Borne: “we must not hide the gravity of the situation”

Avoiding economic subjects at the economic meetings of Aix-en-Provence, the approach has something ironic about it. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, guest of this Saturday July 9 of the great annual raout of the circle of economists, in the amphitheater 1 of the park Jourdan, centered her speech – 15 minutes calibrated financing, without questions and answers – on the importance of education, “our first common good”.

Underlining her conviction that “the French system knows how to produce excellence”, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of reforming it. “Too many young people who had not found their place and leave having lost confidence in everything.” She recalled the importance of transmitting the fundamentals, “reading, writing, counting, and respecting others” and outlined avenues for new essential knowledge, such as coding. Ambitions that would go through the upgrading and transformation of the teaching profession, more autonomy for establishments, and a reform of training – projects already underway during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, suggesting that the education would be one of the key issues for the next five years.

Serious energy situation

Concerning the soaring energy prices following the war in Ukraine, the minister acknowledged: “we must not hide the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves.” “We want to get out of fossil fuels as quickly as possible”, she recalled, in particular by developing a logic of sobriety, and by accelerating “on the drop in consumption, the renovation of housing and decarbonization of industry”. After the disruptions of 40% of Russian gas deliveries to France, Germany and Italy, the minister stressed the importance of preparing for a more difficult situation in the near future. For the Minister, crises are just as many “opportunities to strengthen our sovereignty and create jobs in our territories: “sProducing fossil fuels also means guaranteeing long-term purchasing power for our fellow citizens.”

Hope for a return to the 3% rule

During her general policy speech, a few days earlier, Elisabeth Borne had announced one of the purchasing power measures, mitigating the effects of inflation, and above all the nationalization of EDF. Here too, little had been said about the government’s strategy to curb the French debt, which was close to 115% of GDP in June 2022, against 100% of GDP at the start of Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term. The minister had mentioned, in the abstract, the importance of “bringing the public deficit below 3%” while promising not to increase taxes. The deficit reached 6.5% of GDP in 2021, compared to 2.3% of GDP in 2018.

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