This Sunday, France is voting on its future head of state and the basic direction of politics for the coming years.

A good quarter of the registered French voted by noon.

The liberal President Emmanuel Macron, who is running for a second term, faces the right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen as a challenger in the run-off election.

How do the programs of the two candidates differ?

immigration

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

  • Follow I follow

Marine Le Pen wants to ban the Muslim headscarf from public spaces.

She wants to make deportations easier, abolish family reunification for immigrants and abolish the acquisition of citizenship by birth (ius solis).

Emmanuel Macron is backing an education offensive to improve the integration of immigrants.

The model with half class sizes in schools with a high immigration rate is to be expanded.

At the same time, he promises to step up the fight against Islamism.

Subsidies to Muslim associations should be better controlled.

A new forum for Islam in France replaces the Islamic Council.

purchasing power

Marine Le Pen wants to reduce taxes on energy and fuel.

For 100 basic necessities, she plans to reduce VAT to zero.

She promises a general salary increase of 10 percent by reducing non-wage labor costs.

Emmanuel Macron wants to strengthen the purchasing power of employees by exempting them from tax and social security contributions with a bonus of up to 6,000 euros.

He has also promised to keep the "protective shield" against high energy tariffs as long as the crisis calls for it.

He also wants to cap energy prices.

There is a similar mechanism for fuel prices, which is also to be extended.

Germany

Marine Le Pen sees "insurmountable differences" between Paris and Berlin.

She wants to end all Franco-German defense projects that have been started since 2017.

This would also affect the FCAS combat aircraft system.

The Aachen Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation and Integration

she doesn't feel obligated.

She considers the German nuclear phase-out to be incompatible with a European electricity market and is therefore working towards France's exit.

Emmanuel Macron promotes a close Franco-German partnership in favor of the EU.

He wants to advance joint defense projects and strengthen the EU's defense capacities.

The Aachen Treaty must be filled with more life.

He wants to reform the European electricity market.

Europe

Marine Le Pen wants to cut French contributions.

It strives for a "Europe of Nations" and rejects the EU as a legal area.

That is why she wants to prepare a referendum.

It should help to be able to undermine European jurisprudence, for example in immigration policy.

She wants to return to systematic border controls at France's external borders.

Emmanuel Macron wants the EU "to be able to make independent decisions in all areas".

He wants to reform the Schengen area in order to rectify grievances in immigration and asylum policy.

He advocates a CO2 border tax.

defense

Marine Le Pen wants to withdraw from NATO's integrated military structures.

She criticizes NATO's missile defense strategy for weakening France's nuclear deterrence doctrine.

Le Pen has also said he wants to strengthen the defense partnership with Britain.

At the same time, she wants to promote "Russia's rapprochement with NATO" after the end of the Ukraine war.

Emmanuel Macron wants to reform NATO from within and improve European defense capabilities.

He committed himself to the two percent target even before the war in Ukraine.

According to the program, defense spending of 295 billion euros is planned for the period 2019 to 2025.