look back at the first ballot in 1979

These first European elections took place in the middle of the Cold War, notably with the UDF led by Simone Veil and the RPR by Jacques Chirac.

While the first meetings are taking place and the heads of the list are now known, the campaign for the elections to the European Parliament seems to be well underway. The opportunity to delve into our archives and see how the first campaign of its kind unfolded. It was in 1979 that for the first time, the election of European deputies took place by direct universal suffrage.

The FN was unable to participate because, lacking an alliance with the PFN of Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancourt, it did not have the necessary means. On the contrary, the four major political forces which were the UDF of President Giscard-d’Estaing, the RPR of Jacques Chirac, the Socialist Party (PS) of Mitterrand and the French Communist Party (PCF) of Georges Marchais quickly posed their milestone.

When Simone Veil criticizes the FN, “SS with little feet”

For the UDF, the head of the list was Simone Veil, who concentrated the hatred of the extreme right. In fact, one of his meetings was interrupted by Jean-Marie Le Pen and members of his movement. She stands up to them and bravely says: “You don’t scare me… You’re just small-footed SS.” Nationalism in fact is supported by two other political forces. The PCF of Marchais, hostile to the Europe of big capital and especially the RPR of Chirac, which rejects Europe “dominated by German-American interests”.

The debates are thus marked by elements which recall our time, when the Cold War reigned. In the end, to everyone’s surprise, Simone Veil won. Chirac ranks 4th, which is a disappointment for his camp. He hoped to advance his candidacy for the presidential election with this election, but he is backing down. Mitterrand, who came second with the socialist list, was criticized. But he shows that he is alive, very much alive, as the hit of that time proclaimed: Born to Be Alive !