Win or lose, Marine Le Pen is a nightmare for the EU
By Pieter Cleppe
Updated 1221 GMT (2021 HKT) April 24, 2017
Le Pen's National Front Party has a long history of euroskepticism and promotes a number of policies that are anathema to the high-minded principles behind the European project.
In recent years, Le Pen has attempted to soften both her image and the position of her party on the matter of France's future in the EU.
At one time, the National Front was in favor of abandoning the euro, plain and simple. More recently, she has said she would organize a referendum on France's common currency membership.
Now, she has specified that she would try to renegotiate France's EU membership over six months. If that attempt fails, she'll hold a referendum.
Still, she would able to call a nonbinding referendum without the approval of the government.
If the French people were to vote to keep the euro -- which is likely if you believe French opinion polls -- she would stand down, given then that "70% of my project cannot be put in place."
If a majority in France voted to leave the EU and the eurozone, it's constitutionally illegal for France to leave, as its constitution states "the Republic is part of the European Union." So a French EU exit would require a burdensome constitutional change.