Marine Le Pen promete plantar cara a la UE si gana las elecciones

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right party in France, has promised a face-off with the European Union (EU) if she wins the upcoming presidential elections. Speaking to the Financial Times, Le Pen expressed her intention to challenge the EU's budget and the leadership of the bloc, questioning her current executive's continuity.

During her January interview, Le Pen demonstrated her resolve to transform the EU from within, while attempting to reassure voters about her pragmatism on other matters such as France's deteriorating public finances.

Le Pen acknowledged the main external limitation as the country's massive debt, which could become uncontrollable. However, she pledged to apply her policies both nationally and at the European level. She believes that her victory in the upcoming presidential elections, possibly combined with nationalist gains in Spain, Italy, and Poland, would mark a radical change in the EU, including a weakened European Commission.

She highlighted that in 2027, an extraordinary event would occur, referring to the super-election cycle in the next 12 months. She questioned whether Ursula von der Leyen could continue as EU Commission president until the end of her term in 2029, as she no longer enjoys the confidence of many EU governments.

The 58-year-old Le Pen is facing her fourth presidential campaign with greater confidence and is the clear favorite in polls. Traditional rivals are divided, and the public seems more willing to break with the past. Despite the looming debt crisis, Le Pen unveiled a 140 billion euro plan to address France's deficit if elected. The plan includes massive cuts to public spending, tax rebates for consumers, and measures to protect pensioners.

It also envisions saving 11 billion euros by reducing France's contribution to the EU budget for 2027 and tens of billions more in subsequent years. This would likely lead to a confrontation with Brussels and other European capitals, particularly Berlin.

The EU has been working around the clock to agree on a seven-year budget ahead of the French presidential elections, and Le Pen will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to warn against what she described as a wholly unacceptable attempt to reach an agreement. She admitted that cutting France's contribution to the EU budget drastically would be a difficult task.

However, she and her team are confident they can achieve it. A country cannot unilaterally reduce its contribution to the EU budget, as it would violate the EU treaty and require the approval of the other 26 member states. Le Pen's statements reveal her continued Euroscepticism, as she defended her belief in returning power to member states, reversing what she considers EU Commission attempts to assume duties in diplomacy and defense.

She also questioned whether the European Central Bank (ECB) would finance large-scale borrowing for matters such as energy transition and defense, arguing that the ECB was not a "fossilized dinosaur."

Many economists and financial analysts have criticized Le Pen's five-year plan to reduce the deficit, arguing that it is unrealistic, difficult to implement, and based on overly optimistic economic assumptions. Le Pen rejected criticisms that her proposal would cause a recession, stating that it included tax cuts for businesses and a broad deregulatory boost to stimulate economic activity.

Business leaders remain skeptical about the balance of massive public spending cuts and economic stimulation, and some still doubt her party's commitment to a pro-growth economic vision. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that rapidly cutting public spending could negatively impact growth by several percentage points of GDP.

Le Pen also dismissed criticisms that experts shared responsibility for France's economic policies over the past 30 years, suggesting that many economists had guided the country to disaster.