France and ‘courage’: the first debate begins

Paris. Yesterday, against the striking backdrop of the Philippe-Chatrier, the centre court at Roland Garros, the first debate of the 2027 French presidential election campaign took place. Taking to the stage, at the invitation of Medef, the French employers’ organisation, were the leading candidates to succeed Emmanuel Macron, gathered for the Rencontre des entrepreneurs de France (Ref), the traditional annual convention of the French business community. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Marine Le Pen, Bruno Retailleau, Édouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann and Marine Tondelier debated the country’s major economic issues – production, employment, investment, taxation and debt – as part of an event themed around ‘courage’.

The most eagerly awaited figure was Mélenchon, the agit-prop of the radical left, whom the latest polls suggest is the likely runner-up in 2027 against the Rassemblement National candidate Marine Le Pen, given the divisions within the centrist bloc and the moderate left. The leader of France insoumise (LFI) promises, should he win, to “throw into the fire” part of France’s public debt to resolve the country’s financial difficulties, writing off between 600 and 635 billion euros of public debt held by the Banque de France on behalf of the ECB – equivalent to around 20 per cent of France’s total debt. “Just take it and throw it into the fire: it’ll be gone, and no one will notice it’s disappeared,” he said last June. Yesterday, the LFI leader not only failed to reassure the business community present in the stands at the Philippe Chatrier stadium – who were concerned about the financial upheaval that ‘Mélenchonomics’ might cause – but she made matters worse by promising to lower the retirement age to 60. Marine Le Pen, on the other hand, promised to ‘put an end to regulatory madness’ in order to ease the regulatory constraints on businesses. “The state has an essential role, namely to create the conditions for an optimal economic environment, that is, to put in place the conditions so that you, as entrepreneurs, can create wealth,” declared Le Pen. In the same vein, Bruno Retailleau, the Gaullist candidate, argued that the primary problem “is not technological change”, however “dizzying” it may be, but “the state, the bureaucratic state. “It is a voracious state.”

Gabriel Attal is the candidate who has generated the most enthusiasm amongst entrepreneurs, according to Libération’s ‘applause meter’, declaring himself ready to “restore visibility, consistency and stability” if elected to the Élysée. “We must let entrepreneurs get on with their work, let them take the initiative, give them breathing space, and not stifle them with regulations, inspections and administrative red tape,” said the leader of Renaissance. Close behind him, again according to Libé’s ‘applause meter’, was the leader of Horizons, Édouard Philippe, the centrist candidate with the best poll ratings and the most government experience. ““All European countries have had the courage to state: given our demographic situation and our desire to preserve our social model and the purchasing power of the working population, we will have to work longer. If we want to preserve our social model and our wealth, we will have to work longer – and, for those who are able, even longer,” declared Philippe, drawing loud applause from the Medef audience. Raphaël Glucksmann, the Place Publique candidate and a leading figure in the Social Democratic movement, warned against France’s transformation into an “amusement park” for American tycoons, Russian oligarchs, Chinese dignitaries or Gulf emirs, and called for “a collective European strategy to stop buying Chinese products”. “I have never met any French business leaders who have told me that the main threat comes from German or Dutch competition. Everyone is talking about China. The main challenge for the next President of the Republic is to bang their fists on the table in Brussels,” said Glucksmann, to the agreement of the audience. The reception was more subdued, however, for Marine Tondelier, the leader of the Greens, who preferred to focus on denouncing “climate inaction” – “a day of scorching heat costs as much as a day of strike action”, she said – rather than putting forward proposals for the “unleashing of energy” called for by Medef president Patrick Martin.