Bakers, Thursday January 5, caregivers, Friday 6. Emmanuel Macron is determined to contain any outbreak of fire that could ignite the powder and explode social anger in the country.
With still high inflation, exploding energy prices, in particular for craftsmen who do not benefit from regulated electricity tariffs, and the future pension reform as a backdrop, the executive knows that this beginning of he year 2023 is explosive.
>> To see on France 24: France: bakers hard hit by the energy crisis
Bakers were thus the object of much attention throughout the week.
Starting on Tuesday, January 3, with the announcement by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could "request the deferral of the payment of their taxes and social security contributions" to relieve their cash flow.
Then the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, said, still on Tuesday January 3, that bakers whose business is threatened with closure could terminate their electricity contract free of charge in the event of a “prohibitive” increase.
An "exceptional" measure which primarily targets craftsmen who suffer the "double penalty" of rising energy and raw material prices, such as wheat.
For our craftsmen and all our small businesses, we will ask energy suppliers to renegotiate contracts that have been signed above reference prices.
pic.twitter.com/uApNQQWbiP
— Elysee (@Elysee) January 5, 2023
Finally, on Thursday, during the traditional Epiphany cake ceremony at the Élysée, it was Emmanuel Macron's turn to urge energy suppliers to "renegotiate" by the end of the month. possible "excessive contracts" with all very small businesses (TPE) and in particular bakers.
"I, like you, are tired of having people who, on the basis of the crisis, make excessive profits", even launched the President of the Republic, adopting a speech very different from that which he took to late summer when the superprofit debate was raging.
The rise in energy prices, "a time bomb"
The change in tone is not insignificant.
Emmanuel Macron knows the power of symbols.
Beyond the purely economic aspects, there is a need to save these artisan bakers, emblematic of French know-how recognized in the fall with the inclusion of the baguette in the intangible heritage of humanity. by Unesco, and which the French see on a daily basis.
The president is well aware that the situation could escape him at any time if he does nothing.
Launched by the media baker from Nice Frédéric Roy with three colleagues from Vendée, the Pyrenees and Auvergne, one of which has closed and another has laid off staff, the Collective for the survival of bakeries and crafts is organizing a demonstration in Paris on Monday 23 January.
The call is launched "to all craftsmen, dry cleaners, butchers, restaurateurs but also caterers, pastry chefs", indicates Frédéric Roy, in bickering with his federation.
Frédéric Roy: "The tariff shield is a bandage on gangrene, it's nothing at all", in #Punchline pic.twitter.com/Tu7dNMenEr
— CNEWS (@CNEWS) January 2, 2023
Rising energy prices are "a ticking time bomb", he warns, repeating that in addition to energy, butter, flour and other ingredients have also increased.
"The tariff shield is a bandage on gangrene, it's nothing at all," he said on CNews on Wednesday.
This anger is all the more worrying for Emmanuel Macron as the National Rally (RN) intends to recover it.
In a "letter to the bakers of France" tweeted on Tuesday, the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, denounced "the indifference of the Macron government" and pleaded for an exit from the European electricity market.
My letter to the bakers of France, whom the unbearable rise in energy costs threatens to disappear, in the indifference of the Macron government ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/DkMNUI6v67
— Jordan Bardella (@J_Bardella) January 3, 2023
"The rise in the cost of energy hits you hard and threatens your activities, with an exploding electricity bill. Faced with this untenable situation, Emmanuel Macron and his government do not seem to measure the urgency of your situation: the measure 20% price depreciation for professionals is not enough," he wrote.
Staging of the presidential annoyance on the toll-free numbers
To reduce the pressure, the executive has therefore launched an "operation baguette", relayed by a number of deputies of the majority, who have displayed themselves to bakers in their constituency, and by the presidential Renaissance party, which will urgently distribute to traders and craftsmen a leaflet, entitled "We protect, we act", to remind government aid.
🥖⚡️ Concrete for our bakers, artisans and all our TPE-SME impacted by rising energy prices.
We protect and we act.
pic.twitter.com/zelVg668MO
— Renaissance (@Renaissance) January 3, 2023
On the lookout for the spark that could ignite social anger, the government had already intervened before Christmas to put pressure on the management of the SNCF, faced with a strike [organized by a collective and not a union] of the controllers of trains in the middle of the end-of-year celebrations.
The Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, unveiled his plan on Thursday to improve the functioning of justice, whose actors say they are in "suffering".
And Emmanuel Macron assured Friday morning that he wanted to "better pay" city doctors, on strike since Christmas, who demonstrated by the thousands Thursday in Paris.
"We are much more alert on lesser subjects: bakers, controllers", slips a government source to AFP, referring to "the irruption of subjects which appear very sectoral but which can produce a merger between them, and which reveal anger".
Will the head of state manage to calm things down?
He seeks in any case to show himself "listening" to the French, as evidenced by the staging, Thursday, of his annoyance against the toll-free numbers which "do not work" and other "Internet sites" which refer to " absolutely illegible circulars or incomprehensible tables".
Emmanuel Macron had however shown himself so far a great fan of toll-free numbers: at least a dozen have been created, according to Liberation, since his arrival at the Élysée.
The summary of the
France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 app