Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally is set to become France’s biggest delegation in the next European Parliament after forecasts showed her party with around 23.73 percent of the vote. The French President’s En Marche movement finished in a close second place with around 22.47 percent, according to the EU Parliament’s internal projections. The result, which is yet to be made official, will come as a serious hammer blow to Mr Macron, who envisioned using his Parliamentary powers to seize control of the EU.

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He had hoped to use a European election victory in France to ensure his choices are appointed as European Commission and Council presidents.

Mr Macron believes the results are “respectable”, according to Elysee Palace officials.

But in reality, his attempted Brussels reforms will have to be put on the back burner as a result of the election defeat.

Mujtaba Rahman, head of the Eurasia Group, said: “An election loss, even only just, would be a humiliation for the President with repercussions that go well beyond France.”

Eurosceptics are expected to win a significant amount of seats in the new EU Parliament, with strong performances also expected from Matteo Salvini’s League and Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.

As many as 200 anti-EU MEPs look set to win seats as the centre-right and centre-left grip on power is severely diminished.

Around a quarter of the European Parliament could be comprised of anti-Brussels politicians when MEPs take up their seats on July 2.

The Greens and Liberals also look set to significantly bolster their presence in Brussels at the expense of Jean-Claude Juncker’s centre-right European People’s Party, who are the traditional parliamentary powerhouse.

The EPP and the centre-left Socialist and Democrats will lose their traditional overall majority in the Parliament.

The Parliament’s fragmentation will only add to the despair when EU leaders get to work on deciding the next European Commission and Council presidents next week.

Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU coalition have lost a significant of their support to the Greens, with the European Parliament’s first projections showing a drop from 35.3 percent in 2014 to 28 percent today.

But the biggest losers in Germany look set to be left-wing Social Democratic Party, who have slipped into third place with a projected 15.5 percent of the vote.

The German Greens are the big winners, expected to return around 22 percent of the vote as they nip at the heels of Ms Merkel.

The Alternative for Germany are predicted to finish in fourth place with as much as 10.5 percent of the vote.

Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy, which is calling for a referendum on the Netherland’s EU membership, are on the heels of Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD, according to the projections.

The eurosceptics are predicted to return around 11 percent of the vote, with the Prime Minister’s party narrowly ahead on 15 percent.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz looks set to tighten his grip on the country despite his government being questioned, with his OVP party projected to return 34.5 percent in the European election.

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