The French presidential election is not just about France. It’s an expression of the deep crisis of European politics, the possibility of the Left to represent discontent with the status quo, and the real deficiencies of socialist strategy today.

Europe has entered an electoral cycle of great importance, up for grabs are important aspects of European politics in the post-Brexit context. The French election is just the first important turning point, to be followed by the German election (to be held on September 24) and Italian election (due for no later than May 23, 2018). All these take place at a moment marked by the obvious failure of the European integration process, exemplified in its inability to map a way out of economic stagnation, the widespread debt crisis, the systemic social violence unleashed in countries such as Greece, and the declining popular support for the European project.

What can be more telling than the fact that the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome coincided with the official beginning of the EU exit process of the world’s fifth largest economy? Moreover, despite the intensified contradictions of the eurozone, European capitalists are still opting for a fuite en avant (flight forward) tactic of more aggressive austerity and neoliberal restructuring.