Centrist MEP Valérie Hayer has been appointed to head President Emmanuel Macron's list for the European elections in June. RFI looks into the background of this little-known candidate, who has a fight on her hands as the French far right prepares for battle on the hustings.
Now 37, Hayer was a local councillor for the centrist UDI party before switching to Macron's camp in 2017.
She entered the European Parliament in 2019, and was appointed to lead the parliament's liberal Renew Europe group in January 2024.
But she has no national profile in France, prompting some observers to question Macron's decision to put her first in line to be elected in the upcoming European polls – which are expected to be a key test of voters' faith in the EU.
Speaking to the right-wing Le Figaro daily, Hayer brushed off such concerns: "Maybe I'm still unknown to the general public, but that's not the case in the halls of the European Parliament. Some of my competitors couldn't say the same."
Honorée de la confiance d’@EmmanuelMacron et de sa majorité présidentielle pour mener à bien cette campagne des Européennes.
— Valérie Hayer (@ValerieHayer) February 29, 2024
Comptez sur ma détermination et mon énergie pour nous mener à la victoire.
Oui, le 9 juin prochain, nous avons besoin d'Europe ! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sFfnzWLv0c
'The farmer's daughter'
Born in France's north-western Mayenne department in 1986, Hayer – who likes to describe herself as "the daughter, granddaughter and sister of farmers" – is a timely pick in the light of French farmers' anger towards Macron's government and their deep mistrust of EU agricultural policy.
"I'm lucky enough to have grown up on a farm with my sister and brother," Hayer told TF1 television this week, saying she was "very proud to come from the farming world".
Hayer initially wanted to become a veterinary surgeon, but went on to study public law.
She was quickly drawn to the world of politics, becoming a local councillor in her home region at the age of 21 – the same year she joined the UDI.
From local politics, Hayer went on to become vice-president of the Mayenne department in 2016, joining Macron's party – then named En Marche, since renamed Renaissance – in 2017.
European track record
Two years later she was elected to the European Parliament and has since played an active role in negotiating the rolling European budget and the post-Covid recovery plan.
In a foretaste of the next three months of campaigning, Hayer has regularly crossed swords with the far-right National Rally led by Jordan Bardella, as well as Jean-Luc Mélenchon's hard-left France Unbowed group.
Speaking on her first campaign visit on Friday, to a farm in her native Mayenne, Hayer stressed that she did not want "Europe and agriculture to be opposed".
"I don't want Europe and agriculture to be pitted against each other. The reality is that ... French farmers need Europe," she said.
"Every year, €10 billion of European money goes to support French farmers. I fought to get it at the very beginning of my term of office. I can guarantee you that it wasn't a foregone conclusion."
Hayer's farming credentials will be put to the test on Saturday when she attends the politically charged Paris Agriculture Show, where angry farmers last weekend greeted Macron with whistles and insults.
