We tell you right away, we did not find any evidence of Emmanuel Macron photocopying Valérie Pécresse’s program, as denounced in the photomontage published by LR activists this Friday (before deleting it). Emmanuel Macron, “pale copy” of the right, this is the little music that the candidate and her supporters have been hearing for several days, and even more since Thursday evening and the press conference during which the President of the Republic presented his program for re-election. On TF1, Monday, and in Nîmes, Thursday, the presidential candidate mocked the program of her rival, “counterfeit” of hers. We went around the four proposals curried by Valérie Pécresse.
“Mr. Macron is going to reform pensions up to the age of 65. Who had the courage to say it? It’s us ! »
It’s true. Emmanuel Macron suggested on November 9 that it would be necessary to “work longer by pushing back the legal age”, without however putting forward a concrete proposal. The postponement to 65 was confirmed on March 10 by Gabirel Attal, government spokesperson, on RTL. A reversal since the pension reform initially presented by the government, suspended due to Covid-19, provided for maintaining the legal retirement age at 62.
Valérie Pécresse has been advocating leaving at 65 for several years. In March 2019, on France Inter, she declared: “To maintain pensions, we will have to work longer term. Retirement at 65 is inevitable, I don’t understand why the government doesn’t say so. »
“On energy, he tells us: ‘I’m going to reinvest in nuclear power.’ He did the opposite, he closed Fessenheim […]. Why, today, is he talking to us about nuclear power? Who talked about nuclear again? It’s us ! »
It is rather false. On November 9, 2021, Emmanuel Macron spoke about his nuclear plan, announcing that he wanted to “relaunch the construction of reactors”. The number of six was confirmed in Belfort two months later on February 10. But this proposal for six new generation reactors does not come out of nowhere: EDF has been working on this project for several years.
In September 2019, the government had thus secretly asked EDF in a letter to study the possibility of building six EPR reactors, as revealed by The world. A few days later, Jean-Bernard Levy, general manager of the company, declared in the daily: “It is clear that France is preparing to build new nuclear power plants. It is in the mission that I received when I was appointed, five years ago”, in 2014.
Republicans have always clearly supported the pro-nuclear line. In November 2020, in their global warming convention, the party proposed to start the construction of six new generation EPRs, to refuse the closure of nuclear power plants and to extend the life of reactors up to 60 years. During the presentation of her energy program on October 1, 2021, Valérie Pécresse took up the majority of these proposals
“On agriculture, he tells us: ‘We must put an end to the European project From farm to fork.’ But who voted for this European agricultural degrowth project? Emmanuel Macron’s government. Who denounced this madness of agricultural decline at the time of global warming? It’s us ! »
It’s wrong. Emmanuel Macron announced an “adaptation”, not the end, of the European strategy known as “From farm to fork”, which aims, by 2030, to halve the use of pesticides, by 20% that fertilizer, and to devote a quarter of the land to organic farming. Brussels is preparing derogations on the minimum rate of fallow land imposed on farmers, to put them under cultivation. They will be presented on March 23.
Emmanuel Macron explains this shift by the upheaval linked to the war between Ukraine and Russia, two large cereal producers, and the risk of food crises. This strategy “was based on a pre-war world in Ukraine, which provided for a 13% decrease in production, explained Emmanuel Macron. These objectives must be reviewed, because under no circumstances can Europe afford to produce less. »
“He says today: ‘When you hit the RSA, you need 15 hours of activity in return.’ Who said you needed a working counterpart to the RSA? It’s us ! »
It is complicated. On the active solidarity income (RSA), the lines are particularly porous between Les Républicains and La République en Marche. Because Brigitte Klinkert, current Minister Delegate for Integration, participated in the implementation in the Bas-Rhin of a project aimed at conditioning the RSA to volunteer hours from 2017. She was then president of the departmental council under the label… Les Républicains (until 2019).
Arrived at the government in July 2020, it was she who implemented the youth employment contract for 18-25 year olds, where the “rights-duties” logic is already at work. This allowance of a maximum of 500 euros, which came into force at the beginning of March, is subject to conditions, in particular with a minimum of 15 to 20 hours per week of activities, based on the service offer of Pôle emploi and local Missions . Non-compliance with obligations exposes to graduated sanctions.
Thursday, by presenting his reform of the RSA with consideration, Emmanuel Macron also drew a parallel between the two and praised this spirit of a “better balance of rights and duties”.