"It's good to show that it's not just pensions, the French will get tired," says a figure in the presidential camp.

In his eyes, the "emblematic reform" of pensions would not be a key moment in the second five-year term of the Head of State, but would "complete" the first, during which he had not been able to complete this project.

The Elysée is therefore already preparing the "new impetus" post-retirement, estimates this same source.

In the middle of a day of demonstrations and strikes, Emmanuel Macron receives two senior Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday.

The day before, questioned in The Hague alongside Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, he had done the minimum service, reaffirming that his reform was "indispensable" and providing his "support" to the head of government Elisabeth Borne, who is she in the first line and has hardened its tone in recent days.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (d) and French President Emmanuel Macron during a joint press conference at the Binnenhof, the Dutch parliament in The Hague, January 30, 2023 © Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Since the beginning of January, Emmanuel Macron has spoken publicly only three times on the most burning political subject of the moment.

And each time, in response to questions from the press, near a foreign leader: before the Netherlands, there had been January 19 with the Spaniard Pedro Sanchez in Barcelona, ​​for a long-planned summit , fell on the day of the first massive mobilization against his project;

then on January 22 with the German Olaf Scholz.

"He knows he is divisive"

For the rest, Emmanuel Macron avoids the file, hardly travels to France and as often as possible far from the microphones, even if he distills his messages to his troops behind the scenes.

This week's presidential agenda, published on Tuesday, speaks volumes.

On the diplomatic front, in addition to Ukraine, the President is stepping up exchanges to prepare for the European Council of February 9 and 10 in Brussels on his great battle horse, the response of the Old Continent to the industrial policy of the United States in favor of the energy transition, which he himself described as "super aggressive".

On the home front, the Council of Ministers on Wednesday will focus on the immigration bill, another inflammable file, even though it should not arrive in Parliament until mid-March.

If he had considered returning to Marseille in early February, the uncertainty linked to social protest seems to have pushed him to a postponement.

The Elysée is now talking about a visit in the first quarter, and has meanwhile set up a videoconference on Wednesday for a "review" of its commitments called "Marseille en Grand".

After a first "ecological planning council" last week, at the end of which he pledged, in a video on social networks, to "double" the effort to reduce France's carbon emissions, he declines the exercise this week with a "nuclear policy council" on Friday, to set its roadmap.

Finally, Emmanuel Macron looks at another puzzle that awaits him soon: the reform of institutions.

He receives his predecessor François Hollande for lunch on Friday to sound him out, before doing the same soon with ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

"The president is focused on long-term issues", "structuring for the five-year term", we plead in his entourage to show that he is already projected towards post-retirement.

In fact, "Emmanuel Macron absolutely wants to hang this reform as a totem on his CV," said Adélaïde Zulfikarpasic, director general of the BVA France polling institute.

"But he knows he is divisive, and if he exposes himself he will only add fuel to the fire, so he had better stay back," she told AFP.

Protesters call on French President Emmanuel Macron to resign on January 31, 2023 in Laval © JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

A ministerial adviser also notes that he will be able to "intervene" if "it really turns sour".

Especially since when he speaks, he sometimes revives controversy, as when he judged, from Barcelona, ​​that his reform had been "democratically validated" by his re-election - an "unfortunate" remark, said this adviser.

© 2023 AFP