In a major press conference, Emmanuel Macron presented, Tuesday January 16, the main lines of action that he intends to implement with his new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, to relaunch a struggling five-year term. School, work remuneration, “birth leave” and tax cuts…
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Announcements about the school and the SNU. “We will move towards the generalization of the Universal National Service in second”, said Emmanuel Macron, who devoted a large part of his remarks to education. He listed several measures at the start of his introductory speech: the doubling of the hours of civic education, a graduation ceremony at the end of the year in middle and high schools, a possible generalization of the uniform in 2026 and work on the use of screens by children.
A new shortened “birth leave”. Calling for a “demographic rearmament” in response to the drop in the French birth rate, Emmanuel Macron promised a plan to combat infertility and an overhaul of parental leave. New “birth leave” would be shorter and equal, six months for each parent, but “better paid”. A speech criticized on the left.
“Indulgence” for Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The Head of State defended the new Minister of National Education, criticized for her justification of the private schooling of her children. “The minister made a public statement that was clumsy. She apologized for it, she did the right thing”reacted Emmanuel Macron. “I have rather indulgence, because I happened to make comments, at the very beginning of my political responsibilities, which had hurt” . He also justified the appointment of Rachida Dati to the Ministry of Culture, although subject to indictment: “There are no rules that mean that an indicted minister should leave the government.”
Pay for work and “merit”. Emmanuel Macron has hammered home his desire to allow “earn a better living through work”. He notably expressed the wish that civil servants be paid more “on merit”. This reform “will start in the coming weeks”, he assured. The head of state also assured that the tax cut of two billion euros promised to the middle classes since spring 2023 would finally take place in 2025.
Critical reactions. “The big meeting with the Nation has turned into yet another endless chatter,” reacted the president of the National Rally group in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, on. Her counterpart from France Insoumise, Mathilde Panot, estimated on France 2 that the head of state had “showed a deeply reactionary side” and painted the picture of a “Sepia France”.