Bruno Le Maire publishes 60-page manifesto outlining proposals for 2027 presidential election

The manifesto and presidential positioning

Former French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire published a 60-page political manifesto on 23 August 2026 titled "Manifesto for another France". The document arrives eight months before the first round of the 2027 French presidential election, following two years during which Le Maire stayed largely removed from frontline electoral politics. In the text, which he described as the work of an independent figure, he set out to initiate debate on national governance around three distinct priorities: authority, prosperity, and sovereignty. While Le Maire stated that he is not currently an official candidate, he indicated that he does not rule out entering the race to shape the national agenda. He explicitly contrasted his proposals with the political platforms of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen, urging moderate political forces to organize collectively to secure victory in 2027.

State role and fiscal tightening

On domestic governance, Le Maire advocated a structural retrenchment of central government responsibilities, arguing that the French state must focus solely on essential public duties. Under his plan, all responsibilities outside core sovereign sectors would be delegated to other bodies.

The state must restrict the scope of its action to the security of the territory, to the protection of persons, to Education and to Health. Everything else must be delegated.

Addressing the national economy, Le Maire criticized concepts of reduced working hours and warned that France faces severe fiscal risks. In an interview with Le Parisien Dimanche, he cautioned that ongoing interest rate increases could generate a broad sovereign debt crisis unless emergency adjustments occur within months. He attributed the country's debt expansion to past policy choices, arguing that retirement measures introduced in 1981 expanded national debt from 1,000 billion to 1,300 billion euros. To stabilize public accounts, he called for the immediate de-indexation of state pensions, social welfare benefits, and income tax brackets.

We are paying today for the choices made on pensions in 1981. The 1,000 billion of debt, which is now 1,300, and which will be much more tomorrow, are the product of this blindness.

European federation and Bercy governance

Regarding European policy, Le Maire stated that the trajectory of France and the broader continent cannot be separated. He proposed establishing a tighter federation of six European Union member states: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the Netherlands. This smaller group would pool resources across a strictly defined selection of public policies, giving the coalition sufficient political leverage to guide wider European Union decisions. In parallel, the manifesto calls for an authoritative, expanded role for the minister heading the Ministry of Economy and Finance at Bercy to handle financial pressures and prevent economic decline.

Transition from academia and corporate advisory

The release of the manifesto follows Le Maire's 25 years of public political engagement, including a seven-year tenure as economy minister at Bercy. After leaving government, Le Maire stepped away from elected office to lecture at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, a teaching post that he recently left. He has since balanced private sector advisory work, including serving as a special adviser to the semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML, with interventions in French political planning ahead of the 2027 presidential contest.