France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen is gearing up for a fight with the EU if elected president next year, promising a “trial of strength” over the bloc’s budget and powers while questioning whether the top leadership should remain. In an interview with the FT, the frontrunner in the April contest showed that her ambitions to transform the EU from within were undimmed even as she tried to reassure voters about her pragmatism on other issues, such as tackling France’s degraded public finances. She recognised that her biggest “outside constraint” was the “gigantic, enormous debt . . . that could become uncontrollable”, but said she was determined to enact her policies both domestically and in Europe.
"Politics is in reality a question of conviction confronted by constraints," she told the FT in her Paris office. "I have no intention of losing my convictions."Le Pen sees her potential victory in next year’s contest, together with possible gains for her nationalist counterparts in elections in Spain, Italy and Poland, as ushering in radical change in the EU, including a weaker European Commission.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today: Germany: A former Ukrainian army officer accused by authorities of leading a group of saboteurs that blew up Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines is due to go on trial in Hamburg. Economic data: The IEA issues its monthly oil market report. The US publishes September inflation data and the Beige Book of economic conditions. Ireland: Top AI leaders and government officials gather in Dublin for a summit on the technology. Results: Black Rock, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley report earnings. Who’s doing better in their trade battles with China — the EU or the US? Senior trade writer Alan Beattie and economics columnist Soumaya Keynes will answer reader questions in a live Q&A tomorrow at 1pm BST. Submit a question here.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing