2026 Budget: François Bayrou "wants to involve everyone," says Ambroise Méjean, deputy secretary general of Renaissance

François Bayrou launched a YouTube channel and podcast on Tuesday, August 5, to present his 2026 budget. In a short video, the first in a series, he discusses the budget's challenges and justifies his €40 billion savings plan. Ambroise Méjean, deputy secretary general of Renaissance, a political guest on franceinfo on Wednesday, August 6, listened to this podcast.

This text is a transcript of part of the interview above. Click on the video to watch the full interview.

Alexandre Peyrout: The Prime Minister tried his hand at a new exercise: the podcast. It was eight minutes during which he attempted to justify his budget plan, his €40 billion savings plan. Did you listen to him, Prime Minister?

Ambroise Méjean: Yes, of course, on the way back from vacation. I think it's a good exercise, because in a political world that sometimes lacks nuance, that is sometimes quick to simplify, it's a good thing for the Prime Minister to take the time to explain what he wants to do, since he's going to do it in several episodes. It reminded me of Pierre Mendès France. He was one of the first to have this idea, who did radio talk shows, as they were called at the time in the 4th Republic. And he had this phrase that I really like, which said: "Democracy is first and foremost a state of mind." I believe that by doing this, Prime Minister François Bayrou demonstrated that his state of mind was still dialogue, and that it's a good thing.

Is it really a good method to do this in the middle of summer, when the French clearly have their minds on other things?

I think it doesn't cost much to try to establish a dialogue. If people, listening to us or watching, have a few minutes to spare, fine, they do so and form their own positive or negative opinions. What matters is that we have the elements to decide. Often, I find that in public debate, we settle a little too easily with our opinions without ever confronting the reality of what, for example, a budgetary constraint is. And that's what the Prime Minister is trying to do by providing elements. I think the exercise, or at least the desire, is laudable. We'll see if it's fruitful.

The question is also: will this be enough to save the government from the motion of censure when the new term begins?

That's a good question, to which I don't have the answer, and I'd like to know it. I believe that the Prime Minister, when he presented his budget in advance, chose a slightly different method, that of allowing debate. You'll remember that with Michel Barnier, the method was a little different, that is to say, the lack of dialogue with the opposition led to Michel Barnier's censure. François Bayrou has chosen a different path. Perhaps a little more difficult at the start, but which at least allows the opposition to debate the various measures before the budget is examined.

Except that today the opposition, whether the Socialists or the National Rally, say that they were not consulted on this budget which was presented on July 15 and that this could even lead them to vote of censure.

A budget is usually presented in the fall. This time, it was presented in July, precisely so that the opposition parties could prepare their discussions. The idea is that it's a starting point. The Prime Minister said it: there is a factual reality that no one can deny, and that is the need for debt reduction. We have 3.4 trillion in debt, we need to make collective efforts, not for the sake of making efforts, but because it also allows us to invest in the future. You know that next year, so that everyone has the figure in mind, we will pay more in debt repayment than we will spend on National Education. This is still not acceptable. So everyone must be able to sit around the table. I invite the opposition parties to say, as the Prime Minister did: if there are expenses you do not want to reduce or revenues you want to increase, say so, propose them. Make proposals so that the €44 billion effort is not necessarily the one proposed by the Prime Minister, but a different effort. In any case, dialogue is needed, and I think the Socialist Party cannot remain indifferent to this idea of dialogue.

But then, you're talking about effort. For the moment, in what François Bayrou has presented, we have the fight against social security fraud, deep cuts in health care, in the civil service, but almost nothing on tax fraud or even any effort required of businesses. Is that very fair?

On tax fraud, that's not true, because it may not actually be in the budget, but there are a number of plans that have been presented since Emmanuel Macron took office and which have made it possible to recover a good portion, a substantial portion in any case. When you look at the various tax revenues that come precisely from this fraud recovery, you see that each year it progresses, because the State succeeds, through better cooperation, particularly with the banks, in recovering some of this money. It's not enough, we have to continue. We have to manage to take a little bit from everywhere and the effort has to be shared and distributed fairly.

Does this effort, as presented by the Prime Minister, seem to you to be fairly distributed today?

I believe that what the Prime Minister is trying to do is to make everyone contribute. For example, he is taking an additional step that previous governments were unwilling to take: he is asking for a contribution, for example, from the wealthiest pensioners, by ending the 10% tax allowance that existed for the wealthiest pensioners. Today, it has been replaced by a flat rate of €2,000. So I think there is a desire to make this contribution, while also adding an exceptional contribution on high incomes.

Not up to what the left is demanding today.

Not up to what the left is asking for, but if we did what the left is asking for, we would be on the left. And it hasn't escaped our attention that we are not on the left, because we believe that a certain number of provisions proposed by the left are likely to drive away some of the people who invest in our country. What I'm saying is that we have to find a form of compromise, as we did last January when François Bayrou came to power. And compromise requires several of us to discuss, so it is absolutely necessary that, particularly the Socialist Party, because you know, I don't really believe in the National Rally's desire to dialogue, but I believe that the Socialist Party is a partner with whom we can move forward, even without agreeing on the essentials.