Explainer | Macron or Le Pen: Why it matters for France, EU and West

France will vote on April 24 and decide whether to re-elect pro-business centrist President Emmanuel Macron or bring in far-right Marine Le Pen.

The French will decide on April 24 whether to re-elect pro-business centrist President Emmanuel Macron or blow up decades of mainstream consensus in favour of far-right Marine Le Pen.

Here's what to expect from them on major issues:

LE PEN: The far-right heiress has transformed the former National Front, turning her father's free-market, small-government party into a big-spending, protectionist one.

She wants to implement a "Buy French" policy for public tenders, cut the minimum retirement age to 60 for those who started work before 20, scrap income tax for those aged under 30, and cut VAT on energy to 5.5% from 20%.

She would also spend 2 billion euros ($2.18 billion) over 5 years raising hospital workers' salaries and recruiting an extra 10,000 of them. Teachers' salaries would rise 15% over 5 years.

Gilles Ivaldi, political scientist at Sciences-Po, says her party's economic programme is further to the left than it has been for decades.

MACRON: The French leader plans to double down on supply-side reforms he has implemented during his first mandate, with the main plank of his manifesto being an increase in the minimum pension age to 65 from 62.