France's government has launched a fierce attack on the alternative budget proposed by Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) and a leading contender for the 2027 presidential election. Economy Minister Roland Lescure and Public Accounts Minister David Amiel did not mince words, dismissing the plan as a fantasy built on shaky foundations.
"You're dreaming in colour," Lescure told reporters, while Amiel described the proposal as "a Potemkin budget, flimsy as cardboard." The ministers' comments reflect growing tensions in Paris over fiscal policy, as the country grapples with a widening deficit and political instability. The episode is part of a broader debt spiral that has unsettled European markets.
Le Pen's numbers under scrutiny
The RN's counter-budget promises €140 billion in savings by 2032, bringing the public deficit below 3% of GDP by 2030—compared with the expected 5.4% in 2026—and reducing France's debt from 119% to 112% of GDP. All this while cutting taxes by €30 billion. The party claims it can achieve these savings through immigration reforms, reducing France's contribution to the EU budget, and trimming local authority spending.
But the government is deeply sceptical. Lescure pointed out that the RN's plan relies on a growth forecast of 1.8%, which he said is "well above what all serious French and international economists are projecting." The independent budget watchdog has also expressed doubts about such optimistic assumptions, as noted in recent analyses of France's growth outlook.
Pensions and the 'golden rule'
Le Pen also wants to lower the retirement age back to 62, or even 60, from the current 64. She argues that a return to 60 would be possible thanks to "a major reform of individual and collective capital-funded schemes." The government, however, sees this as unrealistic and fiscally irresponsible.
The RN additionally proposes a constitutional "golden rule" that would force future governments to reduce public debt every year. Lescure dismissed this as insufficient: "It is not enough to write a text into the Constitution for the savings to follow." He stressed that the RN's promised €9 billion in savings from cutting France's EU contribution would require the approval of all 26 other member states—"far from certain," he said. Even if it were approved, the first to suffer would be French farmers, who benefit most from the Common Agricultural Policy, as well as companies and research labs that rely on EU funding.
On the immigration front, the RN claims €15 billion in savings, but Lescure called these "measures that are for the most part unconstitutional... slapdash measures cobbled together on the hoof."
Jean-Philippe Tanguy, an RN MP, defended the plan, saying, "Yes, we do dream in colour—it is France's rebirth with Marine Le Pen." But the government's broadside suggests that the battle over France's fiscal future is only intensifying, with implications that reach far beyond Paris.
