speaking time, debates, electoral propaganda… How is the official campaign going, which begins on Monday?

The elections take place in less than two weeks, on June 9. During this period, the candidates will be much more visible in public space.

Fifteen days before going to the polls. The countdown began before the European elections, which will take place on Sunday June 9 in France. The official campaign is launched on Monday May 27 for the 38 lists in the running – a record number, with four more lists than in 2019.

Campaign clips, posters, debates… The presence of candidates in the public and media space will intensify, with rules to respect. Franceinfo explains to you how this campaign will unfold, which ends on June 7 at midnight, due to a reserve period.

Fairness in speaking time, not strict equality

The speaking time rules are not the same as for a presidential election, where strict equality must be observed between the candidates. As part of the European election, Arcom, the audiovisual policeman, sticks to a principle of fairness. Seventeen television channels and 10 radio stations, listed by the All Europe site, must count the speaking time of the different lists since mid-April, i.e. eight weeks before the election, compared to six weeks in 2019. “We wanted to extend the period (…), the electoral campaign having already, in fact, started”had justified Roch-Olivier Maistre, president of Arcom, on March 7, according to comments reported by The world.

Several criteria must be respected by the media to maintain this principle of fairness. The speaking times taken into account are those of the candidates and their supporters, all broadcasts combined. Longer airtime is granted to the most representative lists, based on the results obtained in the last elections, opinion polls and their contribution to the electoral debate. We therefore hear more from the main parties during the campaign.

A reserve period for the government, before that of the candidates and the media

In France, the practice is for members of the government to enter a reserve period at the same time as the official campaign begins, to avoid using public means for electoral purposes. This republican tradition is not, however, based on any legal text. The electoral reserve period “aims to preserve the necessary political neutrality of the administrative authority during electoral periods and the impartiality of agents”detailed the Ministry of the Interior in a response to a written question asked by MP Bernard Roman, in 2011.

During the 2019 European election campaign, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, issued a circular to ask his ministers and secretaries of state not to travel in this context, unless “prior agreement”. In which case the costs of these travels must be covered by the parties. On the other hand, no rule prohibits the participation of ministers in meetings, provided that there can be no confusion with their governmental activities.

The candidates and the media will in turn enter the reserve period on Friday June 7 at midnight, the date of the closing of the official campaign. For two days, the day before and the day of the election, the distribution of electoral documents and the dissemination of any message having a character of electoral propaganda, political remarks or polls, will be prohibited. This period will end on Sunday June 9 at 8 p.m., the time at which the first estimates of the results of the European vote will fall.

Programs, posters and campaign clips broadcast throughout the country

Posters of the candidates and their list will be posted from Monday on dedicated panels, near the polling stations of the 36,000 French municipalities. The inflation of lists is a headache for town halls, which have had to provide 38 billboards in front of polling stations. However, a circular authorizes them to split them into several parts or to use the walls of public buildings. The program of lists is also published online on a website of the Ministry of the Interior and available in audio version.

Professions of faith are also sent to mailboxes. The national propaganda commission has until June 5 to send the electoral documents (professions of faith, ballot papers, etc.) to the 48 million voters and to town halls.

From Monday, the candidates are also more visible and audible since the public broadcast media, television and radio, are required to broadcast their campaign clips. A spot lasting a maximum of three minutes, the broadcast of which was validated by Arcom, which randomly selected the order in which these clips were shown.

Several debates and large meetings planned until June 7

The candidates from the main lists will hold several large meetings, detailed by All Europe, between now and June 7. The presidential majority candidate, Valérie Hayer (Renaissance, MoDem, Agir, Horizons and Radical Party), will be in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine) on Tuesday, in the presence of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Two days later, the candidate of the Socialist Party and Place publique, Raphaël Glucksmann, will hold a meeting in Paris. On the Republican side, François Bellamy’s big end-of-campaign meeting will take place on June 5 in Le Cannet (Alpes-Maritimes). For the National Rally and Jordan Bardella, it will be Sunday June 2 in Paris. The same day, Les Ecologistes-EELV, around the head of the list Marie Toussaint, will meet in Aubervilliers (Saint-Denis).

Debates between the main leaders of the list are also on the program during this official campaign, notably on June 4 on France 2, in the political program “L’Evénement”. In an interview with Parisian published on Saturday, Emmanuel Macron relaunched the idea of ​​a debate with Marine Le Pen, while the RN list is at the top of the polls.