LILLE, France — Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the La France Insoumise candidate for the 2027 presidential election, used a campaign speech at the Braderie de Lille on September 5 to denounce France’s public investment bank and pledge major structural changes to the country’s financial system.
In a video posted to his X account, Mélenchon accused Bpifrance (Banque publique d’investissement) of assisting North American pension funds and other foreign entities in purchasing French companies. “This scandal will stop as soon as we come to power! It’s a disgrace!” he said.
He promised to establish a pôle public bancaire (public banking pole) that would redirect French savings — including funds held in life insurance policies, Livret A accounts, and other consumer deposits — toward strategic domestic investments. “Our country has a lot of money. These sums must be directed toward the investments our country needs,” Mélenchon declared.
The remarks were delivered to an audience that organizers estimated at over 12,000 people. As part of his broader platform, Mélenchon called for an état d’urgence social (social state of emergency) featuring price, profit margin, and rent freezes, alongside free organic school meals, broad wage increases, and the indexing of salaries to inflation. He also reiterated his proposal to cancel the portion of French national debt held by the European Central Bank.
Bpifrance, co-owned by the French state and the Caisse des Dépôts, routinely finances French firms and co-invests alongside international equity partners.
The event marked a key early milestone in Mélenchon's 2027 presidential bid, during which he also targeted the National Rally and its president, Jordan Bardella, while positioning his party as the primary defender of working-class purchasing power.
