Elisabeth Borne is the exceptional guest of France Bleu this Friday. During a trip to Indre on the theme of public services, the head of government participated in the program “Ma France”, live from the premises of France Bleu Berry, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. This is the first time that the Prime Minister has spoken, since Emmanuel Macron’s speech
last April 17.
The Prime Minister arrived mid-morning in Indre, first in Valençay, to an official visit on the theme of public services
. A visit to Buzançais is then planned, in particular to meet the services in charge of issuing identity cards and passports.
The Prime Minister invites the unions to meet the government
Asked by Wendy Bouchard about the demonstrations to the sound of saucepans that accompanies the trips of ministers, including that of Elisabeth Borne this Friday, the Prime Minister invited the unions to participate in the meetings proposed by the government. “There is a dispute, it’s normal, we have the right to demonstrate”, said the Prime Minister. “What I may regret is that we offered the inter-union to be received”she recalled. “Even if there may be disagreements, it’s important to talk to each other. So I invite them to accept our proposals to exchange, even if we don’t agree”, she insisted.
Halve the deadlines for identity papers
Elisabeth Borne returned to the announcements unveiled this Friday morning concerning the deadlines for obtaining identity documents.
The government’s objective is to halve the time required to obtain identity documents, such as identity cards or passports. “I think it’s a real concern, which I hope we can respond to quickly,” recalled Elisabeth Borne. “Our goal is, in the summer, to have gone from 66 days on average to obtain an appointment at 30 days and then aiming for 20 days in the fall”, she detailed.
The Prime Minister also insisted on the need “to have answers throughout the territory”. “Because here, we are talking about average delays, but there are a certain number of territories in which you simply do not have an appointment”, she recalled. “We want to give overall visibility, and we are going to put in additional resources to increase the number of appointments. We will be at 1.8 million appointments per month this summer. That is to say that we have almost doubled compared to what we had a year ago”, she asserted. The government will set up a single website to have an overview of the appointments available, said the Prime Minister.
More France Services centers in the region
Asked about the lack of public services in rural areas, the Prime Minister praised the France Services houses, which are spreading in the country. But residents do not always know that a France Services house is near their home.
“I fully understand the concern of the French who have the feeling that public services are moving away”, said Elisabeth Borne*. “It’s really the opposite movement that we wanted to engage with the France Services houses which have developed a lot since 2020, and which we want to continue to develop”,* she specified. The objective, at the start, was one per canton, and we are roughly two per canton”, did she say. It is important to have a real network of the territory so that everyone has a France Services house near their home where they can find advisers in front of them, with whom to share the difficulties and get answers”, said the Prime Minister.
“No one has a magic wand to bring in doctors overnight”
The Prime Minister was interviewed by Jacqueline, 72, a listener from France Bleu Berry who lives a few kilometers from Châteauroux, on the subject of medical deserts. Jaqueline can no longer find a specialist to monitor her health, and in particular travels 130 kilometers to the University Hospital of Tours to consult an ophthalmologist. The Prime Minister praised the measures taken by the government to modify the organization of the healthcare system. In particular, she cited the recruitment of 10,000 medical assistants by the end of 2024, or increasing the skills of healthcare professionals, such as advanced practice nurses. The goal is to “make better use of doctors’ time, so that they can devote themselves to what is the heart of their profession, which is to treat and be in front of patients rather than taking care of administrative procedures”, she asserted. “We also want to allow, for example, physiotherapists and physiotherapists to directly treat a certain number of pathologies”, she recalled. But Pno one has a magic wand to create doctors who would arrive overnight, recognized Elisabeth Borne.
“We need to organize ourselves and mobilize collectively”, estimated Elisabeth Borne. “Between health professionals, elected officials who also have a very important role to play in order to be able to provide answers in a context where we are not going to have massive numbers of doctors”, she conceded.
To better distribute doctors, “coercion, I don’t believe in it”
“Coercion, I don’t believe in it in general”, replied Elisabeth Borne to Marc, a listener from Saint-Brévin-les-Pins, in Loire-Atlantique, who also challenged her on the question of medical deserts, and proposed to force doctors to settle in underprivileged areas. endowed.
The government “spends 46 billion euros to support companies in the face of the cost of energy”
The Prime Minister was also questioned by Gabin, 44, an artisan baker in Nançay, in Cher. He will undergo a judicial liquidation, because of the energy prices which condemned his trade. My bill has gone from 1,600 euros last year to 4,200 euros this year, i.e. 325%,” testified the baker. The Prime Minister boasted the aid put in place by the government to help small businesses meet the cost of energy. These grants represent “46 billion euros this year”, said Elisabeth Borne, who offered the baker to be accompanied by her services.
A revaluation of pensions for 1.8 million retirees from the fall
Questioned by Alain, 70, auditor of France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, Elisabeth Borne recalled the measures taken by the government for the purchasing power of retirees. “Pensions were in the past indexed to wages, they are now indexed to inflation”, recalled Elisabeth Borne. “You know that this is one of the elements of the pension reform, it is precisely to revalue the smallest pensions”, said the minister. “1.8 million retirees will have their pensions increased from the fall”she said.
Elisabeth Borne “completely assumes” the pension reform
The Prime Minister was questioned by Nicole, a retiree living in Issoudun, in Indre, on the pension reform. “I fully support this reform”, replied Elisabeth Borne. “I think we are lucky in our country to have a very protective social model, undoubtedly one of the most protective social models in the world”, recalled the Prime Minister. She repeated the government’s arguments, recalling the need, according to her, to preserve the pay-as-you-go pension system*. “The observation that we can make is that there are fewer and fewer working people compared to the number of retirees. We started from a situation where, in the 1980s, we had three working people per retirees, we went to two workers per retiree at the beginning of the 2000s. We are now at 1.7 and tomorrow we will be at 1.5. We can clearly see that in a system in which workers must finance pensions, it is a real difficulty for our system”,* she estimated.
At the end of the line, Nicole, listener to France Bleu Berry, felt that her speech was “a beautiful language of wood”. “I assume madam”, repeated Elisabeth Borne*. “I maintain that it is necessary to preserve our pay-as-you-go pension system, that this supposes that the French who can, that is to say not the French who started working early and not the French who have difficult jobs , work progressively longer”.* Elisabeth Borne assured “that with Minister Olivier Dussopt, we wanted to take into account the particular situations which mean that a certain number of our compatriots do not have to, cannot work longer.”. Four out of ten French people will not work until the age of 64, said the minister.
“I cannot be satisfied with the way this reform is received”
Asked by Wendy Bouchard about the method used to pass the pension reform, Elisabeth Borne conceded: I cannot be satisfied with the way this reform is received. I hope that we will be able to quickly resume discussions with the trade unions and employers’ organisations, she added.
Elisabeth Borne referred to upcoming discussions on how the French experience their work. “We are going to invest as we have never done in the prevention of professional wear and tear”, she asserted. “One billion euros to prevent professional wear and tear”, she asserted. She also recalled that the definitions concerning hardship will be sent back to the social partners, “responsible for defining the professions that can benefit from it”. Elisabeth Borne also recalled that the government was going to start discussions on “the fact that undoubtedly many of our fellow citizens are not happy in their work. They do not have enough professional prospects”. She insisted on the need for further discussions “between trade unions and employers’ organizations so that we have progress on these subjects”.
Magali, teacher in Hérault, castigates “yet another downgrading of her profession”
The Prime Minister was also arrested by Magali, teacher in charge of students with disabilities in the Hérault, after the government announcements on the remuneration of teachers. This Thursday, Emmanuel Macron notably promised an increase of 100 to 230 euros in the salary of teachers without conditions, and up to 500 euros more per month for those who accept additional missions. “For us, it is paid in the form of bonuses, that is to say that it will not be taken into account in the calculation of our retirement. So it is yet another downgrading of the profession”, lamented Magali. “It is surprising to see that there are no more people who are motivated to become teachers, but it is easy to understand”, castigated the teacher. “In 1980, we started at around 2.2 minimum wage. There, we are at 1.2 minimum wage when we start and we still have five years of study after the baccalaureate”, she recalled. In response, Elisabeth Borne recalled the announcements made this Thursday, and said: “We are very aware of the challenge, first of all of the consideration that must be given to teachers because it is a job that is undoubtedly fascinating, but at the same time very demanding in terms of the issue of attractiveness”, did she say. “That’s why this campaign promise from the President of the Republic, it will be implemented from the start of the school year”, she said, without really responding to Magali’s request.