Macron calls snap election after EU setback: What’s at stake for France?

According to analysts, Emmanuel Macron might be trying to test the French public — and the far-right’s ability to govern.

Battered by a defeat in European Parliament elections, France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday dissolved the country’s parliament and called for legislative elections later this month.

Here is what you need to know about what’s next — and why it matters:

Voters in France dealt a massive blow to Macron in elections on Sunday for the European Parliament.

Preliminary results showed that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) secured more than 30 percent of the vote compared with 14.5 percent for the French president’s Renaissance (RE) party.

Renaissance narrowly escaped coming in third place, finishing neck and neck with the centre left, which garnered 14 percent of the vote.