Gabriel Attal finds himself on the front line. Between two trips by Emmanuel Macron to Germany and then to India, the new Prime Minister will be on the front line this week facing the farmers’ revolt, the Constitutional Council’s ax on the immigration law and the uneasiness of teachers.
Farmers: anger is growing
Remaining under the radar in the fall, the mobilization gained momentum last week with the spectacular blocking of the A64 motorway near Toulouse. During the maneuver, the powerful FNSEA increased the pressure this Monday, January 22: other “actions” will be carried out “all week and as long as necessary”, warned its president Arnaud Rousseau before being received at Matignon in the evening.
An already crucial meeting for the Prime Minister, who will have to identify the right answers in order to defuse this crisis with multiple demands – use of pesticides, tax on diesel, Ukrainian imports, administrative standards…
The government made a first gesture by announcing the postponement of “a few weeks” of a bill which was to be presented on Wednesday. Delay which will make it possible to strengthen this text, targeted on the installation of new farmers, with “a simplification package”, explained Minister Marc Fesneau. Hoping that another front does not open among fishermen, banned from going out throughout the Bay of Biscay for a month in order to preserve the dolphins. Decision taken by the Council of State, which keeps 450 boats from Finistère in the Basque Country at the dock where sailors fear for their jobs.
Immigration: the decision of the Wise
Epilogue of the soap opera which tore the majority apart in December, the Constitutional Council will render its decision on the immigration bill on Thursday afternoon. Opponents, who hope for broad or even complete censorship of the text, demonstrated again on Sunday – between 75,000 and 150,000 across the country – to maintain the pressure.
The executive, for its part, seems to be banking on partial censorship, at least of the harshest measures conceded to the right. The government has also “alerted the oppositions” about certain measures “not in conformity with the constitution”, as Emmanuel Macron recognized the day after the final vote in the Assembly. A lesser evil which nevertheless risks providing arguments to the Republicans and the National Rally, supporters of a constitutional reform to allow a referendum on immigration and to free themselves from European rules in this area.
Education: the Oudéa-Castéra affair
Spared by strikes during his brief stint in Education, Gabriel Attal already has to manage a conflict between teachers and his minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
In turmoil as soon as she was appointed to rue de Grenelle, she alienated the unions by justifying the registration of her children in the private sector by the “packages of unreplaced hours” in the public sector. A sign of “unbearable contempt” for FO, the third organization in the sector, which calls for “demonstrates under the windows” of the ministry on Thursday. Prelude to a “unitary” movement with the FSU, the CGT and SUD on February 1, which will serve as a test for the executive.
Electricity: subject of tension
Bills will skyrocket from February 1st. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, confirmed on Sunday evening an increase in prices from 8.6% to 9.8% depending on the contracts. Decision expected and criticized for weeks by the oppositions, who do not fail to point out that electricity prices have jumped by more than 40% in two years.