The victory of Emmanuel Macron in the presidential runoff on April 24 signals continuity in French politics. While his opponent and leader of the Rassemblement National (National Rally) party, Marine Le Pen, might have presided over a dramatic political change both domesti-cally and internationally, Macron's agenda is well-known and was already tested in the previous five years. Against this backdrop, the EU welcomed the electoral result in the hope of harmonious cooperation with Paris under particularly complicated external conditions.