Emmanuel Macron claims to put "the package" to defend purchasing power

Europe 1 3:32 p.m., March 22, 2022

Emmanuel Macron assured Tuesday that the government was putting "the package" to defend the purchasing power of the French against the increases in fuels and raw materials, describing as "colossal" the amount of the measures implemented.

An "unprecedented" investment by the nation

"We have put the package, we defend, we protect on this subject of prices. You will see all the effects in the coming weeks" and "we will be there in the long term", declared the president-candidate on France Bleu for his first interview since presenting his project on Thursday.

He recalled the measures decided in recent weeks, including the "fuel discount" of 15 cents per litre, "at a cost of 20 to 25 billion euros per year", which "is colossal" and represents "an investment of the nation quite new".

"We are one of the countries that protects families and small businesses the most", assured Emmanuel Macron, responding to a listener, a baker regretting that he "helps large companies" but "forgets artisans and traders".

Health and school, the two major projects of the five-year term

The candidate reaffirmed his intention to "set up a food check to help the most modest households and the middle classes to meet these additional costs", but without giving details.

He also repeated that, if re-elected, "the two major projects of the five-year term will be health and education", with the ambition of "paying our teachers better".

He also detailed his project to develop employee profit-sharing: any company paying a dividend, he explained, will have to either pay a "Macron bonus" - bonus without charge or taxes, the ceiling of which must be tripled - or "set up a profit-sharing system" for employees.

"It is not possible that when a company makes profits, only the shareholder benefits, the employee must also be able to have his share", he declared.

On France Bleu, he was asked about the "Ma France 2022" initiative, a "major citizen consultation" which brought together 34,000 proposals "for the France of tomorrow" issued by more than a million participants.

It made it possible to establish the 12 priorities of the "Citizen's Agenda", relating in particular to health, dependency, rurality or the probity of political leaders.

As a candidate, Emmanuel Macron must speak on other media this week, which remains however dominated by his diplomatic agenda as president, with Thursday and Friday a European summit in Brussels as well as a NATO summit, to which will exceptionally participate the American president Joe Biden, as well as a meeting of the G7.