MacGregor said she agreed to the meeting in an effort to “educate” the party leadership and deter them from an exit from the European energy market.
According to MacGregor, the National Rally’s proposals ahead of a 2024 snap parliamentary election were a wake-up call for Engie and other energy firms.
“We suddenly thought: ‘Oh my God, we have a problem,'” she said of the party’s ambition to ditch France’s renewable targets and leave the European energy market.
For years, the National Rally has argued that electricity prices in France would be much lower if the country left Europe’s electricity and gas network, and mostly relied on its own nuclear and hydropower. The energy crisis following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 only cemented this idea.
With Le Pen and National Rally President Jordan Bardella now leading the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, the chief executive said she had a responsibility to engage with them.
“We can’t bury our head in the sand. The National Rally has 123 lawmakers; we have to see them, educate them. At some point you have to recognize the [political] landscape in France,” MacGregor noted.