Le Pen vows to downsize the EU and take fight over contribution cuts to Brussels
French far-right politician Le Pen says she wants to downsize the European Union, bringing the fight over reducing France's contribution to Brussels. The source text provides only the headline and background, not details of her remarks.
French far-right politician Le Pen has vowed to downsize the European Union and to bring the fight over cutting her country's contribution to the EU budget to Brussels. That is according to the headline of an article by Politico Europe. The source material contains no further details on her remarks, specific proposals or sums.
Political background
Le Pen is at the centre of attention in French politics. In early October, the outlet reported that President Emmanuel Macron's final budget hinges, for now, on her backing. Paris is proposing €43 billion in savings to bring the budget deficit down to 5% of gross domestic product.
The outlet also reported that the French presidential campaign was rattled by a week of chaos, with the spotlight firmly on the far left and the far right.
Other EU issues
Debates are also under way on EU trade and industrial policy. Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz want the EU to respond harder and faster to trade threats. The two countries want to give Brussels new powers to rapidly block imports deemed an economic or security threat.
On 13 October, at the outlet's Competitiveness Summit in Paris, EU industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné said a Franco-German deal on cars and "Made in Europe" was "hours or days" away. He hoped it would help break the deadlock, particularly in the European Parliament.
