France's political situation, ever since the surge of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party in the June 2024 European elections and President Emmanuel Macron's failed dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale, is causing concern in Brussels. From the European perspective, the appointment of Sébastien Lecornu on September 9 as the country's third prime minister in one year has not come as a reassuring sign. "I can only share with you my concern about the political situation in France and the concern expressed by our colleagues," said Macron-aligned MEP Valérie Hayer that day.

Of course, France is not the only politically unstable member state where the rise to power of a Eurosceptic far right is now a possibility. Yet the country holds a special role within the European Union as one of the bloc's founding countries, the EU's second-largest economy, its sole nuclear power and the only member state with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

With a war on its borders, Donald Trump's return to power and its economy falling further behind the United States and China, the EU currently needs stability more than ever. "The political instability in France is a problem for Europe. Four governments in less than two years is too many," said Nicola Procaccini, an MEP from Italian PM Giorgia Meloni's post-fascist Fratelli d'Italia party and one of Meloni's close associates, on September 9.

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