..... in September.

But he has plenty of trouble in France and recent opinion polls show that in a head-to-head with Marine Le Pen she is slightly ahead. The 'play-off final' of the French presidential election will be in May next year. Clearly, Le Pen is loathsome and she is no EU fan, though she has publicly dropped her idea of taking France out of the EU. Even if that remains her stance, if she gets into power the EU is going to get an a­rse-kicking at a time when it will be even deeper into the s­hit.

I do not believe that she will win the election. The point is that the lower the margin of the Macron win the greater will be the reality that it is credible to have the opinion that the EU is not good for France. By the time of the election Le Pen may decide that it is once again her policy that France leaves the EU.

However, prior to that Macron will never be regarded as the most important leader in the EU. Whoever wins the German election in September will be the most important EU leader. So Macron can concentrate on his numerous problems in France and Germany can continue to be the only EU country with a pot to p­iss in.