REPLAY: French PM delivers government statement amid farmers protest crisis
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [Applause]
00:03 Madame la Présidente,
00:05 Mesdames et Messieurs, Mesdames et Messieurs,
00:06 Madame Speaker,
00:08 Ladies and Gentlemen,
00:11 Any human society's characteristic is precisely that it turns ahead
00:16 and looks at its future,
00:18 looks at its model,
00:20 and looks at what must be amended
00:25 and finds the right solutions.
00:26 A society never gets lost when it forges ahead.
00:30 It never gets lost when it asks questions,
00:34 only when doubt and questions seize you,
00:38 block you, stop you,
00:39 prevent you from looking at the future
00:41 and force you to doubt about yourself,
00:43 of your strength, your abilities.
00:45 [Applause]
00:55 I was born in 1989,
01:00 the year we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution,
01:05 a year in which we believed that democracy,
01:09 liberal democracy and progress would triumph.
01:12 But my generation has seen that the opposite has occurred.
01:16 Indeed, my generation can see its world, our world,
01:20 be changed and overhauled more than ever before.
01:23 It is a generation full of doubt about the future,
01:26 about the planet, about its identity,
01:30 about who we are as a people, as a country here in France,
01:34 questions and doubts about our social model,
01:36 about our public services, about our democracy.
01:40 Our duty, our responsibility is for each and every one of us
01:45 to try and find the ways and means to overcome these doubts.
01:49 The reason we are here today, all working together,
01:53 despite our differences, is that we share something
01:57 that thousands of our fellow citizens share too.
02:01 We see more reasons to work together than to doubt.
02:05 We want to take up these challenges and forge ahead.
02:08 Take them up and forge ahead.
02:10 [Applause]
02:18 Members of the Assembly, when I speak here today,
02:21 I am in fact addressing each and every one of our fellow citizens.
02:25 And through you, I am telling all our fellow citizens
02:29 that we are not just any country.
02:31 France has never been, is not, has never been,
02:34 and will never be a country that sees things imposed on it.
02:39 [Applause]
02:45 At the worst times, at the worst times of doubt and despair
02:49 and disunion, we have shown that we are separate
02:53 and distinct from any other country.
02:55 In 2024, we will be celebrating the 80th anniversary
02:58 of the Normandy landing, a support to Frenchmen
03:04 who never gave up on France.
03:06 In 2024, we will reopen the Cathedral of Notre-Dame,
03:11 even though the French still remember these pictures,
03:14 these awful pictures.
03:16 In 2024, we will be welcoming the world,
03:20 a world that has been divided and disturbed,
03:24 but we will be welcoming them for the Olympic Games
03:27 and Paralympic Games.
03:28 [Applause]
03:30 France is power.
03:33 France is a refuge, an ideal, a heritage,
03:36 the embodiment of centuries, millennia-old history,
03:41 the home of human rights, a social and protection model
03:45 that so many are jealous of across the world.
03:49 [Applause]
03:52 France is the country of creation, a creation we support,
03:55 which we shine by and radiate by, research,
04:00 research which has so many resources,
04:03 innovation for the future and the country of 2030.
04:07 France is young people daring, forging ahead.
04:10 France is about these families, these single-parent families,
04:16 single mothers who never give up.
04:17 We are our teachers, our law enforcement, our servicemen
04:22 who are committed for something greater than they are.
04:25 It is all about our craftsmen, our farmers, our fishermen
04:29 who are working day in, day out to feed us.
04:32 [Applause]
04:40 France is about our local elected officials
04:44 of which I have been one for the last decade
04:46 who commit and work for everyone.
04:49 France is 68 million French here,
04:52 mainland France, in our overseas territories and beyond,
04:57 people who will always surprise us.
04:59 In this world that is changing,
05:01 I do not want our identity to be lost.
05:04 France has a position to maintain, a voice to make heard.
05:10 We have this French pride that we have to maintain,
05:14 this European pride that we have to build upon.
05:19 The geographical, climatic, climate and geopolitical changes
05:28 mean that we cannot afford to get lost in this world.
05:32 It is difficult times, times of transition,
05:37 but we will overcome and manage this transition.
05:40 I am very much convinced of this indeed.
05:42 Some consider that this is the end of us.
05:46 I see that it is our rebirth.
05:48 Those who see that we will be lost in it,
05:52 we know where our course leads us.
05:55 [Applause]
06:03 Some consider that we are losing our course,
06:06 but I say that we are determined, determined and confident,
06:10 confident because I know what we have done since 2017,
06:14 the difficulties we have overcome.
06:16 Order.
06:19 I am confident because I know the French,
06:25 I know how energetic, how hardworking they are,
06:29 because I know that our country has always picked itself up
06:33 in times of crisis.
06:35 The COVID epidemic has highlighted a number of divides in our country
06:41 and we have overcome much better than other countries have.
06:48 [Applause]
06:52 Climate change is affecting us more often and more hardly.
06:56 Disasters are more often and more common.
07:02 However, it is the first time in history that greenhouse gas emissions
07:07 have dropped so significantly, never more so than last year.
07:12 The war in Ukraine has destroyed the dream of eternal peace in Europe,
07:24 but it has shown us that democracy is an ideal we have,
07:28 a fragile one, an ideal we have to defend.
07:31 It has given us an opportunity to express our support to Ukraine.
07:37 The war in the Middle East has reopened divides even in our own country,
07:43 but we have to address it against hatred and show our unity.
07:50 All these crises are intermingling and there is no silver bullet
07:58 to fight against them, but together with the French,
08:00 we will be methodical and address them.
08:02 For many in France, future holds more concerns than promises in the future.
08:08 Many feel that they are losing a grip on their own life.
08:12 Together with the President and the government,
08:14 I cannot and will not admit that.
08:17 [Applause]
08:26 For all these French, we will take up these challenges
08:29 and forge ahead, not just through grand speeches,
08:33 but by action, swift, practical, concrete actions
08:38 to change things on the ground and in people's lives.
08:41 Ladies and gentlemen, our majority, our government's identity
08:51 is precisely to focus on re-grasping,
08:55 rebuilding our French and European identity.
08:58 Our promise to the French is very clear.
09:02 The promise we make is the following.
09:04 We want to take a grip once again on our future
09:08 and we can rely on practical, concrete, strong actions in the past.
09:14 Up until 2017, my generation had only experienced
09:18 disindustrialisation, increased unemployment.
09:26 In 2017, you could say that the sovereignty of France
09:29 and of Europe had not been thought through.
09:32 For some, it was even an insult.
09:34 But we assume, we take on our responsibilities
09:39 and agree to speak about sovereignty.
09:41 It is at the heart of our actions, economic sovereignty,
09:46 with industries being re-established and rebuilt here in our country,
09:52 despite the doomsayers.
09:53 [Applause]
10:00 Despite what the prophets of doom are saying,
10:03 there are more factories opening in France,
10:06 more jobs being created than destroyed.
10:09 This is the first time it's happening in 30 years.
10:13 Unemployment has gone down to its lowest for the last 25 years
10:18 and for the fifth year running,
10:21 our country is the most attractive and appealing country in Europe
10:24 for foreign investment.
10:26 We have engaged committed action to fight against climate change
10:33 and re-establish energy independence.
10:35 An energy policy for a sovereign and lasting source of energy.
10:42 We looked at the sovereignty on our borders,
10:45 the immigration law and the immigration compact in Europe
10:50 that is at long last protecting our country.
10:53 We have started a determined action,
10:58 even though it will take long,
10:59 so that our fellow citizens can take hold of their own lives.
11:06 And we have initiated actions
11:12 to establish agricultural sovereignty for our country.
11:17 Again, farming in France is a strength,
11:20 not only because it feeds us quite literally,
11:23 but also because it lies at the heart of our traditions,
11:26 because our farmers embody basic and fundamental values,
11:33 the value of hard work, the freedom of enterprise, for instance.
11:44 Our agriculture in France is a cause for pride and is our strength.
11:49 There is and must be a French exception in farming.
11:56 I'm very much aware of the pile-up of standards and regulations.
12:04 The farming industry is in doubt and is expecting answers.
12:09 We will be there to address them.
12:11 Quite clearly.
12:12 Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen,
12:15 quiet, please, quiet, please.
12:17 As I address you, I'm very much aware of what must be done.
12:24 I want to address the French who are full of doubt,
12:27 full of despair, who are listening but not believing.
12:29 These middle-class people who never complain,
12:37 even though they feel they are always under pressure.
12:40 These people who feel that they have all the obligations
12:44 and no entitlements, who feel that their country
12:48 is drifting away from them,
12:50 even though they are at the heart of our country.
12:53 These people in the middle, too wealthy to benefit,
12:58 but not enough to rely on them.
13:01 People who feel that the decisions are always circumventing them.
13:06 These French people who sometimes feel that France
13:11 is a collection of islands, disjointed and disconnected,
13:16 but who still hope that they will be connected.
13:20 People who want to be able to live off their wages,
13:25 educate their people, their children, and live in safety.
13:30 I hear them.
13:31 I can hear them and will bring them up,
13:35 but I will not let them be convinced by those
13:45 who would just lead us to destruction and chaos.
13:48 We know that as we act, many are hoping to benefit
13:53 from the grapes of wrath.
13:56 I would like to thank my ministers for their unwavering dedication
14:03 to the cause.
14:04 I realize also what a clear message the French gave us in 2022.
14:11 I pay tribute to our majority,
14:15 a majority which is only a plurality in Parliament.
14:21 For the last 18 months since 2022,
14:26 we have managed to work together and to achieve our goals.
14:31 I would like to say to the majority and to the opposition
14:35 that we share France.
14:36 France is ours, our shared country,
14:39 and we have to overcome our divisions
14:40 for the benefit of our fellow citizens.
14:44 We will not agree on everything.
14:50 We will challenge each other here in the Chamber
14:55 and in other places,
14:56 but I can say that my door will always be open.
14:59 Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, members of the opposition,
15:03 millions of French people speak through you
15:08 and are convinced that you shouldn't drown out people's voices
15:12 by shouting over them in the Chamber.
15:16 This is the way I want my government to work.
15:25 Respect for the French, respect for Parliament,
15:27 respect for the opposition.
15:30 This is my commitment.
15:31 My approach has always been the same.
15:33 Every Frenchman is the bearer of a share of truth.
15:39 Our fellow citizens, the parties, the unions carry this too,
15:46 and ever since I have been appointed,
15:48 I have spoken and discussed issues with them.
15:57 My priority is the following.
15:59 I want to bring people closer to work
16:01 and make sure that those who are in work
16:04 can live off their work and wages.
16:08 My cause is clear and firm.
16:12 It is a cause of sovereignty and independence
16:16 for individuals, for the country,
16:19 and on the international stage.
16:22 I also want to go on speaking the truth,
16:25 even when that is painful,
16:27 and acting, acting genuinely, acting now.
16:30 Addressing the French means hearing full calls
16:37 made by them for work,
16:39 so that work can pay more than being out of work,
16:43 for public services also,
16:46 so that they can be of high quality
16:47 and available to all,
16:48 for authority and civic behaviour,
16:50 access to duties and obligations everywhere,
16:53 and for an environment that is a clearer environment
16:56 where we can breathe better here and everywhere.
17:00 We have not, I can say it,
17:02 given up on the establishment of new rights
17:05 for work, for environmental transition.
17:11 Our starting point is actually quite good.
17:13 Following the course set by the President,
17:17 we have committed reforms.
17:20 I'd like to thank Edouard Philippe,
17:23 Jean Castex and Elizabeth Bourne,
17:25 who have worked so hard
17:29 and committed their public action to the government,
17:32 to the state as a whole and the country as a whole.
17:34 I want to pay tribute to all those MPs
17:39 and senators who have overcome party political divides
17:43 to push legislation forward.
17:46 Ever since 2017,
17:49 we have shown that mass unemployment is not a given.
17:52 We undertook strong reforms
17:57 with labour legislation
17:59 from the very beginning of the term of office of the President.
18:04 The contracts for young people,
18:07 we've reduced taxes,
18:09 reworked on technical and vocational training,
18:14 100,000 jobs in industry,
18:16 300 factories being reopened,
18:19 apprenticeships increasing to reach about 850,000
18:26 and soon to be 1 million people in apprenticeship.
18:30 Since 2017, we have acted for our public services,
18:36 for health with the 19 billion euros,
18:39 with pay increases for health carers,
18:44 increasing the numbers of places in health training.
18:50 We've reduced class sizes,
18:53 increased the wages of our teachers.
18:58 The greatest increase over the last 30 years,
19:01 for our security,
19:02 we've invested in 10,000 positions of policemen and gendarmes.
19:08 In the first five years,
19:11 we will increase more in the next five years.
19:15 Security is for everyone,
19:17 even out in the countryside and in small towns.
19:21 Since 2017 and for the benefit of the planet,
19:29 we have been acting,
19:31 acting more than any government before us.
19:33 Before 2017, greenhouse gases were dropping by 1% a year.
19:39 Over the first five years in office,
19:43 they have gone down 2% per annum.
19:47 And over the first nine months of last year,
19:50 they have gone down 5%.
19:51 This is to be put to our credit
19:55 as concerns environmental action.
19:58 As the president has said,
19:59 we now have a full sectoral strategy
20:04 and a strategy that is also localised.
20:09 We'll be investing 40 billion this year
20:11 in environmental transition.
20:14 Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen,
20:16 we have done much,
20:17 but there is still much to do.
20:19 My government and I are determined to act.
20:21 We must address the concerns of the middle classes.
20:24 We have to make sure that those who are in work
20:28 earn more than those who are not in work.
20:30 We must take up the issue of vacant jobs.
20:34 Why is it that unemployment is at 7%
20:37 when there are so many industries
20:39 looking to hire across the country?
20:42 There is a French paradox with minimum wage
20:51 much higher than it is in our neighbouring countries.
20:55 And we are proud of that.
20:57 But we have so many more people on wages
21:02 around minimum wage than in...
21:06 ...other countries.
21:08 Industries will be called upon to increase wages
21:12 above the minimum wage.
21:15 60 or so industries were called upon to do so last year.
21:19 30 are left.
21:20 With the increase in minimum wage on 1 January,
21:25 a number of people have fallen below the minimum wage.
21:28 And we hope that this can be addressed and amended.
21:32 And I will not exclude any possibility of action to do so.
21:36 We must also, as I was saying, address another issue.
21:44 We have for too many years focused only on minimum wage.
21:50 Today, to increase by 100 euros someone on minimum wage,
21:57 the employers have to pay 238 euros.
22:01 And workers themselves lose something like 40 euros.
22:06 So I am saying that our system,
22:10 however well-meaning it is,
22:12 is such that there is no need now or no rationale now
22:18 to increase anyone's wages if they are on minimum wage
22:23 or thereabouts.
22:24 And these people will stay at these pay levels
22:27 for their entire lives.
22:30 This is not right.
22:34 Increasing wages is something that must go with recognition,
22:40 with promotion of merit.
22:42 We have therefore to reform this.
22:47 And we will do so by relying on the proposals
22:51 of a number of parliamentarians and reports.
22:55 But at the same time, we must relieve the middle classes
23:01 of taxes.
23:06 As the President said, we will reduce taxes on these people
23:12 by 2 billion euros all in all.
23:15 Recognising work is not just for people,
23:22 for salaried workers, but also for government workers.
23:27 We will compensate their work and hard work
23:31 and recognise their merit to a piece of legislation
23:36 will be submitted in the summer.
23:39 We recognise that in 2026,
23:43 we must amend the social contributions system
23:52 and basis for independent workers,
23:56 for freelance workers.
23:59 We want to give them better opportunities for retirement
24:03 without increasing their taxes.
24:05 Once again, I want to improve the rights
24:12 and responsibilities of all.
24:14 As concerns unemployment, for instance,
24:17 we have changed the employment support
24:23 and job seekers' practices across the country
24:28 with a number of pilot schemes,
24:31 which we will roll out by 2025.
24:34 We must also further reform unemployment benefit.
24:38 We hope that the proposal made
24:45 to protect the good health of our older workers
24:50 can succeed.
24:51 I will be extremely mindful of the course
24:59 of the financial situation
25:02 of the unemployment benefit insurance.
25:07 If things get out of hand, as the legislation allows,
25:13 I will amend it so that people can be incentivised
25:19 to go back into work.
25:20 We will also fight against any joblessness traps.
25:25 We rolled out a reform of taxes
25:32 and we will reform benefits payments
25:38 so that everyone can enjoy all the payments
25:43 that they are entitled to.
25:44 What does this mean?
25:46 It means that with support and benefits on payment,
25:53 everyone will be able to enjoy the benefits
26:03 they are entitled to.
26:08 Pension must always be the result of hard work
26:15 and we will look for a reform of pension payments
26:20 and pension entitlements.
26:25 Access to work is also a yearning
26:30 for many of our fellow citizens.
26:32 I can see amongst people in my generation
26:35 and in others that the expectations are different,
26:38 as concerns workload and work-life balance.
26:41 This is something that we must not neglect.
26:43 No one is asking for an entitlement
26:49 and a right to laziness.
26:50 Of course not.
26:52 These yearnings and aspirations focus on time,
27:06 on the use of time.
27:08 The same models cannot be applied
27:10 generation after generation.
27:11 Things change.
27:12 Technologies are changing also
27:15 and bring about a new divide
27:17 between those who can work from home
27:20 and those who cannot.
27:21 As Minister of Public Accounts,
27:25 I had suggested that we have a four-day working week.
27:36 Without charging the workload,
27:37 covering that same amount of work over four days.
27:42 A number of people tried to do so.
27:45 As Prime Minister, I would like to call on my ministers
27:48 to try and roll out this experiment
27:52 in government departments
27:54 and in government services across the country.
27:59 The state must set an example.
28:04 A number of people, cleaning people,
28:10 have to work and take transport and commute
28:15 for hours at night
28:17 to avoid bumping into the people
28:23 they are cleaning the facilities for.
28:25 I am saying that these people should be entitled
28:28 to come and clean the offices at the time
28:33 during business hours
28:35 when people are there and working.
28:36 The universal time credit account
28:44 is something we must work on.
28:46 Colleagues, please, there's a constant rumbling noise.
28:50 Would you please calm down?
28:52 Prime Minister, you have the floor.
28:55 Madam Speaker, I think they have understood
29:00 that I will not stop or pause this.
29:02 Despite their gruntings, I will forge ahead.
29:05 We will, as I said,
29:14 work on this universal time credit account,
29:22 which means that people can work more
29:24 when they are young, for instance,
29:27 and don't have families to care for,
29:29 and maybe work less later on
29:32 so as to care for their children
29:35 or care for their relatives.
29:39 New freedoms, new realities
29:43 means fighting against rent.
29:46 We will open up a number of jobs and professions
29:57 in a piece of legislation introduced in the spring.
30:01 I've been told, and many of you will agree,
30:04 that we have to open up housing.
30:09 The housing sector is all about supply and demand.
30:14 Many French want to be able to purchase their home
30:21 so as to have some kind of property and wealth
30:26 to rely on for later on in life.
30:29 We will streamline a number of pieces of legislation
30:35 and regulations on zoning,
30:37 on a number of criteria to be met
30:44 for the sale of property.
30:48 We will free up land to create 30,000 new housing units.
30:59 As we did for the Olympic Games.
31:00 We will also reacquisition empty buildings
31:04 or empty office buildings, as we have done,
31:06 and we will go on doing so.
31:07 In social housing, we have been supportive
31:11 by working on the savings plan that can finance this.
31:17 We also want to address the structural causes
31:20 of social housing.
31:23 A 2 billion euro credit line has been opened
31:28 with the Banque du Territoire.
31:29 We want to have things changed
31:33 so that elected officials can develop new programmes.
31:38 And indeed, mayors will be entitled to allocate
31:42 social housing on an initial application.
31:48 This is something that local officials
31:50 have been waiting for a long time.
31:52 We will also initiate a social housing consideration
31:58 and studies to make sure that they can address
32:00 the middle classes.
32:03 As you know, towns and cities have to have
32:07 25% of social housing
32:12 on the territory of the local authority,
32:17 and we hope to include, we will include in this 25%
32:19 accessible and affordable housing for middle classes.
32:26 We need to open up, ungrid the country,
32:28 but I also want to cut on red tape.
32:30 I want to lighten the burden of rules and regulations
32:36 that burden the people who create jobs
32:40 and create businesses.
32:42 Every year, 60 billion euros are lost in red tape.
32:50 In the autumn, we will initiate a new phase
32:55 of the labour legislation to free up the SMEs
33:01 and enable them to negotiate a number of rules
33:04 in the companies and in the companies themselves.
33:09 Across the country, people are telling us
33:13 how stifled they feel because of the regulations.
33:18 I'm thinking of the farmers, the small business owners,
33:22 the local officials who are swamped by red tape.
33:28 There are 44 million words on the online database
33:40 to cover and describe the rules and standards.
33:45 That's twice as many as 20 years ago.
33:47 We have to reduce the red tape in the country.
33:53 With the French, with the elected officials,
33:55 we will look at things that can be improved.
33:58 Nothing is off limits.
34:00 What I want to do is to make sure that the French
34:02 can live freely, doing away with rules and regulations
34:06 as possible.
34:08 Last Friday, I announced 10 such rules being disbanded.
34:16 Over the last week or so, in Haute-Garonne,
34:20 the prefect and the farmers came to an agreement
34:25 on repealing four prefectural orders.
34:29 This is an approach that can be rolled out across the country.
34:32 Reducing red tape is something that we can do.
34:38 I can tell you that by the end of this year,
34:41 you will be able to file a complaint online
34:46 wherever you are in France.
34:48 Can I also add that any public body that hasn't met
34:57 over the last 12 months will be disbanded, as a rule.
35:10 Lastly, whole swathes of our economy are calling
35:16 for simplifications, drastic simplification,
35:21 amongst other things, to bring back industry.
35:24 Why so?
35:25 Because red tape is time wasted and less investment.
35:30 Fewer investments, indeed.
35:32 It takes 17 months on average to set up
35:36 an industrial project in France.
35:38 It's half that in Germany.
35:40 Things cannot go on like that.
35:42 With the Green Industry Bill,
35:45 we had an initial stage in this approach.
35:49 We will be introducing a second Green Industry Bill
35:54 and the CNDP will focus solely on
36:00 countrywide scale projects.
36:05 Less red tape means more freedom for everyone.
36:11 Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen,
36:14 opening up and cutting on red tape,
36:19 yes, of course, but this serves one purpose only,
36:24 rearming our country.
36:26 To do so, we have to have
36:30 responsibility in our budget practice.
36:33 Why so?
36:34 Because what is at stake is indeed the protection
36:36 of the weakest, our social benefit system
36:40 and our future.
36:45 Otherwise, the middle classes will be the first victims.
36:52 The best way to reduce debt is to reduce it.
36:57 The best way to reduce deficit will be through growth and work.
37:04 Some consider that growth is a bad word
37:10 and taxation seems to be their only solution.
37:15 You wanted to tax retired people's wealth
37:21 or tax extra hours.
37:26 Well, if you tax everything, nothing's taxable anymore
37:29 and you won't be cashing in on anything.