PARIS — Conservative presidential candidate Bruno Retailleau said France should seek a rebate on its contribution to the EU budget ahead of a key European summit in Brussels this week. France pays more in to the EU budget than it gets out, but it is struggling to reduce a severe budget deficit. France sits in neither camp.
Retailleau singled out structural funds — money that is invested in poorer European regions — as an area where savings could be made. Well they have, and in a couple of years they’ll probably have a higher standard of living. Sorry, but stop,” he said.
However, Retailleau, who is trailing center-right presidential candidate Edouard Philippe and far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen in the polls, did not put a figure on the rebate he would demand if he came to power. Le Pen, who is the front-runner ahead of next year’s presidential election, and her party have proposed slashing France’s yearly contribution by €11.1 billion as early as next year. Retailleau said he would seek “a negotiation,” rather than unilaterally impose a lower contribution, as Le Pen says she would do.
Retailleau argued that France’s defense and nuclear deterrence investments should also be included in the country’s contribution calculation, because the concept of forward deterrence benefits France’s European neighbors.
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