Paris (France) (AFP)

The government, convened in a virtual seminar on Wednesday by Emmanuel Macron, debated the sites of the coming months, suspended from the rebound of the epidemic which risks disrupting its action again.

"We have to live with the virus while minimizing the risks, that's what we wanted to do by taking this advice by videoconference," said spokesman Gabriel Attal, starting his report.

A decision caused by the forced isolation of Prime Minister Jean Castex, who must be tested again on Saturday to check if he is not infected.

But against the backdrop of the decisions that could be taken on Friday by the special Covid defense council that Emmanuel Macron brings together at the Elysee.

The president of the scientific council Jean-François Delfraissy indeed warned Wednesday that the government "will be obliged" to take "within eight to ten days maximum" "difficult decisions" against the epidemic, whose rise is particularly worrying in the Bouches-du-Rhône.

While waiting for the defense council, the spokesperson refused to comment on the toughest hypotheses - limitation of movement, assembly, even localized reconfiguration - by limiting himself to hammering that "this crisis has taught us that nothing is excluded ".

The defense council should also arbitrate on the passage from the fortnight to the septaine and on faster tests.

The possibility of tougher constraints, which could hamper economic recovery and dampen French morale, loomed over government videoconferencing.

"The Head of State underlined the difficulty of leading the fight against the virus simultaneously while showing that we are continuing to act on all sites", according to a close member of the executive.

The executive refuses in any case to bring the country to a standstill.

"Putting France on hiatus because there is an epidemic would prevent the French from projecting themselves into the future, and stopping the reforms would be a mistake for the country's ability to restart", concluded Gabriel Attal on the sidelines of his press point.

- Pensions, the return?

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However, the seminar made it possible to recapitulate the subjects planned for the coming months.

Insecurity, the hobbyhorse of the Minister of the Interior of Gerald Darmanin, will be treated from the angle of a judicial response "more effective and closer to the ground", such as the development of community service.

Announcements will be made towards the end of September, as part of the increase in the justice budget, explained Mr. Attal.

Ministers also discussed a possible restart of a pension reform revised to take into account the crisis.

"We are going to reopen negotiations at the beginning of December, after having received the opinion of the Pension Orientation Council on the budgetary situation," he said on the sidelines of his press briefing.

"We have to see how the reform presented before the crisis can be adapted with regard to what we have experienced and what we know to be irritants at a time when we need national harmony. But we have to see how to do it. complete this reform, which is more necessary than ever for first and second line employees, who must be the main beneficiaries of a universal system ".

The government also wants to highlight the monitoring of the execution of the recovery plan, with monthly reviews led by Jean Castex, the results of which will be public.

Gabriel Attal also recalled the new projects planned for 2031, such as the law on autonomy and that incorporating the measures recommended by the Citizens' Convention on the climate.

© 2020 AFP