Paris (AFP)

"Hope is there", thanks to the vaccine and the recovery, hammered Emmanuel Macron Thursday evening in his wishes to the French for 2021, at the end of a year turned upside down by the epidemic.

First saluting the 64,000 dead from the coronavirus, Emmanuel Macron thanked the French for their sacrifices, and said he had "made the right choices at the right times" in the face of the pandemic in 2020.

Sitting in front of a low table, in a less formal posture than the previous December 31, the Head of State gave the first names of French people cited as an example for their courage.

From Gérard, owner of a mask factory, to Romain, gendarme in Tende or Mauricette, the first French woman to be vaccinated.

The president also addressed the delicate vaccination campaign which is starting slowly, seeking a compromise between those who fear an obligation and those who accuse France of going too slowly.

"I will not let, for bad reasons, an unwarranted slowness settle" in the vaccination campaign, said Emmanuel Macron, who also does not want to see "anyone playing with safety and good conditions, supervised by our scientists and our doctors, in which the vaccination must be done ".

In a surprise statement shortly before the presidential vows, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced an acceleration, by opening vaccination on Monday to caregivers over 50, who initially were not to be vaccinated until February.

The race for vaccination is particularly acute in the face of the appearance of variants of the virus which seem more contagious, spotted in Great Britain and South Africa and which are now both circulating in France.

- "Innovative economy" -

The 2021 relaunch "will allow us, from the spring, to invent a stronger economy", "both creating jobs, more innovative, more respectful of the climate and biodiversity and more united", assured optimistically the head of state.

This spring 2021 "will be the start of a new French morning, of a European renaissance," he lyrically launched, but, he warned, "the first months of the year will be difficult and , at least until spring, the epidemic will still weigh heavily on the life of our country ".

He listed several of his priorities for 2021: ecological transition, the fight for secularism, equal opportunities and the fight against "all inequalities and discrimination".

Without mentioning the pension reform, an explosive subject that he nevertheless plans to put back on the table, he only mentioned a need not to impose the cost of the crisis on future generations.

"A quarter of an hour of propaganda. Once a year we should be respected," responded Jean-Luc Mélenchon (FI), mocking the catalog of first names cited by the president.

"The speeches of April on the world after are buried", regretted for his part Julien Bayou (EELV) by calling "to put an end to the deletions of bed".

Laurent Jacobelli, spokesperson for the RN, criticized him for "an exercise in self-aggrandizement" which "does not take the measure of the suffering of the French".

As for Patrick Kanner, president of the Socialist and Republican group in the senate, he welcomed the fact that "under pressure and due to reason, the government decided to accelerate the vaccination process in France".

- Damocles-

The epidemic remains a sword of Damocles for the months to come, the Scientific Council even predicting a probable "uncontrolled" rebound in the coming weeks, which undoubtedly means the maintenance of strong constraints.

"It seems rather unlikely that a large number of constraints can be alleviated," confirmed spokesman Gabriel Attal, skeptical that cultural venues could reopen on January 7.

In addition, the curfew, suspended on December 24 but in effect for New Year's Eve, should be brought forward to 6 p.m. Saturday in the most affected regions.

The president finally spoke about Brexit which will come into force this Thursday at midnight, ensuring that the interests of the EU were preserved by the agreement concluded last week.

"The United Kingdom remains our neighbor but also our friend and our ally. This choice to leave Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and many lies and false promises."

"But I want to tell you very clearly: our destiny is primarily in Europe", concluded the French president.

pol-are-ggy-leb / cs / cbn

© 2020 AFP