France’s far-right chief pledges to clean up public finances

France’s far-right chief Jordan Bardella has pledged to stick to “reasonable” spending plans if voters delivered him a parliamentary majority propelling him to become prime minister.

With markets jittery over political uncertainty in the eurozone’s second-largest economy, Rassemblement National party officials confirmed that they would aim to bring France’s deficit back to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2027, which is the level set out by EU rules. 

“We intend to bring the country back to reasonable budgets,” said Bardella at a press conference on Monday where he outlined the RN’s programme on the economy, foreign policy and migration.

He said he aimed to repair the country’s “degraded public finances”, which he blamed on the administration of President Emmanuel Macron.

The EU recently placed France in a so-called excessive deficit procedure after Paris overshot its target last year to reach 5.5 per cent. Some credit rating agencies have downgraded the country’s debt.

Macron’s handling of the economy has turned into a liability for his centrist alliance ahead of the snap elections he called earlier this month after the RN won the largest share of the vote for the European parliament.

Bardella, who is the right hand of RN leader Marine Le Pen, said he would act prudently if he became prime minister by carrying out an audit of public finances before deciding which measures to move ahead with in the autumn in the preparation of the 2025 budget.

He rejected the idea that he had in recent days watered down the party’s economic plans, which were last laid out before the 2022 presidential election. At that time they were estimated by the Institut Montaigne to cost about €100bn and included lowering the retirement age, eliminating income tax for those under 30, and lowering the value added tax on energy, petrol and essential household goods.

Some 2022 policies, however, have been put on hold, notably plans to slash the VAT for household goods.

Bardella said his party had already identified measures to make up for the budget shortfall created by the reduction in VAT on fuel and energy: raising €1.2bn from closing a tax loophole on maritime shipping companies, cutting France’s contribution to the EU budget by €2bn, and taxing windfall profits of energy companies to raise €3bn.

The RN would also “in principle” repeal Macron’s landmark pension reform adopted last year, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, Bardella said.

In promises that resembled Macron’s, he mentioned measures to strengthen France’s industrial base, boost employment and cut red tape. “We need to make France a country of production again,” Bardella said.

The RN’s economic pitch comes as an Ipsos poll showed the RN and its allies ahead at about 35 per cent of voting intentions in Sunday’s first round of elections for the National Assembly. A new leftwing alliance known as the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) is polling second with roughly 30 per cent, followed by Macron’s centrist alliance at just under 20 per cent. The run-off vote will take place on July 7.

Yet Bardella repeated that he would not accept becoming prime minister unless voters gave the RN an outright majority of at least 289 seats in the 577-strong assembly.

A hung parliament is the most likely outcome of the vote, polls show, with the RN and its allies just short of a majority.

Macron hit back against the RN in a podcast interview, arguing that its programme on migration and crime would target “people by their religion or origin, and as a result divide the country and lead to civil war”.

Nevertheless, Bardella’s efforts to display economic acumen appear to be paying off with the public despite the RN remaining scant on the details and having little governing experience.

An Ipsos poll for the Financial Times carried out on June 19-20 found that 25 per cent of respondents had the most confidence in the RN to take the correct decisions on economic issues.

The poll showed 22 per cent support for the leftwing NFP on the economy, and just 20 per cent for Macron’s alliance.

Bardella also sought to reassure that an RN government would not be soft on Russia, despite Le Pen previously cosying up to Vladimir Putin and the RN relying on a Russian bank for a campaign loan. It has since been paid back.

“I see Russia as a multi-dimensional threat both for France and Europe,” Bardella said.

On aid to Ukraine, Bardella signalled he would have “red lines” that differed from Macron’s current approach. He ruled out sending any French troops to Ukraine and providing long-range missiles or other military equipment capable of hitting targets within Russia.