Macron takes charge as Europe breathes a sigh of relief

World leaders have congratulated French president-elect Emmanuel Macron on his election victory as the new leader laid the groundwork for his transition to power.

French president-elect Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony to mark the Western allies' World War Two victory in Europe at the Arc De Triomphe, Paris. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Mr Macron, who defeated far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s presidential runoff, announced a visit to Germany and a name change for his year-old centrist political movement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom Le Pen derisively said last week would be France’s de facto leader under a Macron presidency, welcomed his win but appeared cautious about proposals to support his economic plans either by relaxing European spending rules or with a dedicated stimulus fund.

US president Donald Trump tweeted: “Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France. I look very much forward to working with him.”

Prime Minister Theresa May was also quick to congratulate Mr Macron.

Mr Macron’s party is changing its name to La Republique En Marche (Republic on the Move) as it prepares a list of candidates to run in the mid-June legislative election.

He has promised that half of those candidates will be new to elected politics, as he was before his victory on Sunday.

Mr Macron won the presidency with 66 per cent of votes cast for a candidate but the vote saw a high number of blank or spoiled votes and unusually low turnout.

Ms Le Pen says she will lead the opposition to Mr Macron.

Yesterday, a French national holiday, Mr Macron joined President Francois Hollande in a commemoration of the formal German defeat in the Second World War.

It was the first time the men had appeared in public together since Mr Macron resigned in August 2016 as Mr Hollande’s economy minister to run for president – a decision that was received coldly by the French leader at the time.

Yesterday also marked decades of peace in Western Europe, something Mr Macron made a cornerstone of his campaign against his rival’s brand of nationalist populism. Ms Le Pen had called for France to leave the 28-nation European Union and drop the shared euro currency in favour of reinstating the French franc.

Sylvie Goulard, a French deputy to the European Parliament, said Mr Macron would make Berlin his first official visit, with perhaps a stop to see French troops stationed abroad as well.

The National Front also geared up for a name change – if not a makeover of its ideas - after Ms Le Pen’s decisive loss. Officials said the party founded by her father would get a new name to try and draw in a broader spectrum of support. “The National Front is a tool that will evolve to be more efficient, bring even more people together after the number of voters we reached last night,”said Nicolas Bay, the party’s secretary-general.