Photo: Sébastien Bozon Agence France-PresseAFP Capture taken from several television and computer screens of the televised political debate presented on the France 2 channel on June 27, where we find Olivier Faure, in the center, first secretary of the left-wing French Socialist Party (PS) and member of parliament; on the left, Jordan Bardella, the president of France's far-right National Rally party and the leading MEP; and, finally, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, on the right.
Antoine Maignan – Agence France-Presse in Paris
Posted at 10:09 a.m.
- Europe
Purchasing power, immigration, international, pensions, education: here is a comparison of the programs of the main forces competing in the French legislative elections, the National Rally (RN, far right) favorite in the polls, the left alliance of the New Popular Front and the camp of President Macron.
Purchasing power
Number one concern of the French according to recent surveys, purchasing power is at the heart of the projects of the three main blocs. The RN thus promises to reduce VAT on energy products from 20 to 5.5%. And secondly to “suspend” VAT on a hundred essential products, “in the event of high inflation”.
The left carries a flagship economic measure : a minimum salary of 1600 euros net compared to almost 1400 today. She also wants to index salaries to inflation and increase the salaries of civil servants.
To finance this costly project for public finances, the left alliance intends to reestablish a solidarity tax on wealth (ISF) reinforced with a “climate component”, “generalize” the taxation of superprofits and create an additional contribution on high salaries .
If the left intends to “refuse the European budgetary stability pact”, which notably imposes a public deficit below 3% of GDP, the outgoing Macronist majority is committed for its part to respect this directive by 2027 (compared to 5.5% in 2023) without increasing taxes.
It also wants to allow companies to increase up to 10,000 euros per year without charge or tax the amount of a purchasing power bonus known as the “Macron bonus”, created in 2018 in the wake of the Yellow Vest movement.
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Immigration
The left intends to repeal the immigration law adopted this winter in Parliament, to enshrine a “full land law » or even create “a climate displaced person status”.
At the antipodes, the RN promises a new “emergency” immigration law from 2024. Its proposals: removal of soil law, tightening of the criteria for family reunification, offense of illegal residence with a fine, and transformation of state medical aid for foreigners in an irregular situation into “vital emergency aid”.
The far-right party also says it wants to ban certain “sensitive jobs” for dual nationals, without calling into question “dual nationality” as it still proposed in 2022.
International
France's foreign policy is traditionally considered a presidential prerogative, but the left and far right have both unveiled several proposals.
The left-wing parties have tried to overcome their deep differences by denouncing Hamas' “terrorist massacres” in their program, while promising to fight against “the worrying explosion” of “racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic acts”.
They advocate the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine, unlike the RN, whose president, Jordan Bardella, believes that such an initiative today would amount to “recognizing terrorism”.
The latter also assured that he did not intend to “call into question France’s international commitments” if he becomes prime minister. Marine Le Pen still promised in 2022 to leave NATO's integrated command.
The president of the RN also assured that he would be “extremely vigilant” in the face of ” Russian interference attempts,” while setting “red lines” on sending ground troops to Ukraine or “long-range missiles or military hardware” that could “directly hit Russian cities.”
Announcements that collide with those of Emmanuel Macron, agreeing to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to “neutralize” Russian military bases .
At the end of the campaign, Marine Le Pen affirmed that the function of “chief of the armies” of the President of the Republic was only a simple “honorary title”, suggesting a tense cohabitation with the French president in the event of victory of the RN.
Pensions and health
Both the extreme right and the left alliance propose, in the event of victory on July 7, to eliminate the reform of unemployment insurance decided by the government, which tightens the eligibility conditions and reduces the duration of compensation.
Another much criticized reform, that of pensions which pushed back the retirement age by two years, to 64, raising strong popular protest and in parliament, which the two opposition blocs want to reverse . The left proposes to repeal it and aims for a “common objective”: the right to retire at 60.
Jordan Bardella made contradictory comments on the subject, claiming to want to establish a legal retirement age of 62 while establishing a “progressive” system favoring long careers, with the possibility of leaving at 60 for those who have started work before the age of 20, with 40 years of contributions.
The presidential camp has promised to index pensions to inflation and to create a public mutual fund at one euro per day for retirees, students, self-employed people or job seekers.
The RN wants to exempt from tax the professional activity income of retired doctors who return to work .
For its part, the left wants to reimburse medically assisted procreation (MAP), menstrual protection, and establish menstrual leave.
Education
Emmanuel Macron has spoken out in favor of banning the telephone “before the age of 11” and social networks “before the age of 15”, while Jordan Bardella advocates “a big bang of authority” at school, particularly with the ban on mobile phones in establishments and the wearing of uniforms.
The left wants to gradually implement “complete free” at school, from the canteen to school transport, including supplies or extracurricular activities.