Background: French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is pushing for a reform-oriented 2027 budget, facing opposition and warning of a special law if no budget is passed. Today: An editorial in franceinfo criticizes Macronism's failure to control France's deficit, which remains at 5.1% in 2025 despite promises to reduce it below 3%. Lecornu warns of risks from a 'loi spéciale' if no budget is passed, and an Inspection générale des finances report estimates the cost of such a procedure at 'at least 0.5% of GDP'. The editorial argues that political extremes gain ground as centrist parties lose credibility on fiscal responsibility.

Background: Seven French presidential candidates are set to debate economic policy at the MEDEF summer university on August 27. Today, education has become a central campaign issue, with candidates Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal proposing competing school reforms—Philippe promises a 20% teacher salary increase and a 'school responsibility fine,' while Attal proposes monthly raises and closing the worst-performing schools. They will face off in the first debate of the campaign, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticizing their proposals. Ahead of the August 27 MEDEF debate, education has emerged as a key campaign battleground. Édouard Philippe proposes a 20% teacher salary increase over five years and a 'school responsibility fine' for parents of disruptive students. Gabriel Attal proposes €200-500 monthly raises and closing the 100 worst-performing schools. Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticizes both, mocking Attal's stance on abayas. The debate will be the first of the campaign, hosted by MEDEF at Roland Garros.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during a visit to Paris, announced a €6 billion investment to build three theme parks in Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, near Paris. The project, discussed for 18 months, promises 22,000 direct jobs and thousands of housing units. Île-de-France regional official Florence Portelli welcomed the initiative as an 'extraordinary opportunity' for the area, citing employment and attractiveness benefits. The announcement marks a significant economic rapprochement between France and Saudi Arabia.

More than 200 French elected officials, including centrist Hervé Morin and LR mayor Franck Louvrier, published a tribune in Le Figaro calling for an open primary to unite the right and center behind a single candidate for the 2027 presidential election. They warn that current fragmentation risks a second round between Marine Le Pen (RN) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), and propose a 300-mayor sponsorship threshold for participation. David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes and presidential candidate, separately published a tribune in Le Monde advocating for a large open primary, citing polling that shows Édouard Philippe leading the centrist bloc at 17%, Gabriel Attal at 14-15%, and Bruno Retailleau under 10%. The proposal is rejected by main contenders but supported by Senate President Gérard Larcher.

Franck Leroy, president of France's Grand Est region, has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requesting a massive European plan to safeguard agriculture following an exceptional summer drought and repeated heatwaves. The region reports significant crop losses, including potato production down 20-50% and up to 80% losses for some fruit and vegetable crops. Leroy urges emergency EU aid for farm cash flow, compensation for losses, and a long-term adaptation strategy covering water management, soil improvement, and innovation, while also calling for the Common Agricultural Policy to be reinforced in the post-2028 EU budget.

Background: The Russian Embassy in Paris previously denied interference in France's 2027 presidential election amid accusations from French officials and VIGINUM attributions of disinformation operations to pro-Russian networks. Today, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova escalated the denial, publicly rejecting French allegations of cyberattacks and interference, and accusing Paris of reviving the 'Russian threat' narrative to distract from domestic failures. She noted that Russia's charge d'affaires had already rejected the allegations after being summoned on July 17, and criticized the timing of the public disclosure on the day of a 'Coalition of the Willing' meeting in Paris. Zakharova also accused French authorities of interfering in their own elections and dismissed VIGINUM's attributions to pro-Russian networks Matryoshka and Storm-1516, which targeted Gabriel Attal, Édouard Philippe, and Raphaël Glucksmann. Attal reiterated that Russia seeks to 'steal' the election, while Macron's earlier accusation of Russia buying fake accounts was referenced, underscoring the ongoing diplomatic tensions ahead of the April 2027 vote.

France's 'iron wall' (Uhura wa shaba) plan to curb illegal immigration in Mayotte is significantly delayed, according to a new tender and local politicians. The plan, announced by President Emmanuel Macron in April 2025, aimed to deploy a comprehensive surveillance system by early 2026. However, a tender published by the Interior Ministry on August 12 indicates the full system may not be operational until 2029-2030, or even later. Local senators and deputies criticize the delays, calling the plan a 'smoke screen' and noting the current radar coverage is incomplete, especially after Cyclone Chido. The program aims to increase interceptions of irregular migrants at sea to 20,000 per year, up from 4,584 in 2025.

At the UN COP17 conference on desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, France's environment ambassador Barbara Pompili warned that the United States is blocking progress on key issues, including linking land degradation with climate change and biodiversity. Russia is also preventing the scientific body from working. France is pushing for a comprehensive approach to soil protection, linking it to food, water, energy, and the economy, and for concrete outcomes on drought frameworks and post-2030 strategy.