Emmanuel Macron emerged from the television duel against Marine Le Pen with a slight advantage.

That was the unanimous verdict in the press on Thursday.

"Macron dominates, Le Pen withstands the shock," headlined the conservative "Le Figaro" and the left-wing "Libération" judged: "Le Pen still below standard".

"Le Monde" wrote on the front page "Macron on the offensive, Le Pen in retreat".

In the event of his re-election, the President now also knows where he wants to celebrate: at the foot of the Eiffel Tower on the Field of Mars and not at the Louvre as in 2017.

His campaign staff had long hesitated to talk about the minutes after the polls closed on Sunday.

After surviving the debate, these reservations have visibly disappeared.

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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Even though Marine Le Pen didn't go away with a KO like five years ago, Macron has confirmed his status as the favourite.

According to a survey by the opinion research institute Opinion Way, 41 percent of the French found Macron more convincing, and 31 percent said so for Le Pen.

27 percent said they were not convinced by either of them.

The opinion research institute Elabe found that 59 percent found Macron more convincing and 39 percent Le Pen. Only two percent were disappointed.

Le Pen criticizes Germany's "ideological mistakes".

For the first time since the European referendum in 2005, European politics played an important role from the very first hour of the television debate.

After the two candidates had exchanged quite politely about how the purchasing power of the French could be strengthened, Le Pen got down to business with ricochets against Germany.

The right-wing populist complained that she was not prepared to support Germany's "ideological mistakes" in energy policy and denounced the dependence on Russian natural gas.

Under her leadership, France should therefore leave the European electricity market.

Le Pen wants to demolish the existing wind farms and rely on nuclear power.

She accused Macron of only closing the nuclear power plant in Fessenheim to please the federal government and thus betray French interests.

Le Pen complained that the president did not understand how to defend France's interests in Brussels. As president, she will change that.

"You simply no longer say that you want to leave the EU, but actually nothing has changed in your program," Macron replied.

Le Pen gave free rein to her anti-German resentments.

"We sell German cars and sacrifice our breeders, we import Brazilian chickens," she claimed, referring to the free trade agreements agreed by the EU.

Macron reacted visibly irritated: "Which free trade agreement do you mean?" His posture spoke of a certain incredulity, which commentators interpreted as arrogance.

The President pointed out that France had opposed the Mercosur free trade agreement.

Le Pen accused him of smearing their project of a Europe of fatherlands with "conspiracy theories".

"It's quite seductive that you say something like that," Macron said smugly.

In Le Pen's view, there can be no such thing as European sovereignty, as Macron has been demanding since the Sorbonne speech.

"There is no European people," she said.

Again she complained about the European flag being hoisted under the Arc de Triomphe at the beginning of the French EU Council Presidency.

She claimed Macron had replaced the French tricolor with the European flag.

Macron used his reply to make a commitment to the "German-French couple" that he formed with Chancellor Angela Merkel "and is now continuing with Chancellor Scholz".

He recalled that France did not produce its own vaccine during the pandemic and the French benefited from EU solidarity in vaccine procurement.

The economic consequences of the pandemic have also been cushioned thanks to the EU recovery fund.

He is convinced that Europe is the answer to the challenges, whether in climate protection or in digitization.

Le Pen seems to him like someone who wants to change a club on his own and in this way puts himself on the sidelines.

"That's not how Europe works," he said.

"If you talk to Putin, talk to your banker"

Macron succeeded in demonstrating Le Pen's Russia policy.

In a surprising turn, Le Pen initially posed as the defender of Ukraine, "which deserves our total support".

She spoke out in favor of sanctions against Russia, arms deliveries and financial aid for Kyiv.

She specifically mentioned her former partner Louis Aliot, who, as mayor of Perpignan, had traveled to Poland by coach to offer Ukrainian refugees in the south of France a temporary home.

The only thing she rejects is the planned halt to Russian gas and oil supplies, Le Pen stressed. "We shouldn't commit hara-kiri to punish Russia," she said.

Macron reminded Le Pen that in 2014 she recognized the annexation of Crimea and the result of the referendum organized by Moscow.

In addition, in 2015 she took out a loan worth millions from a Russian-Czech bank, which made her dependent on Vladimir Putin.

"If you talk to Putin, talk to your banker," Macron told her.

15.6 million TV viewers followed the nearly three-hour debate, fewer than five years ago when 16.5 million tuned in.

During an election campaign appearance at a truck stop in Roye in northern France, Le Pen warned on Thursday of the “social deforestation” that Macron would face for another five years.

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