“We don’t really know what will happen after the election. We don’t know who will be elected. We don’t know on which program, because nobody has enough time to prepare a program,” the fintech lobbyist said.
The people POLITICO spoke with all expected the CMU project to take a major hit if either the far right or far left enter Matignon.
“It’s always the French who propose ideas [on EU finance policy],” the bank staffer said. “Everybody anticipates that with [a far-right or far-left] government, there will be less proposals. And in this particular context where we have these enormous geopolitical changes and the need to do some things to face this European decline, the risk is that nothing will happen,” they added.
“There will be a lot of fear” about France’s future economic direction, including the country’s desirability as a place to invest in and as a leader on the EU stage, the fintech lobbyist said.
Despite fears around a future far-right or far-left government’s plans to pursue sweeping economic reforms, France’s economic establishment could water down more radical ideas which could be put forward, the people said.
Liz Truss all over again
One person said the situation in France could play out like U.K. economic reforms under Liz Truss in 2022, where the government was forced to retract its plans amid market turmoil and opposition from the central bank and national regulators. Truss resigned over the furore.
