Strict immigration control, retirement at 65, fight against“assistantship” : During his campaign for the 2021 right-wing primaries, the new Prime Minister (Les Républicains) Michel Barnier defended a liberal economic policy accompanied by great firmness in sovereign areas. Who defines himself as “social gaullist” had finished in third place in this primary, won by Valérie Pécresse. Here is a summary of the positions she presented at the time.
Immigration
The former European Commissioner had defended very firm positions on immigration and security: “We do not repair anything, we do not build anything without security and it is the smugglers and the judges who decide who can enter France and who can stay there”He stated to Figaro in November 2021.
Mr. Barnier therefore proposed a “moratorium” on immigration from three to five years: this ” break “ would be a “A prerequisite for regaining control of our immigration policy”He explained. In this sense, the candidate wanted “Stop the unconditional regularization of undocumented immigrants”, “speeding up the asylum seeker’s journey”tightening the criteria for family reunification and reducing the issuance of long-stay visas.
Moreover, he had surprised, even scandalized, even his own camp, by advocating a referendum to allow a rediscovery of “freedom of movement” on immigration, thus suggesting that France should free itself from the rules guaranteed by the legal bodies of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Criticised, the person concerned had punished “horrible screams” and one “bad controversy”and argued that on immigration, “If we don’t change anything, there will be other Brexits”.
Economy and Finance
The candidate for the 2022 presidential elections promised at the time a “strict savings trajectory” for the state budget and a “debt control”. To stimulate the “return to work and activity, (…) key to growth »recommended reducing taxes on production by 10 billion euros and reducing social charges on intermediate wages, from 1.6 to 2.5 minimum wages, while planning to increase wages in the “essential public health and education services”.
follower of “brave reforms”Mr. Barnier suggested “the transition to retirement at age 65” and one “greater state efficiency” and local communities, “in particular to eliminate all our administrative duplication”.
Social
Reciting a classic right-wing mantra, the former minister said he wanted “encourage work and merit, to the detriment of assistantship”in particular by suspending unemployment benefits “after two rejections of a reasonable offer”. It was also declared “much more worried” of social dialogue that President Macron.
Barnier also said he wanted to fight social fraud, particularly in the field of health insurance, and to do so proposed replacing all Vitale cards with biometric cards for“save considerable amounts of money” removing one “a real nest of fraud”.
Atmosphere
“We will reduce agricultural pollution with farmers, not against them. We will decarbonize the economy with companies, not against them”said the former minister, who proposed a “Great national plan for home insulation”Mr Barnier also said he wanted “relaunch” nuclear energy and investment in renewable energy, such as photovoltaic, biomass and hydroelectric, but not in wind energy “which causes a lot of damage”.
