According to CoinDesk, French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament and called for a snap election following the victory of his rival party, Rassemblement National, in the European Parliament election. Macron's ruling Renaissance party secured only about half the seats of Marine Le Pen's National Rally in the European Parliament elections.
The two rounds of voting are scheduled for June 30 and July 7. Despite the political shakeup, the election is not expected to reverse the country's progress in the cryptocurrency industry. France registered 74 cryptocurrency companies last year, a figure projected to increase to 100. French regulators have recently been working to attract more digital asset companies. In comparison, the U.K., which has expressed its desire to become a cryptocurrency hub, has only 44 registered cryptocurrency companies.
Macron, who was first elected as president in 2017, called for the election after the National Rally, formerly known as Rassemblement National, secured 31.4% of the seats available for French candidates. This surpassed the performance of Besoin d'Europe, the EU representative for Renaissance. France, the second-largest country in the EU by population, was allocated 81 seats out of 720, while Germany, the largest, received 96 seats.
Last year, the EU, a trading bloc of 27 nations, passed a comprehensive package for cryptocurrency called the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation. This legislation allows cryptocurrency companies to operate across the EU if they secure a crypto asset service provider license in any member nation. The package is set to take effect for stablecoin issuers on June 30, with the rest of the legislation becoming active by the end of the year.
In a televised address, Macron stated, 'I have heard your message, and I will not let it go without a response.' CoinDesk reached out to the Renaissance party for a comment on its stance on cryptocurrency.