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Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) has published its 222-page programme for the 2027 French presidential election, putting a two-stage withdrawal from NATO at the centre of its foreign policy. The programme, titled "L'Avenir en commun" ("A Shared Future"), was released on Friday, November 6, and Mélenchon presents it at a rally in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on Saturday, November 7.
Under the plan, France would first withdraw immediately from NATO's integrated military command, and then gradually leave the alliance altogether. The programme also pledges to nationalise major defence companies, including ArianeGroup, and to close NATO's space centre in Toulouse.
The programme rejects the United States' demand that NATO allies raise defence spending to 5 percent of GDP, describing it as "tribute". NATO allies agreed the 5 percent commitment at their summit in The Hague in June 2025, split between core defence spending and wider defence-related investment.
At the same time, the programme states that a France led by Mélenchon would continue to come to the aid of other European Union countries under the EU treaties. On Europe, it says France should remain in the European Union but refuse to follow rules that conflict with its social, environmental or economic programmes.
The programme also pledges to phase out nuclear power, raise the minimum wage to €1,700 a month and restore the retirement age to 60.
France left NATO's integrated military command in 1966 under President Charles de Gaulle and returned to it in 2009 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. Mélenchon, 75, has long criticised that return. This is his fourth bid for the presidency, and recent opinion polls place him second, showing him reaching the April 2027 runoff against Marine Le Pen, though losing the second round.