July 14: Emmanuel Macron in an interview to set his course for France

In 2017, during his first July 14 as President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron had contented himself with a few words in the gallery. This year, in an unprecedented crisis context, the French president is reviving an old French tradition: the live interview from the Élysée. The head of state will explain from 13 h 10, for 45 minutes, about his upcoming program by answering questions from two journalists for TF1, France 2 and France Inter.  

An opportunity to set a course for the remaining two years. Because the president is already aiming for the follow-up: his candidacy for the presidential election of 2022. For that, he will have to regain the confidence of the French and reassure in the face of a triple crisis: health, which leads to an economic and social crisis. According to INSEE, France will plunge into a 9% recession in 2020, something never seen since 1948.

In addition to its defense plan in the event of a rebound in the epidemic - will it be necessary to make the mask compulsory? - the president should therefore above all specify the economic recovery and employment support plan planned for the start of the school year, including sectoral announcements, ranging from aid for the hiring of young people to the environmental measures announced before the Citizens' Convention for the climate.

Economic recovery at the center of all attention

After months of crisis, the head of state knows that he will have to convince. He therefore went green in the presidential residence of La Lanterne, in Versailles, in the Yvelines, to prepare for the questions of the two journalists, Léa Salamé and Gilles Bouleau. He approaches the exercise with a whole new asset in his game: the signing, Monday, July 13, of a historic agreement of 8 billion euros in favor of the hospital, including 183 euros increase for paramedical staff. This "Ségur de la santé" is the fruit of eight weeks of intense negotiations between the unions and the government. "I was committed to it, we just did it," tweeted the head of state.

I was committed to it, we have just done it. The careers and salaries of our caregivers who gave so much during the crisis are upgraded: https://t.co/qFvQWdQDhg

The recovery plan being prepared will be the subject of every attention. Some elements have already filtered. The priority, stressed Sunday the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, will be the assistance to the employment of young people. Several billions should also be devoted to thermal renovation of buildings, which combines economy and environment. And to encourage companies to relocate, taxes on production could be reduced, with compensation for the regions that collect them.

Another delicate subject is the pension reform, which the head of state wants to restart despite opposition from unions and employers. The same questions arise for the unemployment insurance reform, which will harden the conditions of benefits, and which Emmanuel Macron wants to revive.

The delicate Darmanin affair 

The other subject on which the president will have to show finesse is the question of women. While he had made gender equality the "great cause" of the quinquennium, Emmanuel Macron will also surely have to respond to criticism against the appointments of Gérald Darmanin to the Interior and of Eric Dupond-Moretti to Justice, one subject to a rape complaint, the other for having declared that women regret not being whistled any more. Feminist associations denounce a scandal and several demonstrations have been organized in France since their appointment. 

While waiting to cross paths with the journalists, Emmanuel Macron was able to work on his positioning as a unifier, by addressing the soldiers to the Ministry of the Armed Forces on July 13 from the Hôtel de Brienne in Paris. He praised the "momentum and dynamism" of the soldiers engaged in the management of the health crisis and underlined: "We must remain vigilant, but life has resumed its course". A normality that remains very fragile and that a second wave of Covid-19 could call into question at any time. What also weaken the next 600 days. 

With AFP

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