Erwan Rohoum a Luxembourg-based engineer, says he would approach the French presidency with a sense of perspective, particularly when dealing with someone like Donald Trump.
Standing up to the US president, he argues, requires a certain degree of eccentricity, although perhaps not quite to the same extreme.
Rohou also shares an unexpected connection with Trump: both attended the Wharton School in Philadelphia. Beyond that coincidence, however, he insists their similarities end there.
Speaking on the latest episode of RTL Infos' "Fallait oser", the 57-year-old Breton discussed a range of issues, including France’s nuclear power plants, immigration, and the record of President Emmanuel Macron.
While Rohou brings humour to his campaign, his candidacy for the French presidency is genuine.
His decision to run was motivated by his dissatisfaction with the repeated appearance of the same candidates and ideas in the 2017 French presidential election, which he saw as lacking innovation and effectiveness.
His thinking was simple: why not give politics a try himself?
A trained engineer, Rohou developed a passion for computing after getting his first personal computer in 1984.
He later graduated from France’s prestigious National School of Administration (ENA) before beginning his professional career at SNCF, the French national railway operator, where he spent 25 years.
Rohou views his current role as aligning with his philosophy of maintaining existing infrastructure rather than always seeking replacements, an idea he applies to politics as well.
In 2019, he moved to Luxembourg after being recruited by a headhunter.
He now oversees tramway maintenance in the capital, a role that reflects a philosophy he also hopes to bring to politics: looking after existing infrastructure rather than constantly seeking to replace it.
The same practical approach extends to his views on sustainable mobility.
Rohou does not own a car and instead relies on public transport, making full use of Luxembourg’s free and well-funded network.
He sees the country’s large investment in public mobility as a clear demonstration of its commitment to environmentally friendly transport.
Rohou’s political involvement includes working alongside Rama Yade, a former French Secretary of State under President Sarkozy, and running as a legislative candidate in Paris’s 13th district for Yade’s "La France qui ose" (The France That Dares) party in 2017, although he received only a small percentage of the vote.
He joined the Independent Ecologist Movement (MEI) in 2019. The MEI, founded in 1994 by Antoine Waechter after breaking from the Greens, champions the idea that ecology transcends traditional political divides.
Rohou has held positions as treasurer and national board member for the party, and is now its presidential candidate.
One of the biggest challenges facing candidates like Rohou is the requirement to collect 500 sponsorships from elected officials in order to stand for the presidency.
He acknowledges that many candidates have only promises of support rather than actual signatures, and cautions that the path from announcing a candidacy to actual participation in the election remains long and uncertain.
For that reason, Rohou expects the picture to become clearer at the beginning of 2027, as the campaign progresses and candidates' prospects become easier to assess.
Should he be elected, his priority would be to restore the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the heart of French democracy.
He argues that although the historic document is frequently displayed and celebrated, politicians have increasingly lost sight of the principles it represents.
When it comes to climate policy, Rohou advocates for greater resource restraint and a shift toward a "new era of limits". He refers to the MEI's white paper for the party’s main ecological proposals.
For Rohou, ecology should address a much wider range of concerns than environmental protection alone.
He believes ecological parties should engage with the broader challenges facing society rather than limiting themselves to a narrow environmental agenda.
He is critical of both bans and obligations, which he sees as restrictive, and instead favours policies that accompany and support citizens rather than constrain them.
Although he does not have a formal campaign slogan, Rohou says that his approach, if elected, would contrast with that of President Emmanuel Macron.
He promises to prioritise respect for the French people, their difficulties, their votes, their institutions, and the nation itself, which are values he believes should be at the heart of presidential leadership.
