France 2027 election: Key points from the first presidential debate

Pensions, taxes, immigration, energy and public spending were the issues at the heart of the first debate that gathered the seven leading candidates for France's 2027 presidential election.

The three-hour discussion, held at the Medef employers' organisation's annual meeting, gave voters an early look at the main dividing lines between the candidates.

Pensions: should people work longer?

Pensions was the subject that showed some of the clearest differences between the candidates.

Former prime minister Édouard Philippe, of Horizons, said France would have to make significant changes to its pension system and argued in favour of a system based partly on how long people work.

Gabriel Attal, of Renaissance, said the 2023 pension reform, which gradually raises the legal retirement age to 64, should resume after its current suspension. However, he also argued that France needs a new pension system.

Bruno Retailleau, of The Republicans (LR), said he would introduce a legal retirement age and link it to increases in life expectancy.

“I will assume a legal retirement age,” Mr Retailleau said, arguing that otherwise France risked producing retirees with very low pensions.

Left-wing candidates were not on the same page.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of La France Insoumise (LFI), said he would repeal the 2023 reform and initially return the legal retirement age to 62, with the aim of eventually bringing it back to 60.

Marine Tondelier, of Les Écologistes, also supported repealing the reform. She said retirement policy should take account of the fact that people do not have the same working conditions or life expectancy.

Raphaël Glucksmann, of Place Publique, also said he would repeal the current reform, but argued that France would still need a new pension reform. His proposal would take into account physically demanding jobs and working conditions, instead of applying the same rules to everyone.

Debt: where should France make savings?

France's high public debt was a central issue in the debate.

The candidates seemed to agree that the country's finances need to be put on a more sustainable footing, but disagreed about where savings should come from.

Mr Attal argued that France needs substantial reductions in public spending, especially in social spending. He proposed changes to areas including healthcare, sick leave and unemployment benefits, as well as a new pension system.

He also suggested that artificial intelligence could allow public administrations to work more efficiently.

Marine Le Pen, of the National Rally (RN), said her party would make major savings, while also reducing certain taxes and France's contribution to the European Union.

Mr Mélenchon was opposed to the idea that France should respond to its debt primarily through spending cuts and argued for greater public investment and higher taxation of wealth.

Mr Glucksmann added that the debt problem was partly linked to France's loss of industrial production over several decades.

“We need to bring factories back,” Mr Glucksmann said, arguing that France needs to produce more goods domestically and create more wealth.

Immigration once again a dividing line

Immigration was closely linked to the debt debate.

Ms Le Pen argued that immigration places a significant burden on France's public finances and said reducing immigration would form part of her approach to dealing with the country's debt.

Mr Glucksmann, on his side, rejected this argument. He said France would need immigration to maintain its workforce as the population ages, and accused the RN of presenting immigration and the EU as the main causes of France's problems.

Ms Tondelier also argued against Ms Le Pen’s argument. She said France would need immigration to maintain its workforce as the population ages, “the French economy will not be able to function in 2050 without 3.6 million foreign workers.” 

Europe and trade

The candidates also disagreed over France's relationship with the European Union.

Ms Le Pen criticised the amount France contributes to the EU and advocated greater national control, while Mr Glucksmann defended European cooperation, saying France needs the EU to protect its companies against competition from countries such as China and the United States.

Mr Mélenchon also called for greater national control over decisions made at EU level, saying he would be prepared to “disobey” European decisions that contradicted French interests and calling for changes to the EU treaties, although he did not specify what changes these might be.