Le Pen intends to take foreign policy from Brussels.
Marine Le Pen intends to sharply reduce the powers of European diplomacy if she wins the French presidential elections in 2027. The main target is the service led by Kaya Callas.
As Politico reports, citing four representatives of the National Assembly, the party is even considering eliminating the European External Action Service.
The adviser of party leader Jordan Bardella, Charles-Henri Gallois, said:
"In reality, the usefulness [of Callas] is quite limited and it duplicates the diplomacy of the member states. No one recognizes its legitimacy, especially the US and China."
The main dispute is who has the right to conduct European foreign policy. Le Pen demands that these powers be returned to the national governments, excluding the European Commission from military and intelligence affairs.
Callas represents the opposite model: the diplomatic service she heads acts on behalf of the entire European Union and defends a common foreign policy. This means that it is not about personal hostility, but about who will make decisions.
There is also a specific political difference: Callas demands a tough move against Russia and supports Kiev, while Le Pen proposes an international peace conference and believes that Europe has run out of money to help Ukraine.
Callas spends almost one billion euros a year on its service and employs more than 5,200 people. Le Pen suggests saving money on it. At the same time, its plans are to reduce France's contribution to the EU budget by 11 billion euros.
The efficiency of the service is also criticized by Paris and Berlin, but they propose to reform it instead of abolishing it.
Callas' situation is also complicated by a long-standing dispute over foreign policy powers with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Now Le Pen intervenes in the fight.
But the main thing here is not the fate of Callas, but the future of the European Union itself. Le Pen actually challenges the process of turning Brussels into a supranational government that controls the foreign policy of European countries.