#France - #Macron says he’s ‘taking back control’

At the end of several weeks of debate, discussion and ‘town halls’, President Macron has presented his conclusions from his ‘Grand Débat National’ launched on 15 January. The debate and its conclusions are Macron’s mid-term relaunch to address  what he terms the legitimate concerns of the Gilets Jaunes and an attempt to reinvigorate his movement ‘En Marche’ ahead of May’s European elections, writes Catherine Feore.

Macron said that he had taken note of four main issues from his discussions. Firstly, a sentiment of injustice – social, fiscal and territorial; secondly, a lack of consideration; thirdly, a lack of confidence in the “elites”; and finally, a feeling of abandonment. Adopting the battle cry of the Brexiteer, he said that France needed to “take back control”.

Make work pay

Macron said that the public told him that they did not seek recognition alone, but solutions to their problems. He said that work had to pay and proposed a reduction in the income tax burden stating that this would be paid for by closing tax loopholes. He also pointed out that French people work a lot less than those in neighbouring countries and would have to work more in future.

The president announced that those with a pension of less than €2000 a month would be indexed to reflect inflation from 2020 onwards and that all pensions would be increased in this way from 2021 onwards. He added that there would be no further school or hospital closures.

Schengen not functioning any longer

The president  stuck to his European perspective, in particular referring to the joint European effort when it came to climate change. However, on migration Macron said that the Schengen system was not functioning any longer and that is should be refounded with a smaller number of states involved. On asylum issues he said that while France had a duty to welcome those seeking asylum it also had to be harder with those who were not eligible for asylum.

Power to the people

Macron argued for a simpler and citizen focused administration, pointing to Canada’s system of a single place of reference, so that citizens know where to go and could easily access services. There was also a proposal to permit more citizen-led referendums, that could be initiated with one million signatures.

Administrative shake up - starting from the top

There was a recognition that France’s highly centralized state would be decentralized with a proposal at the beginning of 2020 - this is aimed at addressing the territorial inequalities. In addition, Prime Minister Edouard Phillippe will present a new project for administrative system in May.

In France positions in the public service are highly sought after, in this way France has never had difficulty attracting very high quality candidates into their civil service. However, these elite mandarins or “Enarques” educated in the highly competitive Ecole National d’Administrations are often from rather narrow backgrounds, in particular the children of senior civil servants. Macron has called for reform with a more inclusive approach to entry, attracting more students with a business background or with previous experience in associations.

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