At the La Boétie Institute in Paris, the in-house think tank of his party La France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon was in good spirits. On this Saturday, January 24, he was opening a conference entitled "Is Neoliberalism Compatible with Small Businesses?" It was a purely rhetorical question. His leftist movement's political platform states plans to "break with capitalism."
With 15 months to go before the 2027 presidential election, Mélenchon, who is unofficially in the running for his fourth presidential bid, has fully embraced a strategy of demonstrating his presidential credentials. Speaking to a segment of France's business community, Mélenchon was keen to show how his party's members "are preparing to govern" and tried to dispel a common misconception: No, LFI is not an enemy of business owners. He has no intention "of nationalizing hairdressers, restaurants or builders," he said.
According to LFI's economic vision, there are good bosses and bad bosses. It classifies large multinationals and major French companies on the bad side, and views small, very small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) favorably. Only business associations representing smaller companies were invited to Mélenchon's conference. The MEDEF, the largest employers' federation, was not present.
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With 15 months to go before the 2027 presidential election, Mélenchon, who is unofficially in the running for his fourth presidential bid, has fully embraced a strategy of demonstrating his presidential credentials. Speaking to a segment of France's business community, Mélenchon was keen to show how his party's members "are preparing to govern" and tried to dispel a common misconception: No, LFI is not an enemy of business owners. He has no intention "of nationalizing hairdressers, restaurants or builders," he said.
According to LFI's economic vision, there are good bosses and bad bosses. It classifies large multinationals and major French companies on the bad side, and views small, very small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) favorably. Only business associations representing smaller companies were invited to Mélenchon's conference. The MEDEF, the largest employers' federation, was not present.
You have 78.29% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.