Better late than never. Emmanuel Macron had promised to speak around July 14, at the end of the “Hundred days” he had set for Elisabeth Borne. It is done this Friday with a week of delay, the day after a new ministerial reshuffle during which eight members were changed. What can we learn from this speech at the opening of the Council of Ministers? 20 minutes sums up the essentials.
Confidence in Terminal
No particular announcement this Friday from the Head of State, much more a quick assessment of current and future projects. “For more than a year, under the authority of Elisabeth Borne, the government has made progress,” judge Emmanuel Macron. Budgets, pension reform, “important texts” on the economy and energy are passed, he says. And to “reaffirm [sa] confidence” in the Prime Minister. After thanking the ministers who have left and the “French people who are committed”, the president re-clarifies his course: “the independence of the country to consolidate a fairer model”.
The 4 priority areas
A brief reminder then of the 4 priorities set out at the start of the “Hundred Days”, in the form of after-sales service. The first: independence, therefore, via “reindustrialization and full employment”. “We have results, assures the president. Unemployment continues to fall, we have reopened factories…”.
Second, “progress”, via health, training, education. On this last subject, “we have made progress with the teacher pact, the reform of the vocational high school, also advances the tenant of the Elysée. The start of the new school year will make it possible to move forward with the necessary adjustments to the baccalaureate and to Parcoursup”.
This is followed by ecological planning (again via “important texts” on renewable energies, nuclear power, green industry), and the republican order (Emmanuel Macron boasts of the doubling of the army budget and the justice law).
The President’s overall observation is as follows: “In the past year, we have made headway”.
Summer and its emergencies
Regarding the summer that has started, several emergencies, sees the Head of State. First, the urban violence following the death of Nahel. “We must continue to be alongside the mayors and the police, to continue the work of justice calmly”. But also “drought, purchasing power, emergency services”.
Back-to-school projects
That’s for the short term. For the medium term, see you at the start of the school year, “where we will enter a sporting era” with the Rugby World Cup and then the Olympics in 2024. “It’s a way of projecting the country, we must be exemplary”, warns Emmanuel Macron. On the menu for September, too, it will be necessary to “prepare the country for a demanding framework in terms of public finances”, to move forward on immigration, and to provide “profound responses to the riots”.
The method
Last point addressed by the Head of State: the method. “Members of the government must be on task. You are watched, you must act, respond, always with dignity, ”demands Emmanuel Macron. Other key words appear in the conclusion – “collegiality”, “efficiency”, “collaboration” – to outline a new method.