Michel Barnier put the folder containing the speech he was going to read under his arm and walked the 950 meters that separate the Matignon Palace, seat of the French Government, from the National Assembly. Some passersby stopped him and encouraged him, as if the new prime minister was heading to the front of a war. Among his papers, the conservative politician, a member of Los Republicanos (LR), carried the general policy declaration, a road map for a mandate that no one knows how long it will last, but to which everyone predicts a fleeting life. The shortest, probably, in the history of the Fifth Republic. Partly for that reason, Barnier got straight to the point as soon as he took the stand, where he remained for an hour and 23 minutes outlining his program. “The true sword of Damocles that weighs on France is our colossal debt (…) which, if we are not careful, will place the country on the brink of the precipice,” he announced under the inquisitive gaze of those who will decide his fate: the extreme right of Marine Le Pen and the New Popular Front (NFP), the group of left-wing parties that have already announced that they will vote on a motion of no confidence.
The law provides for the possibility of the prime minister submitting to a vote of confidence on the day of the general policy speech, something like the investiture debate. But Barnier, who right now is a tightrope walker trying not to fall from the cable that joins the benches of the extreme right to the extreme left, preferred not to take that risk. His speech—long and lukewarm in terms of proposals—was a balancing act, with messages on both sides. It’s time to survive. And to the left he promised to review the controversial pension law, which extends retirement to 64 years of age. “Reasonable accommodations,” he called it. On the right, however, he comforted her with his harshness on the immigration issue, ensuring that “it is not being managed satisfactorily.” The prime minister also pointed out that he wants the European Immigration and Asylum Pact to be put into practice urgently to deal with asylum claims at the EU’s external borders and for the Frontex agency to be in charge of supervising those borders.
Barnier, who has appointed an Interior Minister – Bruno Retailleau – who shares the majority of the extreme right’s thesis on immigration, assured that France will try to restrict visas for those countries that are reluctant to welcome their expelled nationals. In addition, the Government will work to achieve more efficient processing of asylum applications and will facilitate an “exceptional extension” of the detention of migrants in an irregular situation to accelerate expulsion orders. The Republicans, the party to which Barnier belongs, have presented a bill to increase the maximum period of detention of migrants to 135 days instead of the current 90 days.
But it is difficult to please everyone, and Marine Le Pen frowned and then called for a new immigration law, while the left confirmed with enormous belligerence that it will sign a motion of censure against the Executive. “The Republic does not love monarchs, much less absolute monarchs,” said Mathilde Panot, president of the La Francia Insumisa group.
The day, like almost all those that France has insisted on experiencing in recent months since Emmanuel Macron decided to call elections, was publicized as an unprecedented moment. And Barnier, who tried to send ideological winks to all the sensitivities that make up a fragmented chamber of 577 deputies, did not skimp on adjectives to also point out its “seriousness.” The Chief Executive began by quoting General De Gaulle, his childhood idol and political reference, when in the midst of the Nazi invasion and from London he asked the French: “I ask you to do a lot with little, starting from almost nothing.” The murmuring began there, the whistles from the left bench. Also a protest by the deputies of La Francia Insumisa, who brandished the electoral ballots to denounce that the result of the elections has not been respected. Barnier continued unchanged, with a broken voice. And “doing a lot with little,” the deputies of the chamber confirmed shortly after, will first consist of increasing revenue.
Barnier, aware of the threat that hangs over his Government, wanted to return the ball to those who question its duration. The prime minister recalled that this year the public deficit will reach 6%. “And in 2025, if nothing is done, it will be even greater. It is serious because the figures have nothing to do with those at the beginning of the year. The situation weakens us. We spend more on interest than on Defense or Research. We have no choice. We need responsibility and find margins to reduce that debt.”
The economic situation in France is critical. The country is already paying for its debt like Spain or Portugal, as Barnier himself recalled. “We want to reduce the deficit to 5% in 2025. How to do it? “I will not tell lies,” he announced before beginning some of the measures he plans to implement. “We will not fall into the temptation of everything subsidized or everything free. You have to give up magic money. But we will make decisions with attention to the most fragile, with local communities: not against them or without them,” he said. “Our taxes are among the highest in the world. Today we will ask for an effort from large companies with a great benefit,” he announced, also pointing out the possibility of taxing large fortunes and the need to fight more actively against tax fraud.
