MACRON SPEECH. The President of the Republic grants an interview this Thursday, July 14, 2022, to TF1 and France 2. The opportunity to present his political agenda, that of the government and to give voice to the delicate subject of Uber files.
An interview for a new breath? Emmanuel Macron has apparently judged that this July 14 was a good opportunity to address the French, he who had not wished to speak last year on the same date. The Head of State, clearly aware of the increasingly significant concerns of public opinion about inflation and economic uncertainties, cannot let the summer pass without intervening. No big speech – more and more inaudible -, no big press conference – too solemn and hieratic: it is indeed in front of two journalists, for a flexible and direct exchange, that Emmanuel Macron will speak.
Emmanuel Macron is experiencing a start to his second term, to say the least, upsetting: having lost the absolute majority in the National Assembly and having procrastinated so much to form a government (in two stages) gave the impression of a great artistic vagueness on his action Politics. The Head of State even seems to play the supporting role on the domestic scene since his re-election, constrained by a very demanding international agenda at the end of spring and the beginning of summer. For the tenant of the Elysée, this interview is therefore a first highlight of his five-year term in terms of political communication: it can serve him to re-presidentialize. First by analyzing the growing crises in front of the French: war on European soil, inflation, concerns about energy prices, slowing growth and economy, Covid epidemic in its 7th wave… Emmanuel Macron must also present the main lines of his policy and the answers he intends to provide to the French.
An interview on TF1 and France 2
Emmanuel Macron agreed to answer questions from the two channels, for “a long interview”, around 1:10 p.m. He will be questioned, probably at the Elysée, by journalists Anne-Claire Coudray (for TF1) and Caroline Roux (France Télévisions). The interview will be broadcast on TF1, on France 2, but also on LCI, on franceinfo and on TV5 Monde. The Head of State is not a big fan of the July 14 interviews, carried out after the ceremonies on the Champs-Elysées.
An interview to talk about Uber
The President of the Republic accepted this interview last Sunday, before the information relating to “Uber files” was revealed by Le Monde and France Info. Emmanuel Macron is implicated by these two media for his very close relations that he had established with the leaders of Uber, in 2014, when he was Minister of the Economy: according to the elements of the journalistic investigation, Emmanuel Macron would have weighed in with all his weight to facilitate the establishment of Uber in France – which was then operating in total illegality – against the arbitrations operated by François Hollande and his Prime Minister. The July 14 interview will therefore be an opportunity for journalists to ask him for some much-awaited explanations on the subject. The Head of State has already reacted (using vulgar remarks in particular) considering that his action in favor of the VTC company has been beneficial for the country’s economy. “I totally assume. I will do it again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” he told the press on Tuesday July 12, during a trip to Isère. Faced with journalists, this Thursday, July 14, the tone should be more reasonable and the argument more in-depth.
July 14, 2022: start of the new five-year term?
Emmanuel Macron should also speak on the main priorities of this start of the five-year term: the purchasing power law, the mechanisms devised to deal with rising energy prices, pension reform. The Head of State had already, on June 22, made known his intention to accelerate the agenda of the government, which was slow to set it up and initiate the first political projects. He had already insisted on the lasting nature of the crisis opened by the war in Ukraine, as if to recall that the impacts on the European economy would be of great magnitude, and to minimize the difficulties of internal politics. The fact remains that Emmanuel Macron, without an absolute majority in the Assembly, is in a very uncomfortable position to govern: whatever the appeals he makes to the opposition parties, urging them to act responsibly and to find compromises, the executive is suspended. In case of agreement, the opposition parties can vote a motion of censure and overthrow the government… Under this sword of Damocles, what pledges could he give? Elements of response this Thursday, July 14.