Rassemblement National MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy stands during a press conference of party president Jordan Bardella in Paris on January 10, 2023. THOMAS PADILLA/MAXPPP
In September 2019, in one of his first appearances at the European Parliament, Jordan Bardella made headlines with a scathing attack on Christine Lagarde, who was preparing to take charge of the European Central Bank (ECB). But the young MEP of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party stopped short of calling her "numskull," as RN MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy would in 2024.
Now, should their party come to power, both men are considering knocking on Lagarde's door to solve France's debt problem. "To bring down interest rates (...), I propose that we open talks with the European Central Bank, which in the past has been able to buy all or part of European debts," explained Bardella. "I would like France to regain some flexibility with the European Central Bank, so that we can have this discussion openly." Given the initial reaction of the Frankfurt-based institution, the proposal has little chance of succeeding, or it would only be possible at the price of France's economic policy coming under external supervision.
Bardella's proposals, stated in an interview on France 5 television after being suggested in an interview with British magazine The Economist in early November, surprised even some within the RN, where the ECB was once described by Marine Le Pen as "the bank of German blackmail." At that not-so-distant time, when she wanted to leave the euro (a project the party officially abandoned in 2019), Le Pen explained her opposition to the single currency by citing the ECB's autonomy and strict mandate.
