The formal winners of the first round of French presidential poll (23 Apr 2017) have been Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
The fact that the two candidates do not belong to the two main political parties (Parti Socialiste-Les Rèpublicains) represents a historical event.
From the formation of the fifth republic (1958), Republicans and Socialists have always alternated at the power.
As we can see from the graph below Macron came out on top with just under 24% of the vote, Marine Le Pen was in second place with over 21%.

French people are going to decide about French future on May the 7th, but the decision isn't as easy as it could seem.
On one side we have Macron, the founder and leader of "En Marchè!" is a socially liberal centrist that based his campaign on globalization economic modernization and European integration.
On the other, there is Marine Le Pen, the far-right ex-leader of the National Front during her run to the Elysee called for protectionism, the return of national borders and withdrawal from the euro.
Although until the end of the second round of presidential poll nobody could now the outcome of the elections most of the pollsters thinks that Macron is going to win indeed senior figures from the defeated party candidates have already thrown their support behind Macron.

In conclusion, at the moment the only certainty is that the outcome of the elections is definitely going to define the future role of French inside the European Union.
 
Leonardo Nespolon