The surprise victory of the left in France’s general election on July 7 has renewed hope among academics for international collaboration, but a period of uncertainty remains as the country scrambles to form a government.  

“If we still want a high-quality European education system, we need to protect the freedom of thought in our universities, the freedom to think what you want, to learn what you want, to debate what you want, and to be disruptive.  

“We need to protect that from any kind of extremism everywhere in Europe; nationalist extremism, religious extremism… We need to be free to think what we want,” deputy mayor of Toulouse Maxime Boyer told delegates of QS Europe Summit on July 11, 2024.  

After the anti-immigration RN party won the largest share of the votes in the first round of France’s general election, politicians from the left and the centre came together to form the “republican front”, encouraging tactical voting that was successful in blocking the RN from power.  

The leftist New Popular Front defied the polls to win the largest share of parliamentary seats, followed by Macron’s centrist party and the RN in third place. 

French academics had warned that a far-right victory would threaten the independence of higher education, student mobility, and the autonomy of academic research.  

The RN’s anti-immigration policies and Eurosceptic stance makes their loss a particular relief for international students and for institutions part of the Erasmus+ program, which enables European mobility.  

“After the victory of the united left, student unionism must unite to ensure that the promises are kept”, UNEF, France’s largest student union wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

“Faced with the threat of fascism and capitalism, UNEF has been calling since 2017 for the reunification of student unionism, the only solution to effectively defend student rights. Today, discussions with the different student structures must be accelerated. The time is right to improve our living and study conditions,” it added.  

In Europe we need to share academic excellence with the rural areas and deliver high-quality university programs to decrease the anti-immigration feeling

Maxime Boyer, Toulouse deputy mayor

Despite widespread relief, the sector now faces a hung parliament and considerable uncertainty about the future of France’s ministry of education.  

“As we do not know what the future government will look like, it is difficult to anticipate what will happen. France Universités will nevertheless formulate recommendations to the new Minister as soon as he or she will be in office, to work together on research, training, campus life and innovation,” a spokesperson from France Universités told The PIE News.  

Under the new government, it is not known whether the ministry of higher education and research will be a full ministry or a state secretariat within a wider ministry.  

During the election campaign, the political parties rarely mentioned research or higher education, and experts do not predict that it will be high up on the political agenda.  

Despite the RN failing to win a majority, its proximity to power has alarmed political leaders, who warn of the threat of rising anti-immigration sentiment across Europe.  

“In Europe, we are facing a contradiction. We want to attract talented international students to our universities, but also, we have nationalism and anti-immigrant feelings growing everywhere,” Boyer told the QS summit.  

As deputy mayor of Toulouse – which is home to a quarter of France’s students, 28% of whom are international – Boyer recognised the need to remain attractive to international students for the benefit of the whole city.  

According to a 2016 report, students contribute approximately €1.3 billion to Toulouse’s economy every year, with a large portion of this coming from international students, said Boyer.  

Beyond their economic contributions, “the diversity brought by international students fosters a more inclusive and cosmopolitan atmosphere”, as well as increasing the quality of teaching, he said.  

France’s election highlighted the sharp divide between voters in rural and urban areas, with small-town voters driving the bulk of support for the far-right.  

“In Europe, we need to share academic excellence. We have hubs in the main European cities like Copenhagen, Barcelona, Frankfurt… and the big metropoles, but we have to share this with the rural areas and deliver high-quality university programs to decrease the anti-immigration feeling in these areas,” Boyer told delegates.