Anti-euro sentiment in French election campaign

Two of the candidates in France's presidential election, Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, want France to leave the Eurozone if they win. Coming from the far right and far left of France's political spectrum, these plans draw scathing criticism from observers.

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Les Echos (FR) /

We would end up in same situation as Greece

If France really took steps to leave the Eurozone it would face the same fate as Greece, Les Echos warns:

“Let's suppose that our leaving the Eurozone becomes plausible. Faced with the risk of devaluation, foreign lenders would withdraw their support. We know the scenario, we've seen it play out in Greece: a profound and instant crisis in the balance of payments would force a reduction in domestic demand in an attempt to restore the balance in foreign trade. At the same time the ECB would stop purchasing French bonds on the secondary market, which would make it very difficult to finance the public debt. The adjustment would come about through a brutal hike in interest rates, which would considerably hamper business activity and put the solvency of the state in jeopardy.”

Le Monde (FR) /

Populists plunge the people into ruin

Apologists of a French exit from the Eurozone should be truthful about the consequences of such a step, the conservative member of the National Assembly urges in Le Monde:

“The French people have the right to an explanation about the unavoidable consequences of such serious decisions, one that relies on more than rhetorical flourishes and charlatanism. No doubt there is a small minority of people in our country who favour collective suicide. In former times there were those who hailed disasters as 'divine surprises'. Perhaps their heirs hope to follow the example of Chavez' Venezuela or of Greece during Tsipras's first days in office, or to start with the first and end with the second, or vice-versa. ... Populists promise the people happy days before bringing them to ruin.”