“I won’t accuse you of perversity, others will judge, but it doesn’t look like your little operation is having an impact in the country,” he said.

Le Pen, the front-runner in the race to replace Macron next year, let Bardella do most of the talking in his defense. For her, the event was an opportunity to cast herself as a responsible steward of the French economy as France’s debt continues to pile up, growth stagnates and borrowing costs rise. On Tuesday she promised €140 billion in net savings over the course of a five-year presidential term.

“If investors only lend at exorbitant rates, our state and our social system will collapse,” she said.

Le Pen’s proposal to cut €19.5 billion from France’s EU contributions is bound to set up a showdown with Brussels. The party’s counter-budget proposal for 2027 includes an €11.1 billion cut in France’s gross contribution to the bloc as early as next year.

Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a National Rally lawmaker widely seen as a contender for economy minister should Le Pen win next year’s presidential election, said that Le Pen and her party would ramp up pressure for a fundamental rethink of EU priorities rather than just renegotiating the country’s annual contribution.

“We are not only asking for a rebate, we are asking for the cancellation of entire programs,” Tanguy said, citing EU foreign policy initiatives but also EU funds deployed within pre-accession programs.