Ensemble () is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political coalition in France. Formed in November 2021 as Ensemble Citoyens, it includes

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

(REN), formerly known as En Marche,

Democratic Movement A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution or organization or a country, in which all members have an equal share of power. Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities that differentiate ...

(MoDem) Horizons,

En commun En Commun ( ''English'': In Common) is a French environmentalist political party created in 2020 by En Marche MPs Barbara Pompili, Hugues Renson and Jacques Maire. The party is member of Ensemble Citoyens, which supports Emmanuel Macron in ...

, and the Progressive Federation. The coalition included the parties Agir and

Territories of Progress Territories of Progress – Social Reformist Movement (french: Territoires de progrès – Mouvement social-réformiste, TDP) was a French political party of the centre to centre-left. It was founded in February 2020 by Socialist Party ministers ...

(TDP) until they were merged into the rebranded Renaissance. Ensemble has mainly been described as being

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

, and sometimes as

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

on the political spectrum.

History

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...

, the leader of the

(MoDem) has previously proposed the formation of a coalition that would include

and

parties. In November 2021, president of the National Assembly,

Richard Ferrand Richard Ferrand (; born 1 July 1962) is a French politician of La République En Marche! (LREM) who served as President of the National Assembly from 2018 to 2022. He had served as a member of the National Assembly for Finistère's 6th const ...

, accepted his proposal and together they had formed Ensemble Citoyens. Besides the Democratic Movement and

, Agir was also its founding member. In the following month, they were joined by the Radical Party, Horizons,

, and

En Commun En Commun ( ''English'': In Common) is a French environmentalist political party created in 2020 by En Marche MPs Barbara Pompili, Hugues Renson and Jacques Maire. The party is member of Ensemble Citoyens, which supports Emmanuel Macron in ...

. From its foundation in November, the coalition has been headed by Ferrand as its leader, Bayrou and

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020 under President ...

as vice-presidents, and

Stanislas Guerini Stanislas Guerini (born 14 May 1982) is a French politician who is serving as Minister of Public Transformation and Service in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne since 2022. Prior to entering government, Guerini served as Execut ...

as secretary-general.

Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served fo ...

has also affiliated himself with the coalition. Philippe suspended its participation in the coalition on 14 January 2022, although, four days later he had announced that his party was reinstated into the coalition. In April, LREM announced that it would change its party name to "Renaissance", and a month later, the name of the coalition was shortened to just Ensemble. The Progressive Federation joined the coalition in May 2022.

Members

Objectives

The coalition aimed to bring the presidential majority of

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

together in order to present its joint candidates for the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. The elections took place following the 2022 French presidential election, which was held in A ...

. In May 2022, Ferrand indicated their commitment for "a stable majority in the National Assembly", while Philippe specified that the program of Ensemble "is that of the Macron". Bayrou indicated that the parties would form a joint parliamentary group in the National Assembly, however Renaissance, MoDem, and Horizons each formed separate parliamentary groups following the legislative elections. Some media sources consider it as a modern incarnation of

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to c ...

(UDF), founded in 1978.

References

{{French political parties 2021 establishments in France Liberal parties in France Centrist parties in France Centre-right parties in Europe Political parties established in 2021 Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Political party alliances in France Pro-European political parties in France

History

Members

Objectives

See also

References