France secures €1.6 bln cut in planned EU budget contribution

Paris trims its EU bill after behind-the-scenes push, handing Bayrou a win, easing pressure on his austerity drive and spoiling Le Pen’s narrative.

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Amelie de Montchalin, French Minister attached to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, responsible for public accounts, speaks during the French Prime Minister's speech to unveil the main guidelines of France's 2026 budget. [Telmo Pinto/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

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Laurent Geslin EURACTIV.fr Jul 17, 2025 05:51 1 min. read

News

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

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Languages: Spanish

PARIS – France has secured a €1.6 billion reduction in its planned EU budget contribution for 2026, lowering the expected payment to €27.6 billion, according to L’Opinion.

Sources close to Budget Minister Amélie de Montchalin indicated that France’s total payment to Brussels would be lowered from the €29.2 billion initially projected.

If confirmed, the move would offer relief to Prime Minister François Bayrou, just a day after he unveiled his sweeping austerity plan aimed at achieving nearly €44 billion in savings next year.

It also undercuts far-right Rassemblement National’s (RN) core demand to slash France’s contributions to the EU.

RN leader Marine Le Pen said in a post on X that the French had “massively” endorsed freezing France’s contributions to the EU by “by backing Jordan Bardella’s list in the European elections”, referring to her party colleague’s strong performance in last year’s elections.

Languages: Spanish