On the pension reform, Emmanuel Macron regrets nothing. Almost. "If I have one regret, it is that we have not managed to sufficiently explain the need for this reform," he said in an interview published Sunday by L'Opinion. The head of state therefore believes that "the work of conviction must continue", while deploring "the denial of reality" of his opponents. "It's the fuel for extremes," he warned.
While the debate on the pension reform will return to the National Assembly on June 8 on the occasion of the parliamentary niche of the Liot group, Emmanuel Macron warns: "Everyone will have to take their responsibilities and explain how we finance!" The president says he assumes that it is necessary to "work a little longer" to "increase the amount of work, and therefore wealth in our country".
Emmanuel Macron also said that he intended to pursue a policy of lowering the taxation of the middle classes, in order to better remunerate work. "We must pursue a trajectory of lowering taxes on our middle classes. What for? Because if we want to continue to embark the country, we still need to restore credibility to the work, "he said in this interview published online Sunday night.
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Today, however, we are helping a lot of people who are in disarray, who have dropped out. We help a lot the low wages, and we have done more with the bonus of activity, "continued the head of state who seeks to regain control after the painful crisis of pensions. But the taxation of middle-class incomes is too important and is accelerating too fast. It crushes the gains in purchasing power between 1,500 and 2,500 euros. I'm talking about those who are too rich to be helped and not rich enough to live well," he said.
"I do what I say and I say what I do"
"The France cannot have one of the most protective social models in Europe by producing less or not enough," Macron insisted, taking the example of Germany's neighbors. "Take GDP per capita, i.e. the amount of wealth produced annually per capita, a good indicator: France is ten points behind Germany. This gap is explained by the asymmetrical shock of French immobility and German reform," he said.
Especially since Emmanuel Macron recalls: "I do what I say and I say what I do". "In 2022, I asked the French for a new mandate, presenting a clear program. I am not saying that the French voted specifically for the pension reform, but I was nevertheless very explicit during the presidential election, then in the legislative elections. The reform remains unpopular. I assume to have done it at the beginning of my mandate, "he explains.
According to him, the heavy protest against the reform was born of a "more difficult relationship to work", especially after the Covid crisis. "Then, with whatever it takes, the relationship to public finances (which) has been derealized," he also judged. Emmanuel Macron also believes that this pension reform is the first "conducted in a universe of continuous information, social networks, with a form of astonishment effect". "But when I look at the number of strikers, the number of demonstrators, it's not an unprecedented crisis. There were fewer strikes than in 2013, and even than in 2019-2020."
On the method, Emmanuel Macron ensures that he has no regrets either on the use of article 49.3 to adopt the reform. "Because you bring down a vote (a motion of censure, editor's note), and MPs can bring down the government. I fully assume these instruments because I do not believe in immobility," he stressed.
Despite his relative majority in the National Assembly, the president also says he is confident in "building majorities" on "many subjects". "There are several dozen texts that passed without 49.3, and which were very hard. Everyone said "you will never be able to pass the acceleration of renewable energies or nuclear". We did it, convincing. It's parliamentary work," he said.
