Europe and defence, Marine Le Pen
Place in the European Union: Net EU contribution cut to €5bn in the next financial framework
Direction of change: decrease, compared with current law.
The lever. Relationship with the European treaties and rules: deepening, renegotiation, primacy of national law, exit. Direction rule: ↑ deeper European integration.
« Nous profiterons de la renégociation du cadre financier pluriannuel européen pour revoir notre contribution à l'Union européenne. En exigeant des économies massives sur les programmes européens actuels que nous ne voulons plus financer, nous baisserons notre contribution nette à 5 milliards d'euros seulement. »1Translation by the editorsWe will take advantage of the renegotiation of the European multiannual financial framework to review our contribution to the European Union. By demanding massive savings on current European programmes that we no longer wish to fund, we will lower our net contribution to just 5 billion euros.
Words of Marine Le Pen, Chaîne YouTube officielle de Marine Le Pen, « La trajectoire financière de mon quinquennat », conférence de presse (vidéo, transcription de la rédaction), 6 October 2026. Position taken from public statements, not from a written programme.
No programme released. Positions taken from public statements, words of associates or documents of the candidate’s party, each dated and sourced; last recorded on 18 October 2026.
Encoding
| Parameter | Current law | Proposed | Effective date or horizon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Levy on revenue for the European Union (gross French contribution) | 28.44 €bn | 21.4 €bn (assumption by the editors, see the costing) | Full year, current €bn |
Costing
Announced by the candidate
amount not broken down
Amount announced with no readable annual amount for this position alone: France's net contribution to the European Union brought down to €5bn (press conference of 6 October 2026); €8.7bn cut in the contribution in the RN's 2026 counter-budget (23 October 2025, p. 7)
Published costings
none
No external costing of this position recorded to date.
Our calculation
+€7bn
per year for the public accounts, saving.
The calculation
- Levy on revenue for the European Union (gross French contribution): (21.4 − 28.44) ÷ -1 = 7.04 times “€1bn less in French contribution compared with the levy voted for 2026 (€28.44bn, Finance Act for 2026, art. 143)”, each a gain of €1bn (1 to 1).
Assumption by the editors. Reading adopted: net contribution (levy minus returns) brought down to €5bn, a reduction assumed to be obtained in the negotiation of the next financial framework, costed on the finance act as voted: levy of €28.44bn in 2026, average returns of €16.4bn (net contribution of €12.04bn); a net contribution of €5bn corresponds to a levy of €21.4bn, i.e. a gain of €7.04bn. On the 2024 net accounting balance (€7.9bn), the gain would be only €2.9bn. The means (savings on European programmes, unanimity) and the transfer to the Union of a tax on tobacco and alcohol, announced the same day, are not assessed.
Current law, sources and limits of the cost schedule
Current law. Constitution, art. 88-1 (participation in the EU); TEU and TFEU treaties; new European fiscal rules of 2024. Levy on revenue for the EU: €28.44bn in the finance act for 2026 (art. 143; €28.8bn in the initial bill), compared with €23.1bn in 2025. France's share of EU financing: 17.2% in 2024. Net accounting balance: -€7.9bn in 2024 and -€9.3bn in 2023, France being the 2nd largest net contributor. Returns: €16.4bn a year on average. Under the 2028-2034 financial framework proposed by the Commission, the average annual levy would rise from €26bn (current framework) to €38bn.
Horizon. Full year, current €bn. In 2032, the 2028-2034 financial framework brings the contribution to €38bn on average according to the Commission's proposal.
Limits. The contribution is set by the « ressources propres » (own resources) decision (unanimity and ratification) and by the multiannual financial framework: a unilateral reduction would breach the treaties. The “exit” option is a static balance calculated by the editors. Low: 2024 balance (7.9). Central: voted 2026 levy of 28.44 minus 16.4 of average returns, i.e. 12.04. High: 38 (average proposed for 2028-2034) minus 16.4, i.e. 21.6. It ignores the returns that would have to be funded nationally (PAC: France receives 18.5% of the agricultural policy), customs duties, access to the single market, the cost of debt and the French share of the European debt linked to the recovery plan (extra contribution of about €2.5bn per year from 2028 according to the Cour des comptes, for lack of new own resources). It is not a net gain. The levy voted for 2026 is €28.44bn (finance act for 2026, art. 143), not €28.8bn (initial bill). Freezing at the 2025 level brings in 28.44 − 23.10 = €5.34bn according to amendment no. 1291 (GDR group), which proposes it. The contribution-ue parameter (rule on public bases, 18 October 2026, the same for all): a reduction in the contribution is costed on the levy voted for 2026, €28.44bn, assuming the reduction is obtained, as for leaving the EU (static costing; the means, a renegotiation requiring unanimity, is not assessed). A targeted net contribution (levy minus returns) is converted into a levy by adding the average returns, €16.4bn (Senate): a net contribution of €5bn is equivalent to a levy of €21.4bn, i.e. a gain of €7.04bn (only €2.9bn if one starts from the 2024 net accounting balance, €7.9bn). A return to the pre-Covid level is read on the levy executed in 2019, €21.025bn, in 2019 euros not updated: a gain of €7.41bn. Compared with the proposed 2028-2034 framework (€38bn on average), the gains would be higher, but this framework has not been adopted: it is not part of the baseline.
- Sénat, commission des finances, L'Essentiel PLF 2026, mission « Affaires européennes » (art. 45, prélèvement sur recettes UE, J.-M. Mizzon), 2025-10-28: « « prélèvement sur recettes au profit de l'Union européenne à 28,8 milliards d'euros, soit une progression substantielle de 24,6 % » ; « pour la France un PSR-UE annuel moyen qui progresserait de 26 milliards d'euros dans le CFP actuel à 38 milliards d'euros pour le prochain » »
- Sénat, note de présentation PLF 2026, « Affaires européennes », 2025-11: « « Avec un solde net estimé en 2024 à - 7,9 milliards d'euros (- 9,3 milliards d'euros en 2023) selon la méthode comptable, la France était le deuxième contributeur net » ; « sa clef de contribution cette année-là (17,2 %) » ; « Les retours budgétaires français (16,4 milliards d'euros en moyenne » »
- Assemblée nationale, amendement n° 1291 au PLF 2026 (n° 2247), présenté par M. Maurel et le groupe GDR, sur l'article relatif au prélèvement UE, 2026-01: « « À la fin, substituer au montant : « 28 439 880 549 € » le montant : « 23 098 097 974 € ». » ; « En limitant la contribution française au budget de l'UE à hauteur du montant de l'exercice précédent, cet amendement ajustera notre effort aux paramètres du CFP à venir et soulagera les charges publiques de 5,3 milliards d'euros. » »
- Constitution, art. 88-1: « « La République participe à l'Union européenne constituée d'États qui ont choisi librement d'exercer en commun » »
- Loi de finances pour 2026, texte définitif (Assemblée nationale, texte adopté n° 227, 2 février 2026), article 143 ; loi n° 2026-103 du 19 février 2026, 2026-02-02: « « Le montant du prélèvement effectué sur les recettes de l'État au titre de la participation de la France au budget de l'Union européenne est évalué pour l'exercice 2026 à 28 439 880 549 €. » »
- Assemblée nationale, commission des finances, rapport sur le projet de loi de règlement du budget 2019, annexe n° 45 « Affaires européennes », 2020-06: « « Le prélèvement sur recettes au profit de l'Union européenne s'est établi à 21,025 milliards d'euros en 2019, alors que la loi de finances initiale pour 2019 prévoyait un PSR-UE de 21,443 milliards d'euros. » »
How to read these amounts. These are static costs and revenues, with no feedback effect, over a full year: nothing on growth, employment or the revenue that economic activity would gain or lose. A higher net cost does not on its own make a worse policy, nor net savings a better one: each programme rests on an economic model (demand-led stimulus, lower compulsory levies, consolidation of the public accounts…) that the cost schedule does not settle. GDP itself measures a volume of activity, not well-being or the usefulness of what is produced. Economic models and feedback effects.
- Chaîne YouTube officielle de Marine Le Pen, « La trajectoire financière de mon quinquennat », conférence de presse (vidéo, transcription de la rédaction), 6 October 2026. Words of Marine Le Pen. Position taken from public statements, not from a written programme. Read the source (Chaîne YouTube officielle de Marine Le Pen, « La trajectoire financière de mon quinquennat », conférence de presse (vidéo, transcription de la rédaction)).
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