CNR. Emmanuel Macron will launch the National Council for Refoundation on September 8. While some unions and local elected officials have planned to participate in this new forum for dialogue, many political parties will be absent. The Internet user takes stock.
[Mis à jour le 7 septembre 2022 à 22h28] It was announced and here it is: the National Council for Refoundation will be launched on September 8 by Emmanuel Macron. The Head of State is keen on the implementation of his new forum for dialogue between politicians and union and association representatives despite the torrent of criticism that has swept over the project since its announcement in the local press on June 3. Shunned by the opposition and many unions, the opening of the CNR will be done in a smaller committee than expected. About fifty guests are expected at the Marcoussis national rugby center (Essonne), including Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, called to be active in the new assembly, in addition to several members of the government.
The launch of the National Council for Refoundation will perhaps be an opportunity for Emmanuel Macron to clarify the contours and still vague missions of this new political body. Three months ago, the newly re-elected President of the Republic presented the CNR as an essential consultation tool for his new method of governance advocating decisions no longer thought out at the top of the State but defined on the ground with citizens and in link with the actors concerned. “The French are tired of the reforms that come from above (…). Paris must be at the service of the field”, declared Emmanuel Macron in the media at the time. However, citizens are no longer counted among the members of the CNR at the request of François Bayrou, boss of the MoDem and appointed head of the CNR, notes Point. Because only “representatives of associations, unions and mutuals” will be present at the opening of the Council. Without members of the opposition and without citizens, who remains to occupy the benches of the CNR and who has agreed to take part in the Macronist initiative?
The National Council for Refoundation brings together, unsurprisingly, the forces of the majority: La République en Marche, whose members are fervent defenders of the project and will be present during the discussions, and the MoDem, which has joined forces with the presidential majority since 2017. The presence of the political party is not surprising since its leader, François Bayrou, is in charge of the body’s general secretariat. The Phillipist Horizons party will also be there, but without Edouard Philippe. The mayor of Le Havre traveling to Quebec on September 8 says he wants to leave room for another local elected representative to represent him, but behind the scenes those close to the former Prime Minister confide in France info that “Edouard Philippe absolutely does not believe in the CNR”.
Still on the political side, local elected officials will also be stakeholders in the CNR, in particular the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), the Assembly of French Departments (ADF) and Regions of France. The three organizations had first declined Emmanuel Macron’s invitation before changing their minds after an interview with the Head of State on September 5.
The Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) will also be there to “take its part in a refoundation that it has been calling for for a long time” in the words of its president Thierry Beaudet in the Figaro. Only two unions, the CFDT and the CFTC, responded to the CNR’s invitation to give consultation a chance, but without any illusions. Finally, two economic organizations will take their places on the benches of the new council: the Medef and the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME).
It is an almost general boycott, from the Nupes to the National Rally via the Republicans, of the opposition parties to this new body of dialogue wanted by Emmanuel Macron. Among the Republicans, “it is out of the question to participate in all this; that the President of the Republic do the institutional work which must be his”, indicated the president of the LR deputies, Olivier Marleix. Same story at the National Rally which evokes a “scam” and “one more thing”, according to RN spokesperson Laure Lavalette. A far-right decision dictated by Marine Le Pen who had already refused to participate “in any structure whatsoever which aims to withdraw power from the National Assembly” last June.
Within the alliance on the left, the situation is similar. According France info, the Socialist Party declined the invitation issued by the President of the Republic. EELV will not go there either, speaking of a “consensus” among the executives of the environmentalist party, explained to theAFP the number 2 of the party, Sandra Regol. “If it was a real working meeting, we would have gone there. But there, it sounds more like a communication tool. We didn’t see the point of going there,” she said. The party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon has also given up participating in the CNR. As for the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel denounced the objective of the project according to him which would be “the intention to circumvent a Parliament in which [Renaissance] does not have a majority.
On the union side, the CFDT agreed to go to the launch of the National Council for Refoundation, according to Release. “Our objective is to make the voice of civil society heard. Today, the period is too serious to desert the field of involvement”, indicated Marylise Léon, deputy general secretary of the centre. The CGT is not of the same opinion. Denouncing a blow of “communication”, Philippe Martinez railed against “extremely short deadlines” and against the lack of information on the project. The CFE-CGC, the executives’ union, also refused.
While the opposition is very critical of the new body for dialogue between politicians and union and association representatives, its operation remains unclear. In the letter of invitation to Thursday’s event, Emmanuel Macron indicates that the CNR aims to “build”, “in a spirit of dialogue and shared responsibilities”, “consensus on the situation of the country” and “design concrete solutions to the concerns of our fellow citizens”.
Elisabeth Borne provided more details on September 1 during a press briefing. “The purpose of this CNR is to make a common diagnosis, to share the constraints, to agree on the method and a timetable. It will intervene upstream of the legislative work and downstream, on the implementation”, he said. she indicated. Thus, five themes will be discussed this Thursday: full employment, school, health, aging well and ecological transition. This new project launched by Emmanuel Macron will be available in each ministry which “will then have to continue the reflection in thematic CNR. For each theme, the actors concerned will be invited. The next CNRs in global format will meet under my presidency”, added the tenant of Matignon.