After the words, here is the time for the proofs. On Wednesday April 26, the head of government, Elisabeth Borne, unveiled her “hundred days” roadmap from the Elysée Palace, leaving the Council of Ministers, determined to prove that she is still at the helm of the country. “Because if we don’t provide proof, we won’t renew the bond of trust”, we justified to Matignon in the preamble to his declaration which, at the request of Emmanuel Macron, declines the government priorities and the legislative agenda for the next three months.
A “dense” and “invigorating” piece, satisfied the director of Ms. Borne’s cabinet, Aurélien Rousseau, intended to “accelerate” the presidential program “like in a centrifuge” and, as quickly as possible, to “change the lives” of the French.
While the executive power is struggling to extricate itself from a serious crisis of confidence that manifests itself with the sound of pots and pans, the operation aims to restore visibility to the presidential majority and coherence to the “very concrete measures” planned for here on 14-July. But also – and above all – to offer oxygen to a head of government weakened since the fiasco of the use of article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows the adoption of a bill without a vote, on pension reform. To the point of appearing on borrowed time and fueling rumors about his possible ousting from Matignon.
Without upsetting the priorities already known, the Prime Minister brought her personal touch by freeing herself, first, from the very symbolic “hundred days” granted on April 17 by the President of the Republic. “It’s not a totem term,” puts his cabinet into perspective. Proof of this is the roadmap, which extends until the beginning of 2024.
If the Head of State was keen to relaunch the labor, justice and education projects, his more greedy Prime Minister set out four very broad priorities: full employment and reindustrialisation, planning for ecological transition, the overhaul of public services and the strengthening of the republican order.
“No Majority”
Around the table of the Council of Ministers, the surprise was read on the faces of the members of the government when Elisabeth Borne announced the postponement of the immigration bill. A text constantly postponed by Matignon since the summer of 2022, with which the former Minister of Labor is uncomfortable.
No matter that Emmanuel Macron was affirmative, on April 23 in Le Parisien – “I want an effective and fair law, in a single text” – the presidential objective was also to have this project adopted at first reading in the National Assembly before the summer.
Elisabeth Borne, for her part, invokes unfavorable political conditions. “There is no majority to vote for such a text”, she decides, directly implicating “the leaders” of the Les Républicains (LR) party, accused of being unable to “draw a common line between the Senate and Assembly”. Despite the lack of support from the right for this text, Ms. Borne says she is “confident” to vote for the dozen other projects on her legislative agenda.
To justify the postponement of the law on immigration, the advisers of Matignon evoke the obstacle raised by the senatorial elections of September, which would encourage the troops of the president (LR) of the palace of Luxembourg, Gérard Larcher, to handle the bidding, and thus justify “taking the time for a more serene work”.
“I hope it will be as soon as possible”, had however pressed the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, Monday April 24 on France 2, considering “to be able to get along with Gérard Larcher”. The President of the Senate set his conditions, Wednesday, April 26 on Franceinfo, saying he was “unfavorable” to the regularizations which he describes as “a call for air”. A line he considers “shared” in both chambers.
“Acceleration in all sectors”
Agreement or not, Elisabeth Borne promised “for the fall” a bill containing the announced measures of regularization in the trades in tension, hoping that a majority emerges by itself.
In reality, Ms. Borne’s entourage fears to open a new internal crisis within the majority on this divisive theme, and to place themselves in the hands of a partner deemed unreliable. “This is not the time to launch a subject that could divide the country,” insisted the Prime Minister at the Elysée Palace, echoing her wish to ensure a “period of convalescence”, as she had confided. au Monde in a counterpoint to the words of the Head of State.
Anxious to show that her government is already acting for this “priority”, Elisabeth Borne announced the mobilization, “as of next week”, of 150 additional police officers and gendarmes in the Alpes-Maritimes to face “pressure increased migration at the Italian border”. A contingent called “border force”, which will combine customs and military, like the Australian “border patrols” or those between the United States and Mexico.
On the ecological transition, the Prime Minister, who already rejected “half measures” in August 2022, promises in three months “an acceleration in all sectors” thanks to planning. Before making a slight inflection, Wednesday April 26, by addressing the distribution of the effort, kills in the fall of 2022 during the deployment of the energy sobriety plan. “We want everyone to contribute to the height of what they can do,” she insisted, stressing that “half of the efforts to be made will be requested from companies” through a decarbonization plan for major industrial sectors. and the fifty most emitting sites, expected in June.
“Legit to use” 49.3
On the other hand, the project of improving life at work will require “time”, we warn those around him. Throughout the laborious debate on the pension reform, Elisabeth Borne and Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labor, planned to take up the broader subject of the relationship of the French to work by referring the various aspects (retraining, employment of seniors , usury, universal time savings account) to a “full employment” bill in the spring.
Scheduled for early June, this text will actually focus on France Travail, the future one-stop shop for all job seekers, and on the increased control of beneficiaries of active solidarity income (RSA). The sharing of business value will be the subject of a separate text. But to materialize the promise of the Head of State of a “pact of life at work”, the ball is now placed in the court of the social partners, responsible for defining a social agenda. Depending on the “credibility” of what will result, bills may be introduced “at the end of the year or the beginning of 2024”, according to Matignon. So speed up, but don’t rush.
New roadmap, new method: does Elisabeth Borne reiterate the commitment made at the end of March, in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), to no longer have recourse to the article of the Constitution which weakened? “The objective that I set for the future is not 49.3 outside the financial texts”, she announced, in the hope of getting out of the crisis triggered by the passage without a vote of the pension reform . A month later, his speech has changed. Now uncomfortable on this subject, she said, Wednesday, April 26, that avoiding 49.3 remained “her objective”, adding that “it is legitimate to use it”…
A withdrawal which follows the reservations expressed by Emmanuel Macron, on April 20, on the initiative of Matignon. “I am not responsible for the AFP interviews with the Prime Minister,” he told the press on the sidelines of a trip to Hérault. Under pressure, the head of government already knows that she could trigger 49.3 on financial texts, including the public finance programming law, even before the July 14 bell rings.
