The evidence has finally become clear, both for Emmanuel Macron and his followers, during the weeks of budget debate in the National Assembly: the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, will not follow in the footsteps of the President of the Republic, of whom, however, takes away its fragile legitimacy. Contrary to what he may have suggested to the Head of State during his appointment in September, the Savoyard does not consider himself bound by the economic policy applied by Emmanuel Macron since 2017.
Suddenly, Michel Barnier questioned, in the draft budget for 2025, two fundamentals of “ Macronomics » : the stability of corporate and household taxes, and exemptions from employer contributions. “On an economic level there has been a turning point, deplores the Renaissance deputy Charles Sitzenstuhl: The State is closing businesses. » If some Republicans (LR) have criticized Michel Barnier for not having broken sufficiently with Macronism, the questioning of these two foundations is considered a heresy in the eyes of the Macronists, which will soon have the effect of alarming them and slowing down growth. . and destroy jobs.
Especially since this is not what the two heads of the Executive initially agreed upon. The day after the legislative elections, while speaking discreetly with the secretary general of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler, the former European commissioner obtained the support of the latter following the line of Macronist orthodoxy. While a Xavier Bertrand or a Bernard Cazeneuve, expected for Matignon, show their firmness against the head of state defeated in the elections, the septuagenarian maintains a low profile, suggesting that he will be prime minister. “aligned”.
“Barnier was more skilled than the others”
His positioning during the 2021 LR primaries gives credibility to this position: in terms of pensions, he advocated postponing the legal retirement age to 65 years. At work, he 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”. He was also in favor of lower taxes, advocating in particular reducing taxes on production (“A typically French anomaly that weighs on our companies”stated) and reduce social charges on intermediate salaries. Enough to reassure the Head of State and Macronie.
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