What does Emmanuel Macron’s win mean for France?

Not only was Macron back – the first president to win a second term for 20 years – but Europe was back, writes Mary Dejevsky

Macron proceeded to his victory rally to the strains of the European anthem (EPA)

To judge by the bulk of the French media and my various inboxes, there were sighs of relief across Europe at 8pm on Sunday when the face of France’s next president was revealed as the face of its outgoing president, Emmanuel Macron.

The near-universal judgement was that France’s “fragile centre” had held. Macron’s brand of left-right fusion had seen off the threat from Marine Le Pen’s new-look (and renamed) far-right party by a bigger margin than forecast – 58.5 to 41.5 per cent.

Not only was Macron back – the first president to win a second term for 20 years – but Europe was back. Macron proceeded to his victory rally to the strains of the European anthem, and European flags were waved along with the tricolour. And for French voters, there was a tacit admission that he had made mistakes in his first term. In his speech, he promised “a new era” – a more inclusive, less arrogant one, with lessons learned from his first term and solutions sought together with the French people.