Mélenchon’s 2027 Program Sparks Controversy: Author Compares Economic Proposals to Communist Era in Romania

Nicolas Lecaussin, director of the free-market think tank IREF-Contrepoints, has sharply criticized the electoral program presented by the "La France Insoumise" party and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for the 2027 horizon under the title "The Common Future" (L'Avenir en commun). Lecaussin argued that the ideas contained within it represent a revival of the policies of former authoritarian communist regimes that he personally experienced in Romania before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.

Central Planning and "Ecological Collectivism"

In his reading of the 222-page document containing 1,134 proposals, Lecaussin noted that Mélenchon sets out an explicit dichotomy from the outset, dividing society between "elitism or collectivism," aligning himself with what he termed "ecological collectivism." The author observed that terms such as "planning" appeared 29 times, granting the state the authority to dictate what should be produced and consumed, as well as how people live and travel. Meanwhile, the phrase "private property" appeared only once, and was restricted by the condition that it must not supersede the protection of resources such as water, food, and energy.

The program also includes a state monopoly on awarding academic degrees and certificates, and the establishment of a constitutional list of "common goods" encompassing water, air, communications, health, and energy, whose contents will be determined later by a constituent assembly, while granting the state the right to expropriate factories and enterprises of public interest.

Measures Affecting Housing and Inheritance

Regarding daily life and real estate, Mélenchon's project introduces unprecedented restrictions on the transfer of wealth and property. It stipulates an inheritance ceiling of a maximum of five dwellings, with the state confiscating and redistributing any surplus properties, in addition to the total abolition of inherited estates exceeding €12 million in favor of the state.

The program also proposes introducing a "rental permit" and a "housing inspection" body to enforce tenants' rights, alongside launching a government emergency plan to create public services to combat bedbugs and providing feminine hygiene products free of charge to everyone.

Sweeping Tax Revisions and Capital Controls

In his article, Lecaussin reviewed the proposed financial package, asserting that it includes 25 new or amended tax measures to increase revenue collection. Most notably, these include expanding income tax brackets from the current 5 to 14, reinstating the wealth tax (ISF), imposing a 2% "Zucman" tax on wealth, reinstating the housing tax, and converting property tax into a progressive levy based on an individual's total assets.

The measures also include imposing a "universal tax" on individuals' income regardless of where they reside, tightening the exit tax, and placing capital movements under strict controls to prevent capital flight from France, all without providing any precise financial estimates for the revenues generated by these measures, according to the author.

Warnings Against Repeating Past Economic Failures

The author concluded his analysis by warning of the consequences of what the document terms the "Grand Bifurcation" (Bifurcation), a word that appeared thirty times in the program. He recalled his memories of Bucharest amid shortages of basic foodstuffs, ration cards for oil, meat, and sugar, heating and electricity blackouts, and rationing of car usage based on license plate numbers.

Lecaussin emphasized that although the program does not call for the establishment of a single-party state or a political police apparatus, the proposed directive mechanisms—such as price fixing, property confiscation, and the excessive expansion of bureaucratic structures to restrict the free market—carry the exact same risks to the economy and individuals' standard of living.