Special envoy to Douai
Republican niceties, electoral ulterior motives.
The day after the second round of the regional elections, Emmanuel Macron and Xavier Bertrand both met face to face, during a presidential visit to the Renault factory in Douai, in Hauts-de-France.
The first to turn the page on a calamitous ballot for his troops, the second to push his advantage after his quiet re-election at the head of the region.
Hence a two-way and off-beat exchange between the two men on their arrival at the factory, under the light drizzle from the North.
"Well done! Congratulations, ”
begins Emmanuel Macron with reference to the election the day before.
Then he talks about the factory that has just been built:
"It's a step, but we all know what's behind it."
But Xavier Bertrand wants to talk about politics:
"It's important that we managed to push back the RN as much."
But Emmanuel Macron wants to stay on the economic ground.
"It proves that when we invest, we get there
,
" he
observes before slipping that it was necessary to
"all draw the consequences"
of abstention.
Him, of course, but also Xavier Bertrand.
And all the others.
To read also:
Regional in Hauts-de-France: Emmanuel Macron he voted Xavier Bertrand in the second round?
Moreover, Emmanuel Macron quickly returned to the economic and industrial field.
He had come for this.
In the company of Jean-Dominique Senard, the president of the diamond brand, the President of the Republic lingered for a long time to visit the factory and speak with the workers.
To brag about its record.
“The reform of the labor code has been carried out and, today, production taxes are falling.
There is no secret.
We have not created industrial jobs for twenty years in France and we are creating new ones. ”
"I am starving ... in terms of jobs"
Renault has just concluded an agreement with the Chinese Envision to equip its electric vehicles with the batteries of the Chinese group.
And the latter will build a huge battery factory directly on the Douai site.
This is 2 billion euros of investment and 2,500 jobs that will be created by 2030.
So, when he is preparing to relaunch the retirement project, Emmanuel Macron has defended his reforms at length.
“What did I hear!
I was given all the qualifiers when I did this!
But we have results, we are recreating industrial jobs
,
”
insisted the Head of State.
And without saying it, the president took stock of the weekend's election:
"I assume: when we invest, when we work together, we reduce misery, anger and all demagoguery."
Read also:
Presidential: Emmanuel Macron and Xavier Bertrand, a duel in 2022?
In front of the Espace, Scenic and Talisman assembly line, surrounded by dozens of employees, Emmanuel Macron thanked Lei Zhang, the president of Envision, for his investment.
“You have a vision, a word and a sense of action,”
explained Emmanuel Macron, recalling that the boss of the Chinese giant had already come to France two years earlier.
On the assembly line, stopped for the occasion, Emmanuel Macron spoke for more than an hour with the Renault teams and some Envision executives. Teamwork has been highlighted on the site, but also with local communities: the municipalities, the department and the region, even if Emmanuel Macron only mentioned the name of Xavier Bertrand once. The latter, too, welcomed the investment of the Chinese group. And the development of an ecosystem around the electric vehicle. By asking for more.
"Like others, I starved ... in terms of jobs,"
concluded the boss of Hauts-de-France. The presidential battle has only just begun.
