The leader of the French far-right Marine Le Pen promised to turn the European Commission into a “secretariat” in the service of the member states as part of her plan to reduce the size and influence of the European Union in the event of her victory in the presidential elections in France next year.
“Over the past 10 years in France a European concept has been implemented that is the complete opposite of the one I will defend,” Le Pen said on Wednesday in Brussels after a meeting with other leaders of European far-right parties. “They wanted a strong Europe. And they got a powerless one. They wanted European sovereignty. And they got only the erosion of national sovereignty.”
Answering a question from Politico about what the reduction of the EU will look like in practice, the frontrunner stated that the European Union should reduce its activity in those areas in which it has expanded it in recent years, for example in foreign policy, security, and healthcare.
“I will not be deceived by the intentions of the European Commission. The European Commission wants to turn itself into a state, and we do not want that. And we will prevent it from doing so.”
Although Le Pen has abandoned calls for France to leave the European Union, she remains highly skeptical of the bloc and its ambitions, Politico emphasizes. Last week she and her National Rally party stated that in the event of victory in the presidential elections they would unilaterally reduce France’s annual contribution to the EU budget by 11.1 billion euros already in 2027.
Le Pen believes that this step is necessary in order to correct the catastrophic situation with public finances in France (she proposes saving 140 billion euros by 2032), but her critics claim that it will lead to a serious confrontation with Brussels that could end with France leaving the bloc.
On Thursday, in the French political television program Objectif Elysee dedicated to the upcoming presidential elections in France, Le Pen recalled that in 2027 elections will be held in four of the five largest countries of the European Union (France, Spain*, Italy, and Poland). “These four large countries can change the course that the European Union has followed for many years and against which we fundamentally oppose,” she suggested.
In Le Pen’s opinion, the European Union is appropriating powers that no one has delegated to it.
“They want to create a European intelligence service. They are engaged in diplomacy. They participate in aid programs for developing countries. Now they want to create an army. Therefore we are going to return them to the performance of their direct duties,” she promised.
