A report submitted by four economists to the French government on July 15 estimates that an adjustment of approximately 125 billion euros will be necessary by 2032 to prevent the public debt from increasing, rather than to reduce it. The report, authored by Xavier Jaravel, Xavier Ragot, Natacha Valla, and Jean-Luc Tavernier, suggests that with unchanged policies, the public deficit would reach 5.9% of GDP as early as 2027 and approach 7% in 2030. The debt would then exceed 130% of GDP. According to the analysis of the report by the iFRAP Foundation, the interest burden would jump from 78 billion euros in 2026 to nearly 125 billion euros in 2030, due to refinancing at higher rates. The High Commission for Planning, which aims for a more ambitious target, estimates the effort to be around 140 billion euros. France should move from a primary deficit, excluding interest, close to 3 percentage points of GDP to a structural primary surplus of 0.8 percentage points. This represents a turnaround of approximately 3.8 percentage points over five years. The magnitude is impressive. It must, however, be compared to what other countries have achieved. Greece remains the benchmark for pain. Its public deficit exceeded 15% of GDP in 2009. It turned into a slight surplus starting in 2016, at the cost of a GDP reduced by more than a quarter and a generation sacrificed. Portugal, placed under a troika program between 2011 and 2014, had to freeze public sector wages and reduce pensions. Both countries today are among the five EU states with a budget surplus, with Athens at 1.7% of GDP and Lisbon at 0.7% in 2025, according to Eurostat. The most disturbing example comes from Italy. Without a troika or aid plan, Rome moved from a primary deficit of 4% of GDP in 2022 to a surplus of 0.8% in 2025, according to the Istat. The end of the costly "superbonus" real estate scheme contributed significantly, as did the increase in mandatory levies, which gained 1.2 percentage points in 2024. Rome remains, however, under procedure for excessive deficit, with a public deficit of 3.1% of GDP in 2025. One fact remains. The primary surplus that France hopes to achieve by 2032, Italy already displays. The effort required is nothing heroic. It does not require the Greek collapse or the Portuguese tutelage, only discipline over a five-year period, of the order of 20 billion euros per year. The 2027 budget proposal, presented on October 1 in the Council of Ministers, plans for 54 billion euros in savings to bring the deficit down to 5%. However, the 2026 budget already slipped to 5.4%. The obstacle is political. The authors consider the margin on levies to be almost zero and make spending the main lever. They even mention the possibility of challenging the automatic indexing of benefits to inflation. Few candidates are willing to campaign on such a program. The CGT has already denounced an austerity cure upon the publication of the report. The mission wanted to force the political class to clarity. It could instead offer them a figure to circumvent. Because 125 billion euros is enough to scare the electorate, but too little to argue helplessness. European budgetary history, however, teaches a lesson. Countries that chose their adjustment paid less than those who suffered it. Italy chose, Greece suffered. It remains to be seen in which column France will want to be placed in 2032.