Pensions, middle classes, international... In a lengthy interview with the newspaper L'Opinion, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, President Emmanuel Macron returned this Sunday to the latest strong measures of his new mandate. He also spoke about several recent upheavals, such as the war in Ukraine and the growing emergence of artificial intelligence. Here's what to remember.
A pension reform "poorly explained"
Even if he seems to have wanted to turn the page on the stormy issue of pension reform, Emmanuel Macron "thinks that the work of conviction must continue" on this project. "If I have one regret, it is that we have not been able to explain enough the need for this reform." While the Liot group's bill to repeal the reform will be examined on June 8, the president castigates them opposing the law, believing that they show a "denial of reality". "Some claimed that reform could be avoided, without saying what they were proposing instead," he said.
Doing more for the middle class
The president also promised to reach out more to the middle classes, considered forgotten by aid measures and tax measures in France. "We help a lot people who are in disarray, who have dropped out. We help low earners a lot, and we have done more with the activity bonus. But the taxation of middle-class incomes is too important and is accelerating too fast. It crushes purchasing power gains between 1,500 and 2,500 euros," he said.
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"I'm talking about those who are too rich to be helped and not rich enough to live well. To correct this, we must continue to restore public services. But we must also allow the middle classes to live better with their salaries. And therefore continue to lower their taxes. »
Macron assumes the use of the 49.3
The use of this article of the Constitution for the law on pension reform has crystallized many tensions, marked even in the street. But Emmanuel Macron, he assumes. "These are reforms that are considered harsh. But anyone who would like things to stop is mistaken, because the world is accelerating and so we must continue to reform."
China-Russia ties criticised
Asked about the war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron replied that Russia had "already lost geopolitically". "Russia has made its historical allies, its first-rate corset, doubt. It has de facto begun a form of vassalization towards China and it has lost access to the Baltic, which was critical for it, since it precipitated the Swedish and Finnish choice to join NATO, "said the French president, who is preparing to receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expected Sunday evening in Paris.
"Let's be factual, Russia must not win the military war. And here it is up to us to see how to help the Ukrainians in their counter-offensive," he concluded.