Presidential election 2027: Gabriel Attal unveils his strategy and toughens his stance on immigration, security and the economy

Invited this Tuesday to LCI's "Grand Entretien" (The Big Interview) hosted by Darius Rochebin, Gabriel Attal took another step in his presidential campaign. Facing journalists Alain Bauer, Ruth Elkrief, and Éric Brunet, and later in debates with Manuel Bompard (LFI) and Sébastien Chenu (RN), the former Prime Minister outlined the main points of his plan for 2027, while seeking to distinguish himself from both his opponents and the record of Macronism.

Over the course of nearly three hours of discussions, several strong directions emerged, outlining the contours of a candidacy that takes a position that is both liberal on the economic level and much firmer on sovereign issues.

A project to transcend the left-right divide

Gabriel Attal has asserted a unique position, refusing to join a simple right-wing and center-right coalition. According to him, such a coalition would not be enough to win the presidential election.

The former head of government embraces his political background, recalling his origins on the left while now advocating a project he describes as economically liberal and progressive regarding individual liberties. His ambition is to unite figures from both the left and the right around a common project. This strategy also constitutes an indirect response to Édouard Philippe, with whom he shares the same political space but from whom he intends to differentiate himself by placing greater emphasis on renewing both faces and ideas.

A much tougher stance on immigration and security

One of the main lessons of this intervention lies in Gabriel Attal's deliberate hardening of stances on immigration issues.

He now proposes that immigration quotas be voted on every two years by Parliament and states that he wants to prioritize labor migration over family reunification or certain forms of student immigration. His stated objective is "to welcome fewer people in order to welcome them better."

On the other hand, he rejects European plans for detention centers outside the European Union, which he compares to "camps", believing that the British experience in Rwanda or the Italian experience in Albania have not demonstrated their effectiveness.

On the issue of security, Gabriel Attal's views are also evolving. Referring to the murder of young Louis in Narbonne, he denounces the increasingly early violence among minors and again calls for reform of the juvenile justice system, including the creation of an adapted immediate appearance procedure and a review of certain constitutional limitations.

Pension reform, spending cuts and capitalization

On the economic front, Gabriel Attal advocates a policy of controlling public spending in order to reduce a debt that now exceeds €3.500 trillion. He believes that all French citizens must contribute to the budgetary effort and considers a thorough reform of the French social model essential.

His most significant proposal concerns pensions. The former Prime Minister wants to abolish the legal retirement age, retaining only a contribution period, while developing a genuine funded pension system to complement the current one. He also continues to advocate for tax cuts to support competitiveness and economic growth, in opposition to the left's tax proposals.

A strategic vision of French power

On international issues, Gabriel Attal displays a clearly pro-European stance. Faced with trade tensions with the United States, he calls on the European Union to adopt a firmer position towards Donald Trump when European interests are threatened, while rejecting measures it considers excessive such as closing airspace to American aircraft.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he reaffirmed his unequivocal support for Kyiv and believes that peace can only be achieved by enabling Ukrainians to resist Russian aggression. The former Prime Minister also emphasized the need to strengthen European military capabilities and now considers China to be the main global geopolitical challenge, fearing the economic consequences for European industry.

Adapting France to new challenges

The exceptional heatwave hitting France also featured prominently in the interview. Gabriel Attal believes the country is no longer adapted to extreme weather events and calls for simplified regulations to facilitate the installation of air conditioners in homes, now considering home cooling an essential need.

In conclusion to the broadcast, he summarized his project around four major priorities: education, wages, border control, and the development of artificial intelligence, which he presents as a major issue of sovereignty and prosperity for the coming decades.

A candidacy that seeks to occupy the center while hardening its rhetoric

This intervention confirms Gabriel Attal's strategic evolution since announcing his candidacy. While maintaining a clearly pro-European and liberal stance on economic issues, he is adopting a significantly firmer tone on immigration, security, and state authority, aiming to win over an electorate concerned about matters of state power without abandoning his image as a progressive candidate.

Less than a year before the presidential election, Gabriel Attal is thus trying to embody an alternative to the duel he considers inevitable between the National Rally and La France Insoumise, while preparing a future gathering of the forces of the central bloc around a project that he wants to be reformist, European and resolutely forward-looking.