moving to france now the country will go to the polls on april the 10th it's the first round of the country's presidential elections and it'll determine who will run the european union's second largest economy and its only member with a permanent u.n security council seat so the first question is who will win the elections well the incumbent is clearly a favorite in the opinion polls currently president emmanuel macron is leading but his projected margin of victory is narrow he's facing stiff competition from the far right's marine le pen even tale if he succeeds a narrow win could mean trouble for macron it will affect his capacity to implement any new reforms in the country currently the biggest issues of the polls include the war in ukraine france's economy immigration policies and the country's security the election campaign started during the russian invasion of hurry ukraine so the polls showed an initial boost for macron but that has now waned opinion polls show purchasing power is the top concern for voters there's a huge increase in energy prices and growing inflation le pen has successfully focused her campaign on those issues the economy remains the key focus for many french voters surveys show voters are unhappy with macron's economic policies but unemployment is at its lowest level in years that said though voters don't think any of his opponents could do any better macron's handling of the covert 19 pandemic could also play a huge role in this election especially at a time when the restrictions have been largely lifted across france the use of private consultants by the macron government has also emerged as a surprise issue so are there any other surprises that the world should be watching out for well one is voter uncertainty opinion polls show many are still unsure who they'll vote for the turnout could well be much lower than usual as well and this is adding to more and more uncertainty in these elections polls have been for weeks consistently pointing to macron leading the first round but le pen is closing the gap the far right's jean-luc melon polls third only a few points behind le pen le pen is the most likely candidate to face macron in the second round run off but even a macron melanchol match up could be a surprise scenario so why do the french polls matter so much will russia's invasion of ukraine has obviously sent shockwaves throughout europe and beyond the winner of france's election will have to deal with that fallout now that britain has left the european union france is the block's main military power it's also the undisputed second biggest economy in the eu angela merkel's exit as german chancellor has given macron a more prominent role in europe the next french president will face soaring public deficits though a pension system that many say needs reforming and moves to reindustrialize france the political landscape is still filling the shock waves from the 2017 polls the reconstruction of both the right and the left will now depend on how these poles play out [Music] you
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