La REF is MEDEF's annual conference: two days in late August at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris where over 13,000 business leaders, ministers, elected officials and journalists convene to debate the economic and political conditions for French competitiveness and sovereignty before the political rentrée. The 2026 edition, its 8th, is themed "Le Courage".
La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, known universally as La REF, is the annual summit of MEDEF, France's principal employers' federation. Held over two days in late August, it convenes the senior leadership of French business alongside government ministers, elected officials, public intellectuals and accredited press for plenary debates, roundtables and structured networking. The 2026 edition is the 8th in the series and takes place at Stade Roland-Garros, Paris, on 26 and 27 August 2026, under the theme "Le Courage". Strategically timed to precede the French political and economic rentrée, it functions as the authoritative moment where the agenda of French business is publicly articulated and debated at the highest level. It anchors the French end of the economic forums circuit tracked by Events Index.
La REF occupies a singular position in France's economic calendar. Taking place just days before the September rentrée, it is the moment when France's business community collectively signals its priorities to government, media and civil society before Parliament reconvenes and ministerial agendas are set. No other gathering assembles a comparable concentration of French economic and political power in one place at one time.
The format combines large plenary sessions with thematic roundtables, allowing both high-profile public exchanges between MEDEF leadership and ministers and more substantive technical debates across sectors. With more than 700 journalists accredited in 2025 and the event live-streamed to a broader audience, each edition generates significant national press coverage and shapes the business narrative for the months that follow. The direct exposure of sitting ministers to a business audience is unusual on the European economic forums circuit: at the 2025 edition, Prime Minister François Bayrou addressed the room from Court Philippe-Chatrier, and several serving ministers took part in live debate.
La REF draws a cross-section of French economic and political life rather than a homogeneous sector audience:
The mix signals that La REF is less a specialist industry conference than a broad economic-political forum where the terms of business-government relations are publicly negotiated. The presence of press at scale also means sessions function partly as media events.
The 2026 edition runs under the theme "Le Courage" and is built around a series of pointed plenary questions published by MEDEF, including whether France should "produce or perish" on reindustrialisation, whether the country is "ready to face war" across military, industrial and psychological preparedness, and why "Europe invents but does not dominate" on technological sovereignty. A closing sequence titled "What business leaders are saying" will present the results of a consultation run with entrepreneurs ahead of the event, explicitly tied to the 2027 presidential cycle through the #Présidentielle2027 hashtag. This framing reflects MEDEF's consistent focus in recent years on economic sovereignty, competitiveness reform, investment incentives and the conditions for productive employment.
The 2025 edition, themed "Jeu Décisif: l'heure des choix" (a nod to the tennis venue), set the template: it opened on the demand to relaunch investment, restore competitiveness and put entrepreneurs back at the centre of the national project. Recurring subject areas across editions include the simplification of administrative constraints on business, the financing of the industrial and energy transition, digital and data sovereignty, and the social model's compatibility with long-term competitiveness. Thematic roundtables run in parallel with the main plenary programme, covering sectors from construction and health to finance and technology. The editorial line is set by MEDEF and reflects an explicitly pro-business reform agenda, which gives the content a consistent orientation even as specific speakers and themes rotate annually.
The 2025 edition assembled more than 150 French and international speakers from business, politics, academia and civil society. Confirmed participants included:
The 2026 speaker roster had not been published as of early July 2026; MEDEF indicates the programme and registrations will be released in the weeks preceding the event.
La REF was first held in 2019 as MEDEF's rebrand of its long-running summer university (the Université d'été, which itself dated back to the late 1990s), designed to be a more high-profile and politically engaged gathering. The inaugural 2019 edition ran on 28 and 29 August at the Hippodrome ParisLongchamp. The 2026 edition is the 8th annual edition. The 2025 edition (the 7th), themed "Jeu Décisif", was described by the organiser as a record-setting event, with over 13,000 participants, more than 125 partner organisations and over 700 accredited journalists. Earlier editions were held at ParisLongchamp; the move to Roland-Garros for 2025 and 2026 reflects both the event's expanded scale and a repositioning toward a larger, more media-friendly venue. With the closing 2026 sequence explicitly tied to the #Présidentielle2027 consultation, the edition sits directly in the runway to France's next presidential contest, which raises its political weight considerably.
La REF is open to all, with registration available at two tiers: a standard public rate and a preferential rate for MEDEF member companies and federations. Accredited journalists attend separately. Registrations open in the weeks before the event; exact pricing for 2026 had not been published as of June 2026.
Yes. The entire programme, plenary sessions, roundtables and all published materials are in French. There is no simultaneous interpretation or English-language track. Participants should expect a fully French-language environment.
The 2026 edition is themed "Le Courage". MEDEF has framed the plenary programme around a set of direct questions on reindustrialisation ("produce or perish"), defence and geopolitical readiness ("are we ready to face war?"), and European technological sovereignty ("why does Europe invent but not dominate?"). The closing session, "What business leaders are saying", presents a pre-event consultation of entrepreneurs and is explicitly linked to the 2027 presidential campaign. This continues the pattern set by the 2025 theme, "Jeu Décisif: l'heure des choix".
La REF is specifically the voice of organised business (the employer federation) rather than a neutral convening body. This distinguishes it from the Rencontres Économiques d'Aix-en-Provence, the Paris Peace Forum or the Journées de l'Économie, all of which position themselves as neutral or academic convening bodies. Its agenda is explicitly shaped by MEDEF's advocacy priorities, which gives the content a clear institutional orientation. The political access it offers, with ministers and a sitting prime minister debating directly with business leaders on live stages, is relatively unusual on the economic forums circuit.
Stade Roland-Garros, located at 2 Avenue Gordon Bennett in Paris's 16th arrondissement, is one of France's most recognisable sports venues, home to the French Open tennis grand slam. For La REF 2026, MEDEF has adapted the stadium's facilities into a conference environment with multiple plenary spaces and exhibition areas. The venue is accessible by metro from Porte d'Auteuil and Porte de Saint-Cloud stations (a few minutes' walk), with advance-reservation parking available at Jean Bouin, Parchamp and Porte d'Auteuil. Hotel blocks at preferential rates have been pre-reserved by the organisers near the venue. The choice of Roland-Garros, following its debut as La REF's host in 2025, reinforces the event's national cultural prominence.
MEDEF, the Mouvement des Entreprises de France, is France's principal employers' federation, founded in 1998 as the successor to the CNPF (Conseil national du patronat français). It represents approximately 160,000 companies across all sectors and company sizes, organised through a network of territorial federations and sector-based branches. MEDEF is one of the five representative organisations that participate in French social dialogue, negotiating national collective agreements with trade unions and engaging with government on economic and labour policy.
La REF is MEDEF's most visible annual initiative: a public-facing forum where it positions the collective voice of French business at the centre of the national economic debate. The organisation is also behind La REF Souveraineté, a complementary one-day thematic event (June 2026 edition), and supports regional REF events organised by territorial MEDEF federations across France.
La REF operates as a major national press event as much as a business forum, with more than 700 journalists accredited at the 2025 edition. Coverage tends to split into distinct angles depending on the outlet, based on the confirmed examples below:
MEDEF manages media accreditation through its communications team; the organiser does not publicly disclose accredited-journalist counts beyond the 700+ figure reported for 2025, and no media request volume is published as of this verification.
La REF is the defining annual rendezvous of French organised business, where MEDEF convenes over 13,000 leaders, ministers and a sitting prime minister for a political-economic debate that sets the tone for France's corporate rentrée. Its 2026 theme, "Le Courage", and its explicit link to the 2027 presidential campaign make it one of the highest-stakes fixtures on the economic forums circuit and a barometer worth tracking alongside the season's other upcoming EMEA events.
La REF uses a two-tier registration model: a public rate available to any professional wishing to attend, and a preferential member rate for companies and federations affiliated with MEDEF. Registration opens via the official website at laref.org several weeks before the event; exact pricing for the 2026 edition had not been published as of June 2026. The organiser has pre-negotiated hotel blocks near Roland-Garros at preferential rates, accessible once registration opens.
Accredited media attend under a separate press accreditation process managed by MEDEF's communications team. With over 700 journalists present at the 2025 edition, the event operates as a major press event as well as a business forum. Participants travelling from outside Paris are advised to book accommodation early given the volume of attendees and the August timing.
The organiser indicates that the registration platform will open in the weeks before the event. As of June 2026, exact dates and pricing had not been published. Check laref.org for updates.
La REF 2026 takes place at Stade Roland-Garros, 2 Avenue Gordon Bennett, 75016 Paris. The nearest metro stations are Porte d'Auteuil and Porte de Saint-Cloud (both a few minutes' walk). Advance-reservation parking is available at Jean Bouin, Parchamp and Porte d'Auteuil. Secure bicycle parking is also available on site.
Yes. MEDEF's territorial federations organise their own regional REF events across France (for example, REF Hauts-de-France, REF Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). These events follow a similar format but are independent of the national edition at Roland-Garros.
| Official website | https://laref.org/ |
| Organiser (MEDEF) | https://www.medef.com/ |
| 2026 event page | https://www.medef.com/la-ref/laref26-2026 |
| Practical info | https://laref.org/infos-pratiques/ |
| Economic forums circuit (Events Index) | /economic-forums.html |
| Upcoming EMEA events (Events Index) | /upcoming.html |