• Analysis
Mélenchon 2027 Campaign Launch: Retirement Age Back to 60
At a Le Bourget rally before some 20,000 supporters, Jean-Luc Mélenchon launched his 2027 presidential campaign on Saturday with a pledge to restore the retirement age to 60, alongside a €1,700 minimum wage and price caps on essential foods.
Reversing the pension reform
The centrepiece of the Mélenchon 2027 campaign launch is a pension reform repeal: the programme promises to undo the change that gradually lifted France's minimum retirement age from 62 to 64, a measure introduced to shore up public finances.
- •France Unbowed (LFI) says it would restore retirement at 60 for people who have contributed to the system for 40 years
- •The pledge to restore the retirement age to 60 headed the promises made in Saturday's speech
The rally and the candidate
Mélenchon, 75, addressed some 20,000 supporters at a mass rally in Le Bourget, a Paris suburb, and made clear he is targeting the Élysée Palace to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.
"I have only one reasonable thing to propose to you. It is, in fact, quite moderate. Just one thing: we must change everything."
Recent opinion polls show the LFI leader reaching the presidential runoff next April against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, though they also indicate he would lose that second round.
Economic pledges beyond pensions
The manifesto, titled "L'Avenir en commun" ("A Shared Future"), is the fifth edition of the France Unbowed platform. On the economy, it sets out:
- •raising the net monthly minimum wage to €1,700 from around €1,480
- •abolishing the flat tax on capital income
- •raising taxes on the wealthiest households
- •capping prices for essential foods
The programme also calls for measures to encourage the relocation of production to France and advocates a more interventionist role for the state in the economy.
Foreign and energy policy in the programme
On defence, the platform calls for France's gradual withdrawal from NATO, starting with an exit from its integrated military command. It is not without precedent: France withdrew from the integrated command in 1966 under Charles de Gaulle, a decision reversed in 2009 under Nicolas Sarkozy.
On energy, LFI supports a gradual phase-out of nuclear power, including scrapping the planned EPR2 reactor programme and not extending the lifespan of nuclear plants beyond 60 years. The programme also criticises German influence on EU economic policy, describing Berlin as Europe's chief defender of "ordoliberalism".
The runoff vote is scheduled for next April, when recent polls show Mélenchon facing Marine Le Pen in the second round.
