A first seminar in Matignon in the presence of all the ministers took place on Saturday February 10. The opportunity for Gabriel Attal to announce several major projects for the coming months.
All the ministers, with the exception of Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, gathered around Gabriel Attal in Matignon, Saturday February 10, for a first working seminar. According to Prisca Thevenot, the government spokesperson, the meeting was under the sign of “action, action and more action”. If the full composition of the government took more than a month to become known, Gabriel Attal now seems to want to speed things up. The Prime Minister introduced the meeting, before giving his place to the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. Finally, Stéphane Séjourné, Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided an update on the international situation. At the end of the seminar, no minister spoke, leaving it to the spokesperson to detail the government’s new projects.
Prisca Thevenot therefore clarified the Prime Minister’s “approach”: “listen, dialogue, and also follow the decisions that have been put in place”. “We must now be sure that the measures are in the daily lives of the French (and say) in transparency, in honesty, but in responsibility, where it worked and where we must be able to review the copy if necessary “; she added.
As soon as the seminar ended, several ministers went into the field. Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, traveled to Besançon before flying to Mayotte with the Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories, Marie Guévenoux. Catherine Vautrin, Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity, visited the Loiret accompanied by Frédéric Valletoux, new Minister for Health.
What timetable for the announced reforms?
Gabriel Attal subsequently spoke in an interview with Le Parisien. He specified the timetable for reforms. One of the priorities announced by the Prime Minister is that of the “agricultural emergency”, for which he wants to act “this spring”. He announces that he will prepare “the agricultural orientation bill which will be presented around the Agricultural Show”. Gabriel Attal assures him: he will “keep his commitments”. Another emergency according to the head of government: the “economic emergency”, for which he is considering a draft “Macron 2 law”, which could be presented “before the summer”. The objective: “to liberate economic activity, growth and industrial development”. Gabriel Attal says he wants to fight “against the weight of standards” and “go further in reindustrialization in the spirit of green industry”.
Youth is also one of the Prime Minister’s priorities. According to him, too many young people are in a vulnerable situation. He thus wishes to “strengthen school medicine”, by paying a bonus of 800 euros in May to nurses who work in schools. Their salary will also be increased by 200 euros. Gabriel Attal also wants harsher sanctions for the most undisciplined students, from primary school onwards. For these same students, the head of government announced the experiment of free boarding in certain departments “from the spring (…) for certain young people adrift, with the simple agreement of the parents”. Still concerning young people, Gabriel Attal evokes a “guide to good use” concerning the time spent on screens. In middle school, level groups will be established in 6th and 5th grade classes, to create a “shock of knowledge”. The use of repeating a year should be made easier, the certificate should be a condition for entry into high school.
Concerning the housing crisis, the Prime Minister announces that he wants to build 30,000 within three years. 20 territories will be chosen to see their construction procedures. Gabriel Attal also wants to fight against drug trafficking. He should present a “new anti-drug plan” in March, in order to “freeze and seize the assets of traffickers”.
Finally, in September 2024, the head of government plans a “draft of Act II of labor market reform”. Access to unemployment insurance could be tightened.