Emmanuel Macron’s battles at home means he risks losing sway in Brussels.

For the EU, the French election result was good news — but also bad news.

“The worst has been avoided,” a senior EU diplomat said, capturing the mood in Brussels on Sunday night when it became clear that the far-right National Rally would not gain a majority in parliament, as many had predicted after the first round of voting a week earlier. Instead the far right finished third, behind the left-wing alliance and Emmanuel Macron’s centrists.

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s failure to grab the reins of the French parliament will have delighted mainstream pro-Europeans.

But that’s where the good news ends as France — alongside Germany, the other big beast in the EU, which has its own internal struggles — has now been plunged into political chaos, with no party winning enough seats for a majority. The paralysis could last months — and damage the EU.