heated atmosphere of the meetings , was uncomfortable with the political clichés and was certainly not the greatest speaker there . None of this kept her from defending herself brilliantly when she felt attacked . All French people who were alive at the time remember the images from the meeting she attended on 7 June 1979 , violently interrupted by far-right National Front militants , and Veil ’ s cutting retort which would go down in history : ‘ You don ’ t scare me at all ! I ’ ve survived worse than you . You ’ re just the SS in miniature .’
In addition to her immense popularity as the Minister of Health and as a media personality , her unrehearsed style on the campaign trail was her real strength . Simone Veil spoke like everyone else , avoiding political jargon . She was outspoken and thought freely , which allowed her to reach even those who were not of her political persuasion .
Her list , which gained 27.5 % of the vote , won by a large margin , coming ten points ahead of the Gaullist list headed by Jacques Chirac . ‘ Indeed ’, Simone Veil noted , with her characteristic astuteness , ‘ standing for a parliament whose very existence they contested looked like a paradox , as the public was not slow to observe ’ 2 .
Unlike President Giscard d ’ Estaing , who had always been committed to holding European Parliament elections by universal suffrage , the Gaullists were actually strongly opposed to the elections . Following in the footsteps of General de Gaulle and President Georges Pompidou , they saw it as a first step on the road to abandoning national sovereignty . This lack of agreement on Europe was one of the issues that would always distance Simone Veil from de Gaulle and Gaullism , despite her lifelong friendship with Jacques Chirac .
Following the Union for French Democracy ’ s victory , Giscard worked tirelessly to promote Simone Veil ’ s election as European
2 . Ibidem .
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