The government spokesperson was the guest of “8:30 am franceinfo”, Friday June 9, 2023.
Olivier Véran, the government spokesman, was the guest of the 8:30 a.m. franceinfoThursday June 9, 2023. Annecy, Immigration law, RSA, Pensions, Marianne Fund… He answered questions from Lorrain Sénéchal andAgatha Lambret.
Annecy: “It’s something beyond comprehension”
“There is nothing that can ever justify or explain why children could be the target of a man”, said government spokesman Olivier Véran. In the aftermath of the violent attack, Annecy is in shock after the knife attack by a 31-year-old Syrian refugee on children in a park. “It’s something beyond comprehension. So we are always looking for answers, not an explanation. We cannot explain what is inexplicable”assured Olivier Véran. “There will be answers that will have to be given, but when we have them, I don’t have them.”
While the political class on the right and on the far right, including Marine Le Pen, quickly made the link between this attack and immigration policy in France. Olivier Véran denounces “an unhealthy game”. According to him, “There will be answers that will be provided. We need transparency, it’s obvious and we must do everything so that this kind of drama does not happen again.” “I consider that there is a time which is the time of emotion, the time of investigation and the time of explanations. And after that will come the political time, if there is a political time which must come”he continued.
Immigration law: “We are in politics”
The text on immigration “would have been supported by the right under a right-wing government, by the left under a left-wing government, it would have been voted for. So here we are in politics”denounced Olivier Véran.
While an agreement between the presidential majority and Les Républicains may be difficult to find on the immigration law, Olivier Véran recalled the spirit of the future text expected in the summer. The immigration law aims to “expel people who are not destined to stay, who have received what is called the famous OQTF (Obligation to leave French territory), to be able to respond more quickly and definitively to all those who ask for asylum but who are not destined to obtain it”and it’s “Also allow those who are destined to stay to be able to work faster, especially when they are needed in jobs that are under pressure”, explained Olivier Véran.
But the Republicans refuse the provision which aims to promote immigration to help sectors which have difficulty in hiring. However, it is a measure that “is requested by business leaders, which is requested by many French people, which goes in the direction of efficiency, of justice, it is rather up to those who do not agree to explain why they would not, in fact”, replied Olivier Véran. The government spokesman recalled that there was no question of touching State Medical Aid. But “can we talk” For “make it both more operational and perhaps refocus it on the most frequently expressed needs”he said.
Pensions: “The democratic mechanisms have gone to the end”
“The democratic mechanisms have gone all the way”, assures Olivier Véran when the majority escaped a vote this week on the repeal of the pension reform. Marine Le Pen criticized the government for having “fear of voting”. But according to the government spokesman, “votes, there have been, there have been several”. Olivier Véran does not want to move on: “We want everything to be applicable from the beginning of the coming autumn. We need the social partners”he explained.
Reform of the RSA: “It’s pragmatism”
The reform of the RSA (Active Solidarity Income), “It’s pragmatism and efficiency”, assures Olivier Véran. Recipients of the RSA will have to commit to 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. weekly integration activity under penalty of sanctions. Laurent Berger denounced Thursday on franceinfo a “stigmatization of the people most in difficulty” by the government.
“What I don’t accept is that we continue to have hundreds of thousands of people in our country who are on benefit and who are being left behind. I meet a lot of them and who are very, very far from the labor market when they are destined to work. I consider that employment is the first form of solidarity”he explained.
Marianne Fund: “It’s not up to me to say” if Marlène Schiappa is “weakened”
“It is not for me to say as government spokesperson whether a minister is weakened or not”, commented Olivier Véran about the Minister Delegate for Citizenship Marlène Schiappa who is at the heart of a controversy. She is accused of having refused 100,000 euros in subsidies to SOS Racisme. The minister’s former chief of staff admitted to the senatorial commission of inquiry that she had directly intervened in the selection process for the Marianne Fund, launched after the shock caused by the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty “There has been a judicial investigation which is underway to provide answers in complete transparency and that is normal”he just said.
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