Programme commun

Robert Fabre, Georges Marchais and François Mitterrand at the tomb of the Union of the Left, cartoon drawn by Maurice Tournade in 1980.

The Programme commun (or 'Common Programme') was a reform program, signed 27 June 1972 by the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party and the centrist MRG, which provided a great upheaval in the economic, political and military fields in France. This alliance opened a political repositioning for the left that lasted thirty years, contributing in particular to the election of François Mitterrand in the presidential election of 1981. Between 1981 and 1983 Mitterrand began putting Programme commun into action.

These Keynesian inspired policies led to an increase the national budget deficit and trade deficit. To ensure France stayed in the European Monetary System a different approach was needed. In March 1983, Mitterrand did a u-turn cancelling the parts of Programme commun already passed. This move was sometimes referred to as the "austerity turn".