French Presidential Hopefuls Clash over Economy and EU in First Debate
The candidates split over wages, debt and spending as polls show Marine Le Pen leading the first round and Jean-Luc Mélenchon rising.
- On Thursday, seven leading candidates clashed at a debate organized by MEDEF at Paris's Roland Garros complex, eight months before the election to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.
- Candidates from the hard left to the far right acknowledged a "general consensus on the seriousness of the situation," with Marine proposing a €125 billion cost-cutting plan for the Rassemblement National.
- Jean-Luc urged business leaders to "raise wages" to prevent France from "falling into recession," while Edouard Philippe accused him of seeking to "burn" debt and "result in France being shut out of the banking system."
- MEP Raphael Glucksmann criticized Gabriel Attal and Philippe, quipping, "It is actually quite surprising to be lectured on debt," while condemning a €6 billion Saudi deal.
- Ifop-Fiducial polls project a potential second-round clash between Jean-Luc and Marine, while concerns mount that a crowded field could split the moderate vote in the first round.
20 Articles
20 Articles
What we learned from France’s first presidential debate
With eight months to go before the French presidential election, the seven main candidates vying to succeed Emmanuel Macron squared off in the first debate on Thursday.
Seven candidates for the presidency of France clashed in the first debate ahead of next year's election, held on the center court of the Roland Garros complex, host of the French Open.
French presidential hopefuls clash over economy and EU in first debate
Seven leading candidates in the race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron have clashed in their first debate ahead of the 2027 election, exposing sharp differences over the economy, public debt and France's relationship with the European Union.
The Elysée race is underway. Seven candidates presented their project of economic sovereignty to the heads of companies from all over France for the annual meeting of the Medef [Movement des entreprises de France]. By being more or less well prepared...
France experienced an unusual situation this Thursday afternoon in its recent history: a debate among the main candidates while it is still eight months away from the upcoming presidential elections. It has been the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic that a televised confrontation between the main candidates to the Elysée took place at such an early stage of the campaign. The Philippe-Chatrier tennis court, where Roland Garros’ main…
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