No money
for Ukraine and EU budget cuts: What could a Le Pen victory mean for the EU?
By
Estelle Nilsson-Julien
Published
on 17/10/2026 - 9:00 GMT+2
Marine Le
Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, is seeking to become France’s next
president on a hardline anti-EU platform, pledging to cut the country’s
contributions to the EU budget and end funding for Ukraine.
On
Ukraine, Le Pen has repeatedly pledged to end financial assistance. Speaking to
reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, she said that if elected, France could only
sustain funding for six months because of the “perilous” state of its public
finances.
“This
funding will stop, and it is a matter of honesty to tell [Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy] the truth,” she told Euronews.
Zelenskyy
hit back in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday. “The price to
pay is not as high as the value of people’s lives,” he said. “That is why I
think Ms Le Pen is not fully familiar with certain details.”
He added
that, if Le Pen were elected president, she should have access to “the most
powerful European system that works”, stressing that Ukraine’s battlefield
experience could benefit European countries.
Le Pen
has also called for an end to EU sanctions against Russia, while saying France
could continue training Ukrainian troops and supplying military equipment to
Kyiv.
Her
comments signal that Le Pen is prepared to take a hardline stance, pledging to
end French funding for Ukraine in a position similar to that of US President
Donald Trump.
Her
stance also contrasts sharply with that of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia
Meloni, who is often compared to Le Pen but has advocated continued support for
Kyiv.
Speaking
in the Italian Senate on Wednesday ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Meloni
delivered a forceful defence of Ukraine’s right to self-defence.
“Supporting
Ukraine is not an alternative to peace, it’s what makes it possible,” Meloni
said. “The peace we want is one that is sustainable, just and also safeguards
Europe and our interests.
“Therefore,
the position of this government will not change: support for Ukraine, pressure
on Russia and Euro-Atlantic unity.”
‘France’s
support for Ukraine goes far beyond aid’
“France’s
support for Ukraine goes far beyond aid alone. It is primarily diplomatic,”
Elie Tenenbaum, director of the French Institute of International Relations’
Centre for Security Studies, told Euronews.
He
highlighted France’s leading role in initiatives such as the Coalition of the
Willing, launched alongside the United Kingdom, as well as other mechanisms
that “help keep Ukraine afloat”.
These
include the €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan (USL), whose implementation and
disbursement depend on the political backing of major countries, including
France.
Tenenbaum
stressed that cuts to EU-level funding would have a greater impact on Ukraine
than a reduction in France’s bilateral aid.
“If
France were not only to stop providing bilateral aid and contributing to the EU
budget, but also to actively oppose these kinds of mechanisms, then the entire
framework of European assistance to Ukraine would be put at risk.”
According
to figures from the German think tank Kiel Institute, France has committed an
estimated €27 billion to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion
in February 2022. This includes €7.9 billion in bilateral aid and €19 billion
through European mechanisms.
Germany
remains Europe’s largest provider of aid to Ukraine in absolute terms, having
pledged more than €50 billion since February 2022, well ahead of France, Italy
and the Netherlands. Relative to GDP, however, Denmark and Estonia provide the
highest levels of bilateral aid.
Cutting
France’s contributions to the EU budget
With six
months to go before France’s presidential election, Le Pen is campaigning on a
platform centred on tighter immigration controls, greater national sovereignty
and measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, as rising fuel prices fuel
public discontent.
Her party
has backed capping France’s net contribution to the EU budget at €5 billion a
year, down from €8 billion, according to figures published by the French
Senate. Such a move would mark a departure from recent years, during which
France’s contributions have generally increased, despite annual fluctuations.
Under
President Emmanuel Macron, France has backed a larger EU budget, unlike
countries such as Germany, which favour tighter spending limits. Paris has also
called for new EU own resources, meaning additional sources of revenue beyond
member state contributions.
Although
France is a net contributor to the EU budget, it also receives substantial
funding for its farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“France
stands out among the major contributors as it is the only one that has so far
supported an ambitious EU budget,” Eulalia Rubio, a senior research fellow at
the Jacques Delors Institute, told Euronews.
She said
Le Pen’s proposals reflected a “lack of understanding” of EU institutions.
“Spending
varies slightly every year, so you can’t say, ‘We’re only going to pay €5
billion every year from now on’,” she commented.
Rubio
warned that if France overcame the legal obstacles to cutting its
contributions, other member states would have to make up the shortfall. Such a
prospect could prove particularly contentious given that France is the largest
recipient of farming subsidies.
On
Wednesday, France’s National Assembly rejected the National Rally’s proposal to
unilaterally reduce the country’s contributions to the EU budget for 2027,
instead backing the government’s planned level of funding.
Thierry
Chopin, an adjunct professor of European studies at Sorbonne University, said a
National Rally victory could mark a break with France’s traditional role as a
driving force within the EU and with the “intellectual contributions championed
by Paris” in recent years, which had gained traction in response to global
events.
Chopin
pointed to France’s role in promoting European sovereignty, strategic autonomy
in defence and trade protection measures. However, he said France’s influence
had waned during Macron’s second term as its economic credibility declined.
“This
credibility was not particularly strong to begin with, but it has worsened
given the country’s budgetary situation, public debt and the difficulties
facing its public finances. And then, once again, there are political
considerations, because the executive branch has been weakened,” he said.
EU budget
for 2028-2034
Speaking
to the Financial Times on Wednesday, Le Pen described efforts to reach an
agreement on the EU’s 2028-2034 budget by the end of 2026 as
"anti-democratic."
She
accused the European Commission of undermining “democratic processes” by
advancing the budget ahead of elections in France, Spain, Italy and Poland.
Ahead of
the vote, Macron has moved to secure key positions, including at the central
bank, by appointing allies. On Thursday, the French president told EU leaders
during a closed-door meeting that Paris favours reaching a deal this year.
Beyond
the timeline, Le Pen is also focused on the substance of the EU budget.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, she said she hoped to “build new
coalitions” with like-minded parties to challenge what she described as an
anti-growth mindset in Brussels.
She also
suggested that the European Central Bank (ECB), led by Christine Lagarde,
should revise its mandate to give greater weight to economic growth. The ECB is
independent and its primary mandate is to maintain price stability.
Experts
told Euronews they are sceptical that member states would support another major
overhaul of EU fiscal rules following the sweeping reform of the Stability and
Growth Pact in 2024.
“In my
view, member states show little appetite for another major reform,” Andreas
Eisl, a senior research fellow in European economic policy at the Jacques
Delors Institute, told Euronews.
He added
that “future changes are likely to involve reinterpretations of the existing
rules rather than a fundamental overhaul of their legal foundations”.
Le Pen
has repeatedly criticised EU regulations and standards, describing them as
“regulatory hell” or a “regulatory shantytown”, and has pledged to strip them
back to the bare minimum. Such an approach could undermine the bloc’s legal
framework if adopted across member states.
“Obviously,
if every member state does this, the EU can no longer function as a union based
on the rule of law,” Chopin said.
The
National Rally leader has also vowed to “stop” the European Green Deal, the
EU’s flagship programme to cut emissions and achieve climate neutrality by
2050.
Le Pen
argues that the Green Deal undermines economic growth. She has also proposed
abolishing institutions such as the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), an
advisory body representing local and regional authorities involved in
implementing EU policies, including climate measures.
“The
dismantling of the European Green Deal is already underway. If Marine Le Pen
were to be elected, this would only be further accentuated, according to
certain analyses,” Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, head of the Energy Centre at the Jacques
Delors Institute, told Euronews.
Maria
Tadeo contributed to this report
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