Marine Le Pen, a leading French presidential contender from the far-right National Rally (RN), said she would sharply cut France's contributions to the European Union budget and confront the bloc head-on to curb the powers of the European Commission if she wins next year's election.
Her plan calls for deep cuts to France's EU budget payments to help pull the country out of a severe fiscal crisis, along with a radical overhaul that would return powers concentrated in the European Commission to member states.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on the 14th, Le Pen said of the push to reduce France's EU contributions that she knows there will be a difficult debate, even a test of strength, but that she has the will and the conviction that it can be done.
On Oct. 6, Le Pen unveiled a plan to raise France's net fiscal savings in 2032 to 140 billion euros (about 211 trillion won) compared with 2026 through fiscal reforms including sharp reductions in public spending, should she be elected president. The plan includes large cuts to public spending, tax relief for consumers and protections for pensioners. It also calls for cutting France's contribution to the EU budget by 11 billion euros (about 17 trillion won) in 2027, followed by tens of billions of euros in further reductions over subsequent years.
EU member states, however, cannot unilaterally reduce their budget contributions, and realizing Le Pen's plan would require the consent of the other 26 member states.
Le Pen also pushed back strongly against the EU's efforts to agree on its next seven-year long-term budget, covering 2028 to 2034, before the French presidential election next year. She called the attempt deeply unfair and said it shows how much the European Commission disdains Europe's democratic processes.
Le Pen said she expects the EU's political landscape to change fundamentally if nationalist forces make gains in elections to be held over the coming year in countries including France, Spain, Italy and Poland. She was particularly pointed about European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, saying she no longer has the confidence of many EU governments, and questioned whether she will be able to serve out her term through 2029.
Le Pen dropped her call for France to leave the EU and the eurozone about a decade ago, but she continues to oppose the European Commission's expansion of powers in foreign affairs and defense and maintains that member states' authority should be strengthened.
She argued that the European Central Bank should help finance the large-scale funding needed for the energy transition and a defense buildup, saying the ECB is not a fossilized dinosaur and that the relevant EU treaties can be applied with some flexibility. EU treaties, however, prohibit the central bank from directly financing governments.
France's vast national debt is expected to stand in the way of Le Pen's plans. The country's public debt amounts to 119% of gross domestic product, and borrowing costs on its sovereign bonds are rising on concerns about fiscal health. Le Pen acknowledged that the heavy debt load is the biggest external constraint on her policy agenda, but stressed that politics is a matter of convictions colliding with constraints and that she has no intention of abandoning hers.
She said she would pursue large spending cuts alongside corporate tax cuts and deregulation to improve public finances while spurring economic growth.
Economists, however, have criticized Le Pen's fiscal plan as unrealistic and based on overly optimistic economic forecasts, the FT reported.