Mélenchon’s proposal sets him apart from his rivals, particularly those on the right and in the center, for whom fiscal discipline — particularly when it comes to pensions — is a top priority. Yet it appears to resonate with French voters, and the presidential candidate was quick to publicize a Sept. 5 poll showing 43% of the public supported canceling parts of the debt, while only 31% opposed it.
Critics of the candidate, notably central bankers, argue that this would be illegal, as it would amount to direct financing of member states by the ECB, which is prohibited by the treaties that laid the foundation for the euro and the ECB. The treaties would therefore need to be amended, which would take time and require unanimous approval.
Although he disputes that the measure is unlawful, Mélenchon emphasized that, should he win in 2027, he would seek allies at the European level to push the measure through.
The ice is melting
But beyond any potential political and legal hurdle, Mélenchon’s proposal faces, above all, an existential threat as the amount of French debt the Bank of France holds is shrinking.
Mélenchon wants to “freeze or cancel” only the portion of the debt held by the French central bank, which he put at 18% in June. His estimate, however, is out of date. By the end of 2025, this proportion had already fallen to just 15%, according to the specialist website Fipeco. And it is expected to further decline.
In early 2025, the ECB discontinued the debt-purchasing policy it implemented in response to the economic crises of 2010 and 2020. As a result, the Bank of France — which conducts operations in France on behalf of the ECB — is gradually being depleted of these securities as they are redeemed.
France Unbowed MP Eric Coquerel said he had received a letter from Moulin, the Bank of France governor, informing him that the bank’s stock of securities would fall by €80.6 billion this year, dropping to €465.3 billion by the year-end. The share could therefore fall somewhere between 11% and 12%, Coquerel said.
“That’s what worries me most,” added Coquerel, who favors canceling the debt. It is also for this reason that maintaining the stock has become the priority for France Unbowed. If the central bank no longer holds any debt securities, “there will be nothing left to write off” or to convert into perpetual debt, Coquerel said.