dictatorship" : the party reacted by saying he was accused of sexual harassment and removed him from the list.[73][74]

On 15 November, Girard confirmed that she would neither lead the list nor be a candidate in 2019, and appeared to imply that she was sidelined.[75] On 9 December,[57] the movement officially voted to approve its list of 79 candidates and designate Manon Aubry, a 29-year-old tax evasion specialist and spokeswoman at Oxfam France, as its lead candidate. Manuel Bompard, campaign director, was second on the list, followed by Leïla Chaibi and outgoing MEP Younous Omarjee. Emmanuel Maurel, who quit the PS for an alliance with the movement, appeared in sixth, with Mélenchon in the symbolic penultimate position and Girard last.[76] According to Aubry, their list included several active gilets jaunes.[77] As in the 2017 presidential campaign, the movement used holograms to hold virtual meetings in 471 small towns throughout France (via "holovans").[78] Unable to secure financing, Mélenchon called for supporters to participate in a "people's loan" to fund their campaign,[79] collective 1.5 million euros within five days,[80] and reaching 2 million euros by 10 April, with an average loan of 700 euros.[81]

On 21 January 2018, Benoît Hamon announced alongside former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis of DiEM25 that Génération.s would contest the 2019 European elections.[82] On 10 March, Hamon called for the creation of the "first pan-European transnational list" alongside Razem in Poland, The Alternative in Denmark, and LIVRE in Portugal, publishing a common manifesto in June.[83]

Hamon sought to invite Élise Lucet, host of Cash Investigation on France 2, as a lead candidate, but was rebuffed.[84] Audrey Pulvar was also contacted, but indicated that she was not interested,[85] as was the case with Christiane Taubira.[86] The movement communicated with the Greens and PCF, even if the possibility of an alliance between the three was unlikely,[52] and Noël Mamère remained a possible "consensus candidate" in an alliance with the Greens, given his membership of both formations,[87] but ruled out running on 25 June 2018.[88] On 29 October, the movement launched a call for applications for prospective candidates from civil society,[89] receiving between 300 and 400 applications.[90] In mid-November 2018, incumbent MEP Édouard Martin confirmed that he would not seek a second term.[91]

In an interview published in Le Monde on 6 December, Hamon confirmed that he would be the lead candidate of a "citizen alliance",[92] and subsequently closed the door to an alliance with the PS on 7 January 2019, citing its membership of the Party of European Socialists (PES).[93] Le Journal du Dimanche reported that top candidates would also include MEPs Guillaume Balas and Isabelle Thomas, ex-La France Insoumise member Sarah Soilihi, spokeswoman Aurore Lalucq, and community activist Salah Amokrane.[94] In an interview published in Le Monde in early February, Hamon proposed that the left hold a "citizen vote" in April to select a common list and program,[95] though only New Deal, Les Radicaux de gauche (LRDG), and the Movement of Progressives (MdP) were receptive to the idea.[96] Hamon then announced on 23 February that he would lead an independent list,[97] revealing the first thirty candidates on the list on 26 February.[98] Lalucq later quit, announcing on 18 March that she would join Place Publique.[99] The movement indicated it was 600,000 euros short of financing its campaign, and considered soliciting donations via a "citizen bank".[100]

Early on, a number of PS heavyweights declined to lead the list, including Najat Vallaud-Belkacem,[101] Pierre Moscovici,[102] Stéphane Le Foll,[103] Olivier Faure,[104] Christiane Taubira,[52] Paul Magnette,[105] François Hollande,[106] Bernard Cazeneuve,[107] Ségolène Royal,[108] Jean-Christophe Cambadélis,[109] and Christian Eckert.[110] Julien Dray declared his candidacy,[111] and Emmanuel Maurel was also reportedly approached to lead the list,[112] and did not rule out the possibility at the time.[113] On 8 October, Le Figaro reported that outgoing MEP Éric Andrieu was a candidate to lead the PS list,[114] as was Christine Revault d'Allonnes, who announced her candidacy on 11 October.[115] Gabrielle Siry,[116] Ségolène Neuville, and Sylvie Guillaume were also considered potential list leaders.[117]

In preparation for the elections, the PS began drafting its platform in May 2018,[118] launching a "digital collaborative platform", laruchesocialiste.fr,[104] which only elicited 337 responses from 272 people in two months.[119] Disagreements on the left wing of the party on the final form of the program persisted through September, despite commitments to create a left-wing and ecologist "intergroup" in the European Parliament, halt any new free trade treaties, and vote against the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada. The text marked a new approach for the PS, arguing in favor of more social and environmental controls in trade agreements and a revision of the European treaties led by the left. Faure also affirmed that the PS would not support the candidacy of Frans Timmermans as Spitzenkandidat.[120] In an interview with Le Monde published on 12 October, Maurel quit the PS and castigated its failure to represent socialism,[121] soon followed by Marie-Noëlle Lienemann the following day,[122] with the creating a new left-wing party associated with Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC) in 2019, the Republican and Socialist Left (GRS).[70]

On 15 December 2018, at the ending of a meeting of the national council of the PS, Faure for the first time proposed that the party participate in a "rally" of forces on the left.[123] After Royal ruled out standing as a candidate of a common list on 11 January,[124] Faure indicated he would be ready to lead a PS list if necessary.[125] Raphaël Glucksmann, who co-founded Place Publique in an effort to unite the left, was offered the position of lead candidate.[126] On 13 February, the national office of the party approved of Faure's plans to seek an alliance with Place Publique,[127] and Glucksmann officially announced his intention to lead a list in the European elections on 15 March,[128] with the national council of the PS voting to designate Glucksmann as lead candidate the following day, with 128 votes in favor, 5 against, and 35 abstensions (including Stéphane Le Foll and Luc Carvounas). The list is composed of half PS candidates and half those of other parties and figures from civil society,[129] marking the first time since 1979 the PS did not lead its own list in the European elections.[130]

New Deal officially announced its support for the list on 18 March 2019, as did ex-Génération.s spokeswoman Aurore Lalucq.[131] After receiving 215 applications from party officials by 26 October 2018,[132] the PS approved a list of 20 women and 20 men as candidates in the European elections on 27 March 2019, with 23 votes in favor and 11 against; Le Foll, Carvounas, Martine Aubry, and their allies expressed displeasure at the list, as did a number of candidates and outgoing MEPs, who denounced the diluted list (given the number of PS candidates in non-electable positions).[133] After initially coming to an agreement, Virginie Rozière's Les Radicaux de gauche (LRDG) quit the list on 29 April, following pressure from their former PRG colleagues towards PS not to welcome the LRDG splitters while PRG was itself cancelling its merger into Macron-leaning Radical Movement.[134] On 5 May, Le Parisien reported that Christiane Taubira would back the list, appearing alongside Glucksmann on 15 May.[135]

On 27 February 2018, MEP Yannick Jadot stated that EELV would seek to present an independent list in 2019.[137] Both Jadot and fellow MEP Michèle Rivasi opposed a rapprochement with Hamon like that in the 2017 presidential election. Among outgoing MEPs, José Bové, Eva Joly, and Pascal Durand did not intend to seek a third mandate.[138][139] Durand, a supporter of Nicolas Hulot, was seen as open to working with La République En Marche!, as was Karima Delli, despite her denial of any such intentions,[138] and on 13 April, she expressed her desire to lead the EELV list.[140] Durand, on the other hand, ultimately joined the La République En Marche list.[45] Other candidates reportedly included David Cormand, Julien Bayou, Marie Toussaint, and Mounir Satouri.[139] On 19 December, Ségolène Royal offered to join the EELV list in second position,[141] but was rejected the following day.[142]

Given the difficulty in finding a potential list leader, Noël Mamère was named a possible "consensus candidate" in an alliance with Hamon,[87] but later declined on 25 June.[88] On 9 and 10 June, the federal council of the party agreed to put forth provisional lists to be submitted to a membership vote from 11 to 16 July,[144][145] and the outlines of the party's plans for the 2019 elections were presented from 23 to 25 August.[139] Two possible lists were created – one led by Jadot and the other by Rivasi – with the names of Damien Carême and Julien Bayou removed after later revisions.[143] On 16 July, the party announced that Jadot won the vote with 58.69% of votes against 35.59% for Rivasi,[146] and subsequently reaffirmed that he would not ally with Hamon again in the European elections.[147] On 23 September, the EELV federal council agreed to place Damien Carême, mayor of Grande-Synthe, 3rd on the EELV list,[148] and Alexis Tiouka, a former representative to the UN for the rights of indigenous peoples, later joined the list, becoming the first-ever Native American on a European electoral list.[149] In an interview on 25 February 2019, Jadot announced the addition of regional councilor Benoît Biteau to the list in 11th position.[150][151]

Régions et Peuples Solidaires planned to contest the elections but left open the possibility of allying with the Greens,[152] and on 16 February 2019 announced it was an alliance, with former MEP François Alfonsi as well as Lydie Massard and Anne-Marie Hautant joining the list.[153] On 23 February, the Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI) duly announced that it reached an agreement with the EELV, with Caroline Roose and Salima Yenbou within the top 10 electable places on the list.[154]

The Greens intend to target both ex-Socialists and disappointed Macron voters who view his government's policies as too right-wing.[155] Jadot has sought to portray the EELV as neither left nor right but "central", attempting to represent a "pragmatic" German-style ecology and create an "ecologist pole" as opposed to the "productivist" and "populist" poles, saying that "ecology is not the left".[156] The Greens, led by Jadot, also unveiled their plans for a "Green New Deal", a name borrowed from the American left, proposing dedicating 100 billion euros to investments in renewable energy and home insulation to achieve 100% electricity generation from renewables within 20 years.[157]

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.[159] 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,[160] while Les Échos and Le Parisien later reported that Buzyn withdrew her name from consideration.[161] Loiseau was officially designated as lead candidate on 26 March as the list of the first 30 candidates was unveiled.[162] Alain Juppé was the subject of early speculation regarding his potential candidacy to lead the list,[2] though confirmed on 19 March 2018 that he would not stand,[163] and his appointment to the Constitutional Council precluded his participation in the campaign, but he indicated he would have supported Macron's list.[164]

Other speculated list leaders included Édouard Philippe, François Bayrou, Nicolas Hulot, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet,[1][165] Sylvie Goulard, Daniel Cohn-Bendit,[166] Arnaud Danjean,[167] and Michel Barnier. Pierre Moscovici ruled out the possibility,[168] as did Barnier,[169] Jean-Yves Le Drian,[170] Bayrou,[171] Danjean,[172] Daniel Cohn-Bendit,[173] and Thomas Pesquet.[174] Outgoing Green MEP Karima Delli, ministers Marlène Schiappa and Brune Poirson, deputy Amélie de Montchalin,[175] Pascal Canfin, head of the French section of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and former France Inter journalist Bernard Guetta were also considered potential candidates.[176] Canfin declined to lead the list on 16 November,[177] and in late January 2019, Laurence Tubiana, president of the European Climate Foundation and former COP21 negotiator, was mentioned as a possibility,[178] as were Le Drian, sailor Maud Fontenoy,[179] justice minister Nicole Belloubet,[180] and Emmanuelle Wargon.[181]

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,[182] and on 26 September 2018, the movement officially announced the opening of applications for prospective candidates from civil society,[183] receiving 2,673 in total,[184] winnowed by an investiture committee chaired by Jean-Marc Borello.[185] Former Élysée advisor Stéphane Séjourné was designated campaign director on 29 October, tasked with creating a list alongside Agir,[176] and seeking a lead candidate with a "green profile".[186] For the MoDem, Bayrou selected Régis Lefebvre to serve as deputy campaign director.[187]

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.[188] 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.[189] 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,[190] 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.[191] The candidates it proposed included outgoing MEP Dominique Riquet, Olga Johnson, and Mélanie Fortier.[192] One outgoing MEP, Jean Arthuis, announced that he would not seek to run again in 2019,[193] and Agir MEP Tokia Saïfi also retired,[194] as did the party's other MEP Élisabeth Morin-Chartier after learning she would not be in electable position on the list.[195] Foreign nationals were also be on the list, including former Italian undersecretary for European affairs Sandro Gozi.[196] After declining to run as a lead candidate, Canfin ultimately appeared in second on the list.[197]

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.[198] On 9 September 2018, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group, claimed that La République En Marche would ally with ALDE, which Castaner denied.[199] 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.[200] 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,[201] leading the latter to announce it would no longer accept corporate donations.[202] Verhofstadt later announced on 2 May that the ALDE group would be dissolved after the elections to ally and create a new group.[203]

On 15 December 2018, Lagarde launched the party's campaign at its extraordinary congress,[205] hoping to gain the support of pro-European voters who were not necessarily in favor of Macron's ideas on Europe.[206] The party is also seeking to gain support from LR voters disillusioned by the hard-right political line of Wauquiez.[207] Former LR vice president Virginie Calmels as well as general Pierre de Villiers were approached as potential candidates.[208] However, Calmels later denied she was contacted and ruled out working with the UDI.[209] Xavier Bertrand planned to appear at the launch of the UDI congress remotely, but reiterated that he did not support a federal Europe did support the UDI list.[210] The UDI list includes former MEP Nora Berra, an Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional councilor elected on the LR list who later quit the party to protest its hard-right positioning, in second position,[211] as well as longtime centrist Louis Giscard d'Estaing, son of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in third.[212] While the party's sole remaining MEP Patricia Lalonde initially supported the principle of an independent list, she later urged the party to join the LR list, expressing support for Bellamy and Wauquiez;[213] Lalonde did not seek another mandate in the elections.[45]

On 18 November, Le Journal du Dimanche reported that LR leader Laurent Wauquiez was considering 33-year-old Catholic philosopher François-Xavier Bellamy as a candidate to lead the LR list in 2019,[214] though his political inexperience and conservative profile initially raised concerns.[215] Wauquiez decided to submit three names to the CNI on 29 January, naming not only Bellamy but Agnès Evren and Arnaud Danjean as top candidates for the list,[216] balancing the various strands of the party, with Evren close to Valérie Pécresse and Danjean a committed pro-European close to Alain Juppé.[217] On 29 January, the CNI validated the nominations of Bellamy, Evren, and Danjean with 38 out of 40 votes.[218] Other potential list leaders included Laurent Wauquiez, who declined,[219] Virginie Calmels, Damien Abad,[168] Nadine Morano,[165] Jean Leonetti, Arnaud Danjean,[220] Luc Ferry,[167] Brice Hortefeux,[221] Pierre de Villiers,[222] Éric Woerth, Christian Jacob,[223] Geoffroy Didier, Philippe Juvin, Michel Dantin,[224] and Arnaud Danjean,[225] though Leonetti declined,[226] Ferry was uninterested,[221] and Dantin decided instead to seek another term as mayor of Chambéry in 2020.[227] Pécresse,[228] Rachida Dati,[229] and Michel Barnier also declined to lead the LR list.[169]

In an interview published on 10 March 2018 in Le Journal du Dimanche, Thierry Mariani militated for an alliance with Le Pen,[230] and was subsequently threatened with expulsion from the party;[231] he ultimately joined the RN list.[45] On 9 October, Wauquiez ruled out the possibility of alliances with Debout la France, La République En Marche!, or the National Rally in a letter addressed to Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.[232] On 12 February 2019, Hervé Morin of The Centrists met with Wauquiez about a possible alliance for two out of the top 20 places on the list.[233] On 6 March, the LR national investiture committee designated the first 26 candidates on the list.[234] Alexandre Vergnes, general secretary of Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions (CPNT), was initially slated to appear in 13th – and later 15th – position, but was later demoted to 30th;[235] ultimately, the party announced on 11 April that its candidates would be Martine Aury in 48th and Pascal Marie in 31st.[236] Geoffroy Didier was appointed campaign director in March.[237] Despite pressure from La République En Marche to support their list ahead of the 2020 municipal elections and implied threats not to support them in case of their refusal denounced by some as "blackmail", "Macron-compatible" mayors (including Arnaud Robinet and Christian Estrosi) largely backed Bellamy's list.[238]

Among outgoing MEPs, Nadine Morano, Brice Hortefeux, Alain Cadec, Franck Proust, Geoffroy Didier,[221] and Angélique Delahaye sought to stand as candidates, while Françoise Grossetête, Élisabeth Morin-Chartier, Michèle Alliot-Marie, Alain Lamassoure, Jérôme Lavrilleux, Renaud Muselier, and Maurice Ponga did not seek the party's investiture,[239] with Rachida Dati also opting out in view of the 2020 municipal elections in Paris.[240] Marc Joulaud and Philippe Juvin are also not running for another term.[45]

On 19 January 2018, Europe 1 revealed that Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of Debout la France, appeared to close the door to an alliance with the National Rally (RN) while still appealing for a "union of patriots" that could yet include members of the National Rally.[242] On 20 March, the National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP) voted unanimously to join Dupont-Aignan's "The Lovers of France" (Les Amoureux de la France),[243][244] a political formation including the Christian Democratic Party of Jean-Frédéric Poisson and mayor of Béziers Robert Ménard.[245] On 31 May, the three figures of "The Lovers of France" presented a "common program" with president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group Ryszard Legutko in attendance,[246] coinciding with the defection of FN MEP Bernard Monot to join DLF and the publication of an open letter from Le Pen inviting Dupont-Aignan to form a common list,[247] which the latter subsequently rejected publicly.[248] On 23 September, Dupont-Aignan officially announced that he intended to lead a "union list" of the right in the 2019 European elections,[249] and DLF officially concluded its alliance with the ECR on 21 December.[250]

RN MEP Sylvie Goddyn, who was expelled from the party on 19 October 2018 after indicating her support for Dupont-Aignan's initiative for a union list,[251] initially planned to appear on the party's list,[252] as did Poisson.[253] According to a report in Le Figaro, Dupont-Aignan also sought to invite Jean Lassalle to lead his list but was rebuffed,[254] as was the case with Thierry Mariani,[255] who chose to join the RN list.[256] Jeannette Bougrab also refused to join the list, while both Dupont-Aignan and Le Pen failed to recruit LR member Erik Tegnér. DLF attempted to draft another LR figure, Malika Sorel,[257] while UBS whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud became a candidate on the DLF list.[258] On 11 February, L'Opinion reported that wealthy financier and writer Charles Gave would appear on the DLF list and provide the party with nearly 2 million euros in funding, while his daughter Emmanuelle Gave would also be on the list in an electable position.[259] After Quotidien revealed the younger Gave's history of controversial tweets, DLF announced on 20 February that she would not be nominated, thus losing the elder Gave's guarantee of funding.[260] Following the departure of the Gaves and denial of loans, the party relied on 1.2 million in funding via a "people's loan" from supporters, in addition to around 1 million euros provided by candidates on the list.[261]

On 28 March 2019, Dupont-Aignan unveiled the first 23 candidates on the list, excluding Poisson because of his alleged refusal to embrace a collective approach, with outgoing MEPs Monot and Goddyn also absent "by mutual agreement".[262] Poisson reportedly threatened to launch his own list with Gave after being told he would appear in fifth position, rather than third as originally planned.[263] Despite their participation in Les Amoureux de la France, Ménard and Nicolas Dhuicq ultimately supported the list of the RN.[264]