French candidates opened campaign with economy dispute

28.08.2026 07:00 HotInfo

The French presidential campaign before the 2027 elections began on Thursday with the first major confrontation of candidates before the employers' association Medef in Paris. Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann, Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Édouard Philippe, Bruno Retailleau and Marine Tondelier appeared at the event. Le Figaro ↗

The main topics were public debt, pensions, corporate taxes, labor costs, reindustrialization and simplification of regulations for companies. Marine Le Pen, leading in polls with support of up to 35 percent, confirmed before businesspeople her intention to return the retirement age to 62 years, differentiating herself from Jordan Bardella's line. At the same time, she pushed for savings in the state budget, including reducing France's contribution to the EU budget from eight to five billion euros. Le Monde ↗

Édouard Philippe attempted even before the debate to reach the business community with proposals to limit unemployment benefits and tighten sick leave regulations. Jean-Luc Mélenchon appeared as a far-left candidate at a time when his poll results are forcing the Greens to consider a possible alliance. Politico Europe ↗

The debate produced no clear winner. According to reactions, businesspeople did not leave convinced, and among their main concerns remained the pension system, public debt and corporate tax burden. Economics thus became one of the decisive issues of the campaign from its very beginning, in which several strong candidates may advance to the second round.