In an interview with 20 Minutes on June 15, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the “La France Insoumise” party, described Jordan Bardella, the president of the far-right National Rally party, as an “aggravated Macron.” As the legislative elections approach, the economic program of the National Rally party is starting to resemble that of the current majority in power since 2017. This includes lowering production taxes, reducing social security contributions to increase wages, simplifying regulations, imposing tariffs on solar panels manufactured outside the European Union, and even redefining the mandate of the European Central Bank to focus on employment rather than inflation.
During a press conference on June 24, Jordan Bardella echoed sentiments that seemed to come straight out of speeches by President Emmanuel Macron or his Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire. He emphasized the importance of making France an attractive and innovative production hub, a key message of the Macron administration in response to the economic crisis caused by Covid-19 which exposed the country’s dependencies in various industrial sectors. Bardella also highlighted the importance of putting work at the center of economic ambition, another similarity to the current government’s priorities. Additionally, the National Rally party intends to address regulations with general simplification meetings and regulatory pauses, similar to initiatives launched by Bruno Le Maire.
The National Rally party also aims to continue reducing production taxes and implement growth-oriented taxation for businesses, aligning with the supply-side policy implemented since 2017 to stimulate wealth creation. Despite supporting measures to reindustrialize the country over the past seven years, the party does not plan to reverse tax cuts enacted since 2017. While they intend to repeal the 2023 pension reform and unemployment insurance reform in the long term, there are no plans to increase the corporate tax rate, which has been reduced from 33% in 2016 to 25% in 2022.
The National Rally party’s focus on economic policies that mirror those of the current government has raised questions about their true ideological stance. While they critique fiscal inequality rather than the policy of supply, they align with the general direction of economic reforms taken in recent years. However, the lack of specific details and emphasis on certain aspects of their program leaves some uncertainty about the party’s exact intentions. Despite their aspirations to address urgent issues such as regulations and taxes, it remains to be seen how these economic policies would be implemented and how effective they would be in practice.
