PECRESS PROGRAM. Wage increases, security, carbon neutrality, social benefits… The time has come to take stock of Valérie Pécresse’s 15 key measures.
On April 10 and 24, French voters will be invited to the polls to elect their new President of the Republic and why not, their new President! If the presidential campaign has been turned upside down by the war in Ukraine, turbulent news or not, the French will still have to make a choice. Rather left, right, extreme, center? The best is still to read the program of each candidate to get an idea before voting. But sometimes, time is short and consulting the 10 or 15 key measures allows you to get an idea of the person and the program for whom you intend to vote. So what about Valérie Pécresse?
Among its key measures, the10% increase in net salaries in the private sector up to 2.2 minimum wage, announced at the end of summer 2021. Since then, Valérie Pécresse has however revised her promise, under pressure from employers in particular, her star measure in fact weighing heavily on some of the companies. In its new version, the State will finance from the summer of 2022 a reduction of 2.4 points in old-age contributions for employees. Direct consequence: net salaries should thus increase by 3%. Similarly, this measure which aims to improve the purchasing power of the French will then concern everyone, although high salaries, for whom these contributions are capped, will observe a less substantial increase.
Another measure aimed at increasing the purchasing power of the French: the tax exemption for overtime without restriction or ceiling. Because after being abandoned by François Hollande, tax-exempt overtime was reinstated by Emmanuel Macron in January 2019. The objective at the time was to make a gesture while the anger of the Yellow Vests was in full swing. However, it had been chosen to cap at 5,000 net taxable euros per year. It is essentially this ceiling that Valérie Pécresse proposes to blow up.
Valérie Pécresse also wishes tax-exempt all inheritances up to 200,000 euros per child. It would thus double the amount from which inheritance is taxed today. “I remove inheritance rights for 95% of French people”, notably highlighted the candidate LR in the columns of Figaro. Note however, as Le Monde reports, that today already 85% of French people are in fact exempt. In this same inheritance file, Valérie Pécresse also indicated that she wanted to increase the ceiling for donations during the lifetime of tax-exempt donors. She chairs, each parent will be able to give 100,000 euros, during his lifetime, every six years, against 15 years currently. A measure that would also concern grandchildren.
In terms of security, Valérie Pécresse has several key measures. One of them is to release five billion euros to equip police officers. Valérie Pécresse also wishes restore minimum sentences automatic. Violent repeat offenders and drug traffickers would be affected. The candidate of the Les Républicains party would also like to create the so-called “punch” brigades, with recourse to the military “if necessary”, in “difficult neighborhoods”. Invited to the Grand Jury of RTL, Le Figaro and LCI on December 5, she had mentioned no less than “62 republican reconquest zones”. And to clarify: “There are checkpoints to enter these neighborhoods. These are areas where all the traffic is concentrated. These inhabitants have the right to security.”
Concerning ecology and the environment, Valérie Pécresse announced that she wanted achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The one who calls herself a “results ecologist” also proposes relaunch existing nuclear power plants and build six EPRs or even decarbonize public and individual transport.
Regarding the sensitive issue of pensions, Valérie Pécresse wishes introducing retirement at age 65 by 2030. Because she says: “To save the purchasing power of retirees, we must reform pensions. We will live longer, we will have to work longer.” Concretely, on the airwaves of RTL, at the beginning of January, Valérie Pécresse indicated proposing “to go up to 65 years very gradually, obviously not for the French who are worn out by their work and I propose to revalue the minimum contributory up to the net minimum wage, that is to say 1,230 euros today. Hard blow in perspective on the other hand on the side of the civil servants. Valérie Pécresse president, she will eliminate 200,000 civil servant positions in the administration.
On the subject of immigration, the candidate Les Républicains indicated that she wanted limit immigration with “reception quotas by profession and by country”. “Uncontrolled immigration without integration can dislocate a society. Let’s introduce quotas voted each year by Parliament”, she confided to Figaro in July 2021. At school, Valérie Précresse also wants “set a ceiling [d’élèves] non-French speakers per classto guarantee the quality of learning”. Candidate LR also wants abolish the payment of social benefits to all foreigners. If she settles at the Élysée, Valérie Pécresse proposes to condition these benefits to “five years of regular residence”.
Finally, on the health front, Valérie Pécresse would like in particular recruit 25,000 caregivers in five years in the public hospital.