Mélenchon launches 2027 programme with minimum wage rise and retirement at 60

Centre · 2Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the 75-year-old hard-left French presidential hopeful, launched his 2027 election programme on Saturday 7 November at a rally in Le Bourget, near Paris, pledging to raise the minimum wage and restore the retirement age to 60. 1 2 Centre · 1The rally drew around 17,000 people, according to Mélenchon's campaign director Manuel Bompard; Mélenchon told supporters "We are going to do exactly the opposite" of Macron's policies, "that is to say, a policy of stimulus", and said "We have no business being in NATO, nor in American wars". 1 Right · 2The manifesto, titled "L'Avenir en commun" ("A Shared Future"), is the fifth edition of the platform of his party, France Unbowed (LFI), and largely reaffirms policies from his previous presidential bids. 3 4

Right · 2A flagship pledge is repeal of President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, which gradually raised the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64; LFI says it would restore retirement at 60 for people who have contributed for 40 years. 3 4 Mixed · 2The programme would increase the net monthly minimum wage to €1,700 from around €1,480, abolish the flat tax on capital income, raise taxes on the wealthiest households and cap prices for essential foods. 3 5 Right · 2On energy, LFI reiterates support for a gradual nuclear phase-out in favour of fully renewable electricity, including scrapping the planned EPR2 reactor programme and not extending the life of nuclear plants beyond 60 years. 4 3

Right · 2On foreign policy, it repeats his long-standing criticism of NATO and calls for gradual French withdrawal, starting with an exit from the integrated military command; it also criticises German influence on EU economic policy, calling Berlin the chief defender of "ordoliberalism". 3 4 Mixed · 2It also calls for greater protection of domestic industry, including measures to encourage relocating production to France, and a more interventionist state role in the economy. 3 5 Mixed · 2Mélenchon is viewed as the strongest contender on the left; recent polls show him reaching the runoff next April against Marine Le Pen of the far right, but also indicate he would lose in the second round. 3 5

Centre · 1France 24 adds that France left NATO's integrated military command in 1966 under Charles de Gaulle, and that Nicolas Sarkozy reversed this in 2009. 5 Centre · 1France 24 described him as defiant ("We are facing a crisis of human civilisation. And we are going to win"), speaking at a venue where François Hollande held his 2012 rally, amid cost-of-living protests and a polarised political landscape; it noted critics question whether his combative style lets him broaden his appeal. 2 Right · 1Breitbart, reporting on the speech, said Mélenchon also vowed a "Sixth Republic" with "permanent popular sovereignty", referendums, votes at 16 and recall of elected officials including the president, and invoked Robespierre and the French Revolution to defend a multicultural "New France" and birthright citizenship. 6

Right · 1Breitbart also reported pledges to pursue racism "by all legal means" and to "decontaminate" structures under influence, naming the Bolloré group, to abolish private health insurance, and to send French ships to "escort the flotillas" to Palestinians; these items do not appear in the other coverage. 6 Right · 1Marine Le Pen, quoted by Breitbart, called the platform "not a plan to put the country back on its feet" but "a plan to dismantle France" that "should alarm the French". 6