Ministerial reshuffle, education, nights of riots… Emmanuel Macron, who had not spoken on July 14 on the occasion of the national holiday, spoke on Monday July 24 on various subjects. He answered questions from France 2 and TF1 from Noumea, New Caledonia, where he is currently traveling. L’Express takes stock of the topics discussed.
The cabinet reshuffle
Emmanuel Macron has – again – renewed his confidence in Elisabeth Borne. This was extended to Matignon on July 20, after weeks of doubts and rumors. “It is the choice of confidence, continuity and efficiency”, assured the Head of State. He then defended the results of the “hundred days” elapsed since mid-April, supposed to relaunch his five-year term after the pension crisis. He spoke of “days with” and “days without”.
The one who had asked Elisabeth Borne in March to widen her relative majority finally minimized the failure of the head of government. He claimed there was no “alternative majority”, as the motions of no confidence tabled were rejected. “There were majorities of exchange, text by text, he however welcomed. The government has advanced, decided, passed texts, been effective, which justifies this choice of confidence for Madam the Prime Minister.”
national education
If Elisabeth Borne was confirmed in her post, this is not the case for Pap Ndiaye, who left the Ministry of National Education on July 20 to make way for Gabriel Attal, former Minister of Public Accounts. Emmanuel Macron took the opportunity to ensure that there would be “a teacher in front of each class” at the start of the school year. It relies for this on a series of “small revolutions”. The Head of State cited the “teacher pact”, which plans to better pay teachers who agree to work more, and added that National Education “continued to recruit” contract workers to ensure the start of the school year.
Riots
“Order, order, order”: Emmanuel Macron hammered out his response to the urban riots caused at the end of June by the death of young Nahel, killed by a police officer during a traffic check. He pleaded for a “return of authority at each level”, explaining that he wanted to open the site of “parental authority”. He also pinpointed the role of “social networks”, pleading to “find a digital public order which makes it possible to prevent these overflows”. The Head of State also congratulated his Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin for his management of the riots, while Macronie had rustled with speculation about the possibility of seeing him take over as head of government.
When the controversy swells over the remarks of the boss of the national police Frédéric Veaux, who affirmed that a policeman had “no place in prison” before his possible trial, Emmanuel Macron tried to find a position of balance. “I understand the emotion […] among our police officers”, faced with violence during the riots, said the president. But “no one in the Republic” is “above the law”, he warned.
Immigration
Asked about the adoption of the next immigration reform, Emmanuel Macron said he was “hopeful” that “republican opposition” could “help build a text”. But, in the name of “efficiency”, he suggested that he would not rule out recourse to Article 49.3 of the Constitution to have it adopted without a vote, as for retirement at 64.
The climate
“We will have to do twice as fast” as the last five years during the next five, to reduce our CO2 emissions and meet climate objectives, pleaded the president. “We are going to present, sector by sector, the transition and the investments” to achieve this objective, he explained. While the executive must unveil its ecological planning strategy at the end of August, Emmanuel Macron has promised to invest “from next year”, “several billion euros more” in ecology.
The reduction in CO2 emissions also involves the relocation of certain industries to the territory. The Head of State was pleased to have in total “created 1,700,000 jobs over the past six years”, in particular through a more proactive reindustrialization policy. The president wants to reopen “electric battery” factories, “offshore wind turbines”, “solar panels”: activities focused on the decarbonization of the economy, strengthening “France’s independence” and “protecting biodiversity”.
Regarding the short term and the risk of drought or fire, the President of the Republic assured that France was better prepared than last year. “We have acquired more equipment, in particular adapted helicopters,” he said.