France's Macron dissolves parliament, calling snap election

French President Emanuel Macron has said he was dissolving the National Assembly and calling a snap legislative election after his party suffered a heavy defeat in elections for the European Parliament.

In an address to the nation from the Elysee presidential palace on Sunday, Macron said: "Far-right parties... are progressing everywhere in the continent. It is a situation to which I cannot resign myself."

Macron noted that, including the top-scoring National Rally (RN), far-right parties in France managed to take almost 40 percent of the vote in the EU elections in France.

“I’ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly,” Macron said.

The vote will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, he said.

The move comes as the first projected results from France on Sunday put the far-right National Rally (RN) party well ahead in the European Union’s parliamentary election, defeating Macron’s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.

Le Pen boosts presidential win odds

The RN's list, led by Jordan Bardella, 28, gained between 32.3 and 33 percent of the vote compared with 14.8 to 15.2 percent for Macron's alliance led by his Renaissance party, according to projections from several polling firms.

Macron warned on Thursday that the EU risked being "blocked" by a big far-right presence in the European Parliament after this week's elections.

The election results also mark a critical moment as eyes turn to France's 2027 presidential vote where Macron cannot stand again and RN figurehead Marine Le Pen fancies she has her best-ever chance of winning the Elysee Palace.