France's National Rally says two European banks have pre-approved its €10.6m campaign loan

France's National Rally (RN) says it has a pre-agreement with two European banks for a €10.6 million loan to fund Marine Le Pen's 2027 presidential campaign, after French banks declined to lend. Party treasurer Kévin Pfeffer told several outlets on Tuesday, November 10, that the talks were "very advanced" and that he expected an answer "by the end of the month." He did not name the banks, which are in two different countries and are not French.

The deal is not final. If it goes through, it would settle the party's campaign financing about five months before the first round on April 18, 2027. It would also mean that, for a third presidential race running, the RN's main campaign loan comes from outside France. That outcome is the one Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's government has tried since the summer to avoid, citing the risk of foreign influence.

What the treasurer said#

Pfeffer told franceinfo that "a legal agreement on the feasibility and soundness of the party's file has been reached with two European banks." He said he was "fairly optimistic" given the "very advanced discussions." A party official told franceinfo a deal could be reached "by the end of the month." BFMTV reported the same figure and quotes.

Speaking to AFP, as published by France 24, Pfeffer said: "We are in very advanced discussions with two banks that are not French but European." He said the pre-agreement recognized "the reliability and credibility of the party's file, which offers all the necessary guarantees."

The RN has 130 deputies in the National Assembly, according to RTL. Its president is Jordan Bardella, and our profile of the National Rally covers its program and its history as the National Front.

Why the party needs a bank loan#

Under French rules, the state pays back part of a presidential candidate's campaign costs, but only after the election and only if conditions are met. Candidates who pass 5% of the vote in the first round can be reimbursed up to €8 million, and up to €10.7 million if they reach the runoff, franceinfo reported in July. Repayment also depends on the national campaign finance commission, the CNCCFP, approving the candidate's accounts.

The table sets out the main limits as reported by franceinfo and Public Sénat, the Senate's television channel.

That structure means a lender carries the risk until the state pays. The candidate may fall short of 5%, or the commission may reject the accounts. Public Sénat noted that the commission's rejection of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2012 accounts blocked his reimbursement. In 2022, Valérie Pécresse and other candidates who missed 5% had to appeal for donations to cover their costs.

Apart from donations, the only way for a party to fund a presidential campaign is a bank loan, AFP reported. Since 2017, candidates may no longer borrow from banks outside the European Union, RTL reported. The RN's target matches the €10.7 million runoff ceiling, and its polling is well above the 5% threshold.

A pattern from earlier campaigns#

The party has turned abroad before. Le Pen's party borrowed more than €9 million from a Russian bank in 2014, after French banks refused, and took a loan of about €10.6 million from a Hungarian bank for the 2022 campaign, according to franceinfo. RTL reported that in 2022 Le Pen had to wait until February, a few weeks before the first round, for the Hungarian loan.

This year the party has applied to several French and European lenders, including in Italy, Germany, Hungary and the United Kingdom, franceinfo reported in July. Pfeffer told AFP in April that "several requests" had met "negative responses" from French banks, according to 20 Minutes. AFP reported on Tuesday that Société Générale, the National Front's former bank, and La Banque Postale had given final refusals because they "no longer finance political life, for any candidate or any election."

Party leaders have described the refusals as a democratic problem. "French banks have refused to lend, which I find abnormal," Bardella said on Europe 1 and CNews on April 21, as quoted by RTL. "A political party that represents millions of French people should be able to access financing." Le Pen wrote on X: "Loans from individuals cannot finance a presidential campaign. So what do we do?"

The RN has argued that it offers solid guarantees. RTL and 20 Minutes reported that the party points to its poll numbers and to an annual public subsidy of close to €15 million, which is linked to its seat count in the Assembly.

The party has been paying down its debt#

The loan search comes as the RN reduces debt built up from earlier campaigns, much of it in loans from individuals. Pfeffer has given a series of figures, shown in the chart. The latest, about €7 million, was reported by AFP on Tuesday.

€0m

€5m

€10m

€15m

€20m

End of 2024€19m

End of 2025€10m

March 2026€8.5m

November 2026€7m

End of 2024End of 2025March 2026November 2026

Source: 20 Minutes, RTL, France 24 (AFP)

Show the numbers

Date	Debt
End of 2024	€19m
End of 2025	€10m
March 2026	€8.5m
November 2026	€7m

Pfeffer has said he aims to bring the debt to €5 million by the end of December and to clear the rest before the election, according to 20 Minutes and AFP. At the party congress in Orléans in late October, he warned that the RN "can support a campaign at a normal pace until the end of this year," but would then have to "look for another solution," AFP reported.

The government's push for French loans#

The government has worked since July to get French banks to lend to all presidential candidates. Lecornu's office met representatives of the main French banks on July 20, franceinfo reported. "To guarantee the proper conduct of the campaign and its democratic stakes, it is essential that all candidates, whatever their political side, can access French financing," his office said. The aim, his team told franceinfo, was "not to bring foreign financial networks into the campaign."

At that meeting, Lecornu's office floated "an agreement between several banks, under which the state could cover part of the risk of non-repayment," according to Public Sénat. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon repeated the goal of French financing for all candidates on July 27. Franceinfo reported that the government hoped to put the plan into the budget law in the autumn.

The talks have since stalled, according to election law professor Romain Rambaud. Writing on the Blog du droit électoral on November 6, he cited a Le Monde report that Lecornu sent two more letters to French banks, on October 6 and October 30. In one, the prime minister wrote that "no form of interference or dependence on foreign financing can have a place" in a presidential election. Rambaud also cited Le Monde as reporting that thousands of bank customers wrote to their banks over the summer after reports of a possible bank consortium that could lend to Le Pen. According to the same report, Les Républicains candidate Bruno Retailleau had also not yet found a lender. Crédit Coopératif, which financed seven of the 12 candidates in 2022, had decided to make no loans until it knew the government's exact position, Rambaud wrote.

The difficulty is not limited to the RN. Lecornu wrote in an early October letter to all official candidates that "some of them still face persistent difficulties in accessing credit," Rambaud reported. Other parties are also in the race; our earlier reporting covers the election dates and the field and the center-right primary debate between Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe.

What the banks say#

French banks say they want to help fund political life but need public backing for the risk. Daniel Baal, president of the French Banking Federation (FBF) and of Crédit Mutuel, proposed that the state guarantee candidates' loans or pay them an advance, franceinfo reported. Baal said on April 29 that the RN's exclusion from bank lending was "a problem." In May, he cited the rejection of Sarkozy's 2012 accounts as an example of the risk. "Who would have thought that the outgoing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in 2012, would have his campaign accounts rejected?" he asked on BFM Business.

FBF director general Maya Atig told AFP that banks do not lend "on gut feeling" and make "rational decisions." The federation, which represents about 320 banks, told franceinfo that "the presidential election is a matter of general interest" and that it is up to the state to study public solutions specific to it.

A banking source also told franceinfo in July that Le Pen's appeal conviction for embezzling public funds, which carries €2.8 million to be repaid to the European Parliament if upheld, did not reassure lenders. Our earlier reporting covers Le Pen's appeal to France's highest court.

The next steps#

The RN expects the two banks to give a final answer by the end of November. Pfeffer has said the party can fund a normal campaign pace only until the end of this year, so the timing matters. In April, before the pre-agreement, he told AFP that "if French banks don't want to play the game, we will have to look elsewhere," according to 20 Minutes. The government has not announced whether it will offer a state guarantee. Rambaud noted that a bill on foreign interference in democratic life is before parliament, and that its scope may limit whether campaign lending rules can be added to it.

1. 2026-04-01Campaign spending starts to count toward the legal cap
2. 2026-04-29Banking federation head calls the RN's exclusion "a problem"
3. 2026-07-20Prime minister's office meets the main French banks
4. 2026-10-06Lecornu writes to banks about candidates' credit problems
5. 2026-10-30Lecornu sends banks a second letter
6. 2026-11-10RN announces a pre-agreement with two European banks
7. 2026-11-30RN's expected date for the banks' final answer

Source: franceinfo, Blog du droit électoral, France 24 (AFP)

How we reported this#

The pre-agreement was reported by franceinfo and BFMTV and confirmed to AFP by the RN's treasurer; the banks have not been named and have not commented. Debt figures come from the treasurer, as reported by AFP, RTL and 20 Minutes, and have not been independently audited. Details of Lecornu's October letters come from Le Monde as quoted on the Blog du droit électoral; we did not see the letters themselves.

Differing perspectives

How should French presidential candidates get the bank loans they need to run a campaign?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Fix the rules before fallbacks create new risks

  Who holds it: Election law scholar Romain Rambaud

  Rambaud argues that French banks are now holding back for reasons of reputation rather than economics, so the problem reaches beyond one party. He warns that if bank lending fails, candidates may turn to loans from individuals, which carry no nationality or residence condition and so raise their own foreign interference risk. He says parliament should consider whether the foreign interference bill can address campaign lending.

  In their words: Blog du droit électoral ↗

• French banks should lend to the RN

  Who holds it: National Rally leaders, including Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pen and treasurer Kévin Pfeffer

  The RN says a party that represents millions of voters should have access to financing like any other. It argues that its file offers solid guarantees: polling far above the 5% repayment threshold and an annual public subsidy of about €15 million. Party leaders call the refusals of French banks abnormal and say loans from individuals cannot fund a presidential campaign, which leaves European banks as the only route.

  In their words: RTL ↗

• Keep campaign money French with a bank pool

  Who holds it: Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office and government spokesperson Maud Bregeon

  The government says every candidate, whatever their political side, must be able to get French financing so the campaign runs properly. It argues that borrowing abroad opens the door to foreign interference in a major democratic moment. Its proposal is an agreement among several French banks in which the state could cover part of the risk that a loan is not repaid.

  In their words: Public Sénat ↗

• The state should carry the lending risk

  Who holds it: French Banking Federation, including president Daniel Baal and director general Maya Atig

  Banks say they want to help fund political life but make rational lending decisions, not choices based on sympathy. A presidential loan depends on the candidate passing 5% and on the campaign commission approving the accounts, which is uncertain. The federation argues that the election is a matter of general interest, so the state should provide a guarantee or an advance to candidates.

  In their words: franceinfo ↗

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