"There is no course and everything is again presented as a communication exercise", he believes, citing the question of energy or the bill on asylum and immigration announced for early 2023. "The speech is still very firm, but the measures are weak", according to Mr. Retailleau.

The candidate for the presidency of LR denounces a draft budget which "is undoubtedly one of the worst budgets for 6 years".

"There is not an ounce of idea of ​​​​reducing public spending, we are going into the wall, we are going to cross the threshold of 3,000 billion in debt, we will have a deficit greater than 5%", he predicts. .

For Mr. Retaillleau, "it's a budget of facility: the public expenditure of the State will increase by practically 22 billion euros".

"The party is over - this moment when the more we got into debt and the less it cost - and Emmanuel Macron did not realize it", he says.

According to him, "France does not need a policy which is reduced to public spending, it needs structural reforms".

On the pension reform, Bruno Retailleau specifies that the amendment to the Social Security draft budget which will be presented by the right-wing senatorial majority "will be written in such a way as to force the government to consult with the social partners and to take decisions" .

Asked about the bill "to accelerate the production of renewable energies" (EnR), the second text which will be submitted to senators before the deputies, Mr. Retailleau believes that it "perfectly illustrates the fact that Emmanuel Macron visual pilot".

He underlines that the senatorial majority wanted "that we lay down a real strategy, that is to say that we have a course in terms of production, in terms of sobriety", and not only the organization "of a debate without a vote", scheduled for the evening of October 12 at the Luxembourg Palace.

The senator from Vendée also believes that Emmanuel Macron "can no longer hide" on the issue of energy sovereignty.

"Communication can no longer be a mask that hides its failures. The French will pay the bills for its bad decisions this winter," he continues.

He further warns that on renewables, "things will not happen as the government thinks they could happen".

“On offshore wind power, there is no question of erecting walls of wind turbines visible from our coasts”, he warns in particular.

© 2022 AFP