MACRON SPEECH. Emmanuel Macron spoke during an interview with the 1 p.m. news from TF1 and France 2, Monday July 24, 2023. Here are the points he addressed.
[Updated July 24, 2023 at 7:59 p.m.] Emmanuel Macron granted an interview to the television news of TF1 and France 2, Monday July 24, ten days after the appointment normally agreed by the President of the Republic. The Head of State answered questions from journalists, reaffirming the “choice of trust, continuity and efficiency” made by renewing Élisabeth Borne at Matignon, rather than appointing Gérald Darmanin.
Emmanuel Macron, who had already spoken three days earlier in the Council of Ministers, was expected on the balance sheet in 100 days of appeasement and his response to the riots that occurred after the death of Nahel. If he was satisfied with the achievements of his government and with obtaining a “majority of exchanges” in the absence of an absolute majority in the National Assembly, he judged the “return of authority at every level” necessary for the country. Electricity prices, back-to-school projects with National Education and health in mind, but also the police officer’s case in Marseille were on the menu for Emmanuel Macron’s interview. Here’s what to remember.
While Gérald Darmanin seems to have come close to being appointed Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his choice to keep Elisabeth Borne at Matignon: the choice “of confidence, continuity, efficiency. As for his government reshuffled, if the Head of State did not mention it, he guaranteed his ability to carry out bills despite a government agreement concluded with the opposition. “There is no majority alternative, but there were majorities of exchanges” within the National Assembly on certain texts assured Emmanuel Macron. “We had more texts voted than five years ago at the same time” said he again congratulated.
Emmanuel Macron and the government’s first response to the riots at the end of June was the deployment of the police, a force of 45,000 police and gendarmes “which made it possible in four days to put an end to these riots [.. .] without taking measures restricting individual freedoms”.
But calm returned, it is necessary to analyze the events and draw conclusions. “The lesson I draw from this is one: order, order, order,” hammered the head of state, adding that “our country needs a return of authority at every level, and first in the family”. He persists in wanting to “empower families, support others” while deeming it necessary to rethink the policies which currently lead to a concentration of social difficulties in “the same neighborhoods”. Emmanuel Macron has indicated that he wants to review the “difficulty distribution policy”. Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, reacted to this announcement on Twitter: he denounced “the continued forced march distribution of immigration throughout the territory”.
The subject was not initially on the program of the interview, but he invited himself into the exchanges. Emmanuel Macron refrained from commenting on the detention of a Marseille policeman, indicted on suspicion of having beaten a 21-year-old man on the sidelines of the riots. Monday July 24, a few hours before the interview, the director general of the national police (DGPN) declared in Le Parisien that “before a possible trial, a police officer has no place in prison”. A position supported by the prefect of police of Paris Laurent Nuñez, but which divides the political class.
Emmanuel Macron said he “understood the emotion” of the police and again welcomed their mobilization during the riots, but recalled that “no one is above the law” and that “ethics” must be respected. He also called for “not to get the wrong debate” and did not wish to comment on the words of the director general of the national police. For many left-wing elected officials, Emmanuel Macron’s response to this affair was deemed insufficient. In a press release issued just before the interview, the Nupes, which brings together the PS, EELV and La France insoumise, had asked the president to “play his role as guarantor of the Constitution by doing what is necessary to restore republican order in the police”.
Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS, thus deplored a “catastrophic” interview with the President of the Republic. “The order must be republican. The authority of the State is to call the police hierarchy to the rule”, wrote the socialist on Twitter. Interviewed on BFM TV, Marine Tondelier, national secretary of Europe Ecology The Greens, also regretted the lack of reaction from Emmanuel Macron. “I expected the President of the Republic to have a very firm answer on this”, she would have liked him to comment on the words of the DGPN. “I find it very disappointing and even worrying that he did not want to or even dared to do it,” she said.
After the remarks of the director general of the national police, Frédéric Veaux, Mathilde Panot, president of the group La France insoumise at the National Assembly, announced to seize, Monday, July 24, the public prosecutor, for facts which could constitute an offense based on Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, she said. According to her, the DGPN, supported by the prefect of police of Paris, seems to question a court decision. However, “Seeking to discredit (…) an act or a judicial decision, under conditions likely to undermine the authority of justice or its independence, is punishable by six months’ imprisonment and fine of 7,500 euros”, she detailed.
Purchasing power occupied part of Emmanuel Macron’s interview, in particular the price of electricity. The Head of State confirmed that increases were to be expected, the first of which on August 1, indicating that the most precarious protective measures were going to be taken, without specifying which ones. However, he said he wanted to limit these increases by producing more electricity thanks to the revival of nuclear power plants and a reform of the European electricity market.
As for the tax cuts promised during his re-election, they have been confirmed. Still, Emmanuel Macron did not expand on the issue, postponing the announcements on the calendar and the conditions of the tax cuts to the “coming weeks”.
The direction of the government specified, namely the independence of the country and the guarantee of a fair system, Emmanuel listed four axes to invest in order to achieve the objective, from Friday, July 21. Projects confirmed during his interview three days later: reindustrialization and full employment, progress in public services, ecological planning and republican order. Construction sites on which efforts have already been made, particularly in terms of work with 1.7 million jobs created and factory reopenings. But the head of state has rolled out a roadmap for each of the following points:
