Emmanuel Grégoire, candidate for the March 2025 municipal elections in Paris, announced Thursday that he wanted a “break in method” with Anne Hidalgo. The first deputy of the current mayor of the capital, however, claims "very close convergence in terms of vision" with the councilor.

Published on: 05/02/2026 - 10:46

Emmanuel Grégoire, candidate of the united left outside LFI, indicated on Thursday February 5 that he wanted a "break in method" with the outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo, to be the mayor "of the hyper proximity" and committed not to put the city in debt at the same rate as in recent years.

“Basically, I have very strong similarities with Anne Hidalgo in terms of vision for the capital (...) but I accept a break in method. This concerns availability, proximity, permanent listening,” declared the socialist deputy in an interview with Le Monde.

Emmanuel Grégoire also wishes to organize mandate reports by district, as the former socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoë did every year.

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On the budgetary situation of the capital, he emphasizes that the City is "not in deficit", something prohibited for communities. “Not one euro of debt has been devoted to anything other than investment,” he reiterates. However, he announces a shift in investment policy, the envelope of which reaches 1.6 billion euros in the budget voted for 2026.

“These investments having been made, I will not continue to indebt the City at the rate of recent years. I want to maintain the debt reduction capacity at 12 years at the end of the mandate,” he underlines, saying he is aiming for “1.1 to 1.2 billion operating surplus” at the end of the mandate, compared to 750 million euros in 2025.

“Reduce operating expenses”

The current debt is 9.4 billion euros and is expected to rise to 9.7 billion euros at the end of 2026.

Emmanuel Grégoire also considers it “essential to reduce operating expenses”. It will thus reduce travel envelopes "in half" but does not intend to increase the property tax, which has already seen an increase of 52% in 2023, even if its rate stands at 20.5%, compared to an average of 39.7% in the municipalities.

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After the controversy over the expense reports of Anne Hidalgo and the district mayors, her former first deputy proposed reducing these expenses. More substantial savings will be made "on the trajectory of the payroll, on study markets, on subcontracting and event savings", he added.

The candidate must detail his program Thursday morning.

With AFP

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