Paris (AFP)

"The start of the school year will be very hard, we must prepare for it," Emmanuel Macron warned on Thursday in an interview with the regional daily press, detailing his priorities for "the economic, social and environmental reconstruction" of the country.

In this interview, the head of state outlines his strategy for the last two years of his five-year term, but without revealing which "new team" he intends to lead.

He thus welcomes "a unique relationship of trust" with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe but does not specify if he intends to keep it in Matignon. "For the past three years with me, he has been doing remarkable work with successive governments," he said.

Several regional newspapers, among those who participated in the interview, indicate that Emmanuel Macron replied "on the contrary" to the question of whether, with Edouard Philippe, it was now "from ancient history". These two words are not present in the version distributed by other daily newspapers.

The head of state confirms in passing a ministerial reshuffle in the coming days: "there will be a new team", he said, referring to "new talents" and "personalities from different backgrounds".

Emmanuel Macron specifies that the priority for the last part of the quinquennium "begins with the Ségur de la santé", "will continue with work on the elderly, then on the support of our youth, who suffered the most from the crisis ".

"There will be financial incentives to hire and a set of measures to leave no young person without solution," he explains.

- Reform of pensions "transformed" -

The President confirms that he wants to start the pension reform, but "transformed", and hopes to resume negotiations with the social partners this summer.

He said he was in favor of extending the duration of contributions, a parameter that has so far been ruled out. "This reform cannot be resumed unchanged at the end of the crisis, but the question of the number of years during which we contribute remains raised," he said, estimating that France cannot remain "one of the countries where we works the least throughout life in Europe ".

As for maintaining or not the pivotal age at 64, dear to Edouard Philippe, he replied that he was "open to the fact that (the reform) was transformed".

On all of his reforms, he admits to having his "share of clumsiness" by wanting to "go fast". But "the course on which I embarked on in 2017 remains true," he adds.

Emmanuel Macron also believes that "it would be a profound error" to raise taxes, while "we are one of the most taxed countries in the world". And he specifies that there will be no return of the carbon tax in "the next two years". "This must be a debate for the next presidential election," he said.

Asked about his vision of decentralization, the head of state said "favorable to having more differentiation", saying "ready to facilitate experiments".

But, he specifies, "in the short term, we must not get lost in big debates. We must be pragmatic," he adds.

For the head of state, the question of the postponement of departmental and regional elections, which he mentioned and which regional presidents oppose, "is a false debate".

"It is not for the president, alone, to decide this question. If we are going towards a new big-bang of local authorities and massive transfers of skills, it can take months. Is this the priority when we will have elections in March and that the time is right for the reconstruction of the country? "he asked.

The regional elections must take place in March 2021, but the Elysee Palace indicated in mid-June that the head of state had "opened the debate" on a possible postponement beyond the presidential election of 2022, so that all actors are "mobilized for the revival of the country".

© 2020 AFP