Jean-Luc Melenchon will pledge to raise France’s net monthly minimum wage to €1,700 from around €1,480 and restore retirement at 60 for people who have contributed to the system for 40 years when he launches his 2027 election programme on Saturday. The 75-year-old hard-left French presidential hopeful is viewed as the strongest contender on the left. Recent opinion polls have shown him reaching next April’s presidential runoff against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, while also indicating that he would lose in the second round. The manifesto, titled "L’Avenir en commun" ("A Shared Future"), is the fifth edition of France Unbowed’s platform and largely renews policies central to Melenchon’s previous presidential campaigns. Its main proposals include repealing President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, which gradually lifted the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64, abolishing the flat tax on capital income, raising taxes on the wealthiest households and capping prices for essential foods. The programme also supports a gradual phase-out of nuclear power in favor of fully renewable electricity, including cancellation of the planned EPR2 reactor programme and no extension of nuclear plants’ lifespans beyond 60 years. On foreign policy, it renews Melenchon’s criticism of NATO and proposes France’s gradual withdrawal, beginning with an exit from the alliance’s integrated military command. It criticizes German influence over European Union economic policy, describing Berlin as the bloc’s chief defender of ordoliberalism, an economic philosophy emphasizing strict budget rules, price stability and independent monetary policy. The platform also seeks stronger protection for domestic industry, incentives to relocate production to France and a more interventionist role for the state in the economy.