Mélenchon launches 2027 presidential programme pledging retirement at 60 and a 1,700 euro minimum wage
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the France Unbowed (LFI) leader, launched his 2027 presidential programme, 'L'Avenir en commun', at a rally in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on Saturday 7 November 2026. The programme pledges to repeal President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform and restore retirement at 60 for people with 40 years of contributions, raise the net monthly minimum wage to 1,700 euros from about 1,480 euros, cap prices of essential foods and take France out of NATO. Polls put Mélenchon, 75, as the strongest candidate on the left, behind the far right's Marine Le Pen.
Key points
- Mélenchon launched 'L'Avenir en commun', the fifth edition of France Unbowed's platform, at Le Bourget on Saturday.
- Flagship pledges: repeal Macron's pension reform and restore retirement at 60 after 40 years of contributions; a 1,700 euro net monthly minimum wage.
- The programme also caps essential food prices, scraps the flat tax on capital income, and takes France out of NATO.
- Polls make him the left's strongest candidate, behind the far right's Marine Le Pen.
Watch: the moment itself
Direct video sits at the top of Vozia's evidence ladder — the moment itself, from its owner. Embedded from its home platform; we never download or re-host it.
Video: APT · Watch on YouTube
What happened
Macron's pension reform, which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 to shore up public finances, was one of the most contested policies of his presidency, and reversing it has been a France Unbowed promise in every recent campaign. The new programme largely reaffirms the platform of Mélenchon's previous presidential bids, with this edition adding 200 new measures.
France votes in two rounds, on 18 April and 2 May 2027. Melenchon opened the Le Bourget rally presenting the programme as the basis for 'an entirely new France'; his party says the programme as a whole has been costed, with details to be released during the campaign.
Claim by claim
Why this label: The launch and the manifesto's place in LFI's history are reported by Reuters (read via SRN) and Le Monde in agreement; France 24 carried the launch the same day.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The pledge is in the published programme and is reported identically by Reuters and Le Monde; it is a campaign promise, not a policy in force.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The figures and measures are the programme's own, reported by Reuters in its preview and in its report of the Le Bourget speech; his quoted words are from the speech as reported.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (2 more)
Why this label: The NATO pledge is in the programme as described by APT's report of the rally and by AFP's profile of the candidate; the speech criticism is reported by Reuters from Le Monde's account of the rally.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The standing is the pollsters' own figures as reported by Reuters and AFP; polls are snapshots of voting intention, not results.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The programme has been published and launched, and its flagship pledges are as stated in the claims above.
- The election is held in two rounds, on 18 April and 2 May 2027.
What we don't know yet
- The programme's full costing - LFI says it has been costed, but the detailed figures are to be released during the campaign.
- Whether the rest of the left unites behind one candidate or runs against Mélenchon.
- The Macron government's and the National Rally's formal responses to the programme - none had been read when this story was published.
Why it matters
The launch fixes the terms of the 2027 race on the left: pension age, wages and NATO membership are now the dividing lines Melenchon wants the election fought on, six months before the first round, with polls already projecting a runoff between him and Marine Le Pen.
Background
Macron's pension reform gradually raises France's retirement age from 62 to 64, amid mass protests.
The fifth edition of 'L'Avenir en commun' is published in book form.
Mélenchon presents the programme at a rally in Le Bourget, north of Paris.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published. Basis: Reuters and Le Monde reporting of the published programme and the Le Bourget launch.