Edouard Philippe commented on the government’s choices in terms of public debt management. A way to position yourself for the 2027 presidential election?
Edouard Philippe, former Prime Minister and leader of Horizons, spoke about the measures currently put in place by the government. In an interview with Opinion published on February 26, 2024, he notably commented on Bruno Le Maire’s announcement to make ten billion euros in additional savings to compensate for the slowdown in growth, the forecast of which was revised downwards (1.4% to 1%). The former Prime Minister initially welcomed this decision: “It was necessary (…) The government rightly chose not to increase taxes.” However, the mayor of Le Havre considered this sum insufficient in view of the public deficit which widened by more than “50 billion” between 2020, when he was Prime Minister, and today.
He thus highlighted what he had done as Prime Minister: “My time at Matignon was marked by historic control of public spending with the presentation of a 2020 budget, before Covid, showing the lowest public deficit since 2001. Edouard Philippe then called for a return to the fundamentals of Emmanuel Macron’s arrival as president: “In 2017, the President of the Republic said a lot, and I agreed, that, even if it meant spending, it was necessary to reform massively. Today, the problem is that we don’t reform much.”
Edouard Philippe then encouraged people to consider public debt as “a political obsession”: “The French may have the impression that, deep down, we will never have to repay the debt. It’s a very dangerous idea”. The debt should therefore remain at the center of the government’s primary concerns despite the various crises: “When we are in charge, we are tempted to respond first to emergencies, and I can understand that. To tackle crises first who see each other. But what is urgent is not always the most important.”
2027 already in sight
These little sentences are of course not trivial. An ally of the majority who allows himself to criticize the government? This confirms the fact that Edouard Philippe is asserting himself, and distancing himself from the current power, with a view to the 2027 presidential election. The president of Horizons is, in fact, one of the candidates expected to take over from ‘Emmanuel Macron. He would thus tend to differentiate himself from the Head of State, regretting his methods for resolving certain problems: “We must begin to cure ourselves of the temptation to resolve everything with checks worth several hundred million euros, or even billions of euros.” “euros, as soon as a problem arises”, he assured.
Edouard Philippe said he wanted to “resume the work of transforming the State” and “renounce useless or ineffective actions”. His conclusion leaves little room for doubt: “We can win an election by telling the truth, even when it is difficult to hear. This is something that the French know how to recognize.”