Mélenchon Pledges Minimum Wage Rise, Price Caps and Retirement at 60 in 2027 Campaign Launch

In brief

• Jean-Luc Mélenchon presented his 2027 presidential programme at a meeting in Le Bourget on Saturday.
• The platform includes a higher minimum wage, price caps on essential foods and a return to retirement at 60.
• Polls place him as the strongest left-wing contender against Marine Le Pen.

Programme launch

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France insoumise, used a meeting at the Parc des expositions in Le Bourget, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, on Saturday to present his platform for the 2027 presidential election (Présidentielle 2027 : en cas de victoire, LFI instaurera un « état d’urgence sociale », pour appliquer par décrets certaines mesures comme la hausse du smic ou la retraite à 62 ans – Le Monde) (Présidentielle 2027 : « Je n’ai qu’une chose raisonnable à vous proposer : il faut tout changer », lance Jean-Luc Mélenchon en introduction de son meeting au Bourget – Le Monde). He told the audience that the country had to change course fundamentally and that he had no more reasonable option to offer than "changing everything" ('We must change everything': French far-left leader Mélenchon launches presidential programme – France 24).

Key proposals

• Minimum wage: a rise in the SMIC, with the exact amount to be set later (French presidential hopeful Melenchon pledges minimum wage rise, retirement at 60 – Investing.com)
• Essential food prices: caps to be introduced (French presidential hopeful Mélenchon set to launch campaign by vowing to lower retirement age – France 24)
• Retirement age: lowered back to 60 from the current level

According to Le Monde, the movement plans, if it wins, to create a "state of social emergency" that would allow some measures, including the minimum wage increase and the 62-year retirement age, to be applied through decrees.

Political standing

Polls currently place Mélenchon as the strongest left-wing candidate against far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Before the meeting, Le Pen and former prime minister Édouard Philippe publicly criticised the La France insoumise programme (Marine Le Pen et Edouard Philippe attaquent le programme de LFI, que Jean-Luc Mélenchon doit présenter samedi lors d’un meeting au Bourget – Le Monde). Mélenchon's speech also aimed to widen his electorate beyond his core supporters, according to Le Monde's coverage of the event (Présidentielle 2027 : en meeting au Bourget, Jean-Luc Mélenchon s’attelle à mobiliser sa base tout en élargissant son électorat – Le Monde).

Context

Pension policy has been one of the most contested issues in French politics. The government raised the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 in 2023, and strikes and protests in early November, over pay, living costs and public services, added pressure on the issue.