DEBAT 2022. Follow live and on video the great second round debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, a very high point of this presidential 2022.
22:02 – The question of pensions at the heart of the debate
Third theme of the debate: retirement. Marine Le Pen has the floor and defends her progressive retirement system according to which “the earlier you work and the more time you work, the sooner you have to leave”. It proposes retirement at age 60, for those who start working between the ages of 17 and 20, then between 60 and 62 and between 62 and 67 for workers who have been active since their 25th birthday. It ensures that long careers and the difficulty of work will prevail over its system. At the same time, she judges that Emmanuel Macron’s reform is an “unbearable injustice”.
21:58 – Pass of arms on national preference
“I do not want to leave the European Union,” reaffirms Marine Le Pen, who nevertheless defends the primacy of national law and national preference. “I would like the European Commission to respect sovereign nations, to respect the choices of the French, including their societal choices, replies candidate RN. We make societal choices through our votes. The French make societal choices and I consider that the European Commission must respect them. So, I want to develop this European organization. But I do not want to get out of it, I did not think that you would fall into a form of conspiracy, “she says to her opponent. On national preference, he replies that if she introduces it, the other European countries will also shun France.
9:55 p.m. – Marine Le Pen denies an exit from Europe but wants to modify it
While Emmanuel Macron says he is convinced that “our sovereignty is national and European”, Marine Le Pen replies “there is no European sovereignty because there is no European people”. The RN candidate defends herself from wanting to leave the European Union: “I wish to profoundly modify the European Union to effectively bring about a European Alliance of Nations. I disagree on several points, on some of the free trade agreements , where breeders are sacrificed to the competition of chickens from Brazil. I disagree with the policy of posted workers who make thousands, hundreds of thousands even of posted workers come to our country, work and who make the charges are not paid in our country but in their countries of origin.”
21:51 – On Europe “you lie about the goods”, launches Macron
“Your project, if we put it back brick by brick, is a project that does not say its name but which consists in leaving the European Union”, launches Emmanuel Macron to Marine Le Pen when the question of the European Union is addressed. “You lie about the merchandise”.
9:50 p.m. – To go further: Marine Le Pen and the exit from the EU
After Russia, it is the European Union that gives Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron the opportunity to debate. The exit from the EU is no longer formally on the program of the RN candidate and has been replaced by a “Europe of the Nations” and by a “primacy of French law over European law”. Explanations.
21:48 – The Russian loan stains Marine Le Pen’s campaign
Marine Le Pen actually took out a loan from a Russian bank in 2014 and this element is used in Emmanuel Macron’s argument. Marine Le Pen defends herself: “If I went to make a loan abroad, it is because no French bank granted me this loan. You had a law voted on the bank of democracy. You never set it up.” She also believes that the banks “seemed to choose” among the political families to grant loans. Emmanuel Macron continues and indicates that his rival has still not repaid his lender in full. “I can’t let you say that we don’t reimburse. We reimburse every month, ruby on fingernail. We are a poor party, but it is not dishonorable”, she retorts.
21:39 – To go further: Marine Le Pen’s relations with Putin and Russia
Emanuel Macron has just accused Marine Le Pen of “depending on Vladimir Putin and Russia”, referring in particular to a loan contracted from a Russian bank by the National Front in 2014. Here is a summary on the subject to deepen.
9:38 p.m. – Marine Le Pen attacked on her reports to Vladimir Putin
Accused of complacency towards Vladimir Poutine, Marine Le Pen is attacked on this point by Emmanuel Macron. The outgoing president launched to his rival: “You depend on Russian power and on the power of Mr. Putin. Because you took out a loan from a Russian bank. You don’t talk to your leader when you talk about Russia , you talk to your banker”.
9:35 p.m. – Marine Le Pen in favor of all sanctions against Russia except one
On international politics, Marine Le Pen began by defending her positions on the sanctions imposed on the European Union against Russia. She says she is in favor of all the sanctions taken, all but one: “The only sanction I disagree with is the blocking of the import of Russian gas and oil. This is not what will actually hurt Russia. And above all, it will hurt the French people a lot. And that the consequences of this blockage would have cataclysmic consequences for businesses”.
21:32 – “A strong Europe is important” for Emmanuel Macron
“A strong Europe is important” launched Emmanuel Macron. “We must step up and hold this line, ensuring that this war does not escalate and spread.” He believes that France occupies a central place in Europe, “we are no one’s vassals”. The strength of Europe is essential at a time of war between Russia and Ukraine according to the outgoing president.
21:28 – End of the debate on purchasing power
End clap for the theme of purchasing power. Emmanuel Macron imposed himself on this theme, Marine Le Pen having not responded to criticism of his program. International politics is the next topic of debate.
21:24 – The abolition of VAT on food products deemed ineffective
Emmanuel Macron criticizes the abolition of VAT on food products which he considers to have little impact on purchasing power, 13 euros at most according to him, and he adds that it will benefit the retail group more rather than to consumers and even more to wealthy households than to the poorest. For his part, Emmanuel Macron defends and offers the food check.
21:21 – Debate on the price of labor: increase in wages VS increase in the Macron bonus
The two candidates consider that purchasing power is played out on labor and the price of labor. Marine Le Pen defends her measure on the 10% salary increase and considers it more effective in passing the exceptional bonus known as the “Macron bonus” to €6,000. She advances the random side of bonuses and the fact that a bonus by nature does not directly affect wages. In response, Emmanuel Macron replies that the increase defended by Marine Le Pen is only an incentive to the bosses but is not an obligation.
21:13 – Emmanuel Macron defends the shield against rising energy prices
Emmanuel Macron wants to maintain the shield against rising energy prices, a measure he considers “twice as effective as the reduction in VAT” defended by Marine Le Pen. He assumes that this protective measure is not permanent but a “crisis measure” introduced to help the French.
9:10 p.m. – Marine Le Pen wants to make purchasing power a priority
On purchasing power Marine Le Pen presents three levers of action: “act in a sustainable way and not with temporary checks”, “defend the value of work” and intervene on vulnerable people who have been “particularly mistreated” during the quinquennium according to her.
21:07 – Emmanuel Macron: “We can and we must make our country stronger”
Emmanuel Macron in turn talks about his project for France: “We can and we must make our country stronger, we can and must improve daily life, I believe that our France will be stronger if it knows how to take up the question. ecological and become a great ecological power”
21:06 – The introduction of Marine Le Pen
Ahead of the launch of the debate, Marine Le Pen takes the floor. In the introduction she says: “I will be the president of the sovereign, collective protection, freedoms, sovereignty and security. The president of daily life, purchasing power, school, health everywhere and for all, of republican assimilation. I will be the president of concord, of justice, of civil fraternity, of civil peace.”
To follow the Macron – Le Pen debate on Linternaute is to follow the exchanges on video, with the best moments transcribed. The entire debate, in video, is available at the top of the page thanks to our partner France 24 (All international news on france24.com). Following the debate on this page also means having access to fact-checking elements, with the site Election Tracker, which offers a specialized service for the decryption and transparency of political discourse. This is a tool that automatically transcribes, on a daily basis, the speaking times and quotes of candidates on television channels subject to pluralism. It is accessible free of charge and is aimed both at professionals dealing with politics (media, journalists, political parties, etc.) and at citizens who want to form a conviction before going to vote. This approach is of public utility at a time when, too often, the proliferation of speech and the media makes it difficult to know what has been said, with as much objectivity as possible. Linternaute.com has decided to integrate this real-time fact checking method during its live broadcast of the great debate, on this Twitter thread and in our live above.
Remember that this great debate between the two rounds comes 4 days before the second round of the presidential election, a ballot for which Emmanuel Macron is the favorite. The polls credit him with nearly 8 points ahead of Marine Le Pen. This debate could create a new dynamic, but it is impossible to know to what extent and in what proportion.