SIf Michel Barnier denies any cohabitation with Emmanuel Macron, it is quite different with… Gabriel Attal. This is precisely what was shown on Tuesday 1is October, the general policy declaration of the new Prime Minister. Certainly, the former European commissioner insisted on the seriousness of the moment. But by assuming a clear break in terms of economic policy, he saw his predecessor at Matignon stand before him.
While for seven years, tax increases have been a red line for the Macronists, Michel Barnier has decided to ignore them. He thus intends to ask for a “limited time effort” from large companies and the “most fortunate French people”. If the middle classes should therefore be spared, for the companies and taxpayers concerned, the contours of these future taxes have not been specified. However, they will not be the only ones to contribute. To lower this dizzying wall of debt of 3,200 billion, Michel Barnier also intends to cut public spending. But again, no details on the upcoming cuts. The only details are that these savings will represent “two thirds” of the recovery effort and “particular attention” will be paid “to the most fragile. »
Michel Barnier intends to ask for a “limited time effort” from large companies and the “most fortunate French people”
“Threat to employment”
One thing is certain: this use of taxation is not at all to the taste of Gabriel Attal, now president of the Macronist group in the Assembly; the pivotal group of this central bloc on which the Barnier government rests in unstable balance. The former Prime Minister’s response to his successor was scathing: “We will not support anything that could be done to the detriment of growth and purchasing power. » And to drive the point home: “Even by targeting only very large companies, we can threaten millions of jobs. »And to insist: “We will choose savings rather than choosing taxes. » Better still, Gabriel Attal delivered his own savings ideas on “daily allowances”, “medical transport”, “unemployment expenses”… He also did not hesitate to explain to Michel Barnier what he had to do: “The strategy must be as follows: create wealth through work, reduce spending, fight fraud, adjust our taxation, and in that order. »
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Trust
And the economy will not be the only source of tension. On security and immigration, the coming weeks also promise to be lively between the central bloc and the Republican right, Michel Barnier’s home base. Certainly, this Tuesday, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his attachment to the rule of law, thus reframing his Minister of the Interior, the very right-wing Bruno Retailleau. Who, on Sunday, did not hesitate to declare that the rule of law was “neither intangible nor sacred”.
Here again, Gabriel Attal did not let it pass. “We can have strong words but without hysterizing all the time,” he replied from the Assembly platform. On the other hand, he will support continuing to build new gendarmes, reduce trial times, control immigration and reopen the difficult issue of juvenile justice, in particular the minority excuse. Gabriel Attal reminded Michel Barnier: “Trust cannot be decreed, it is built. » This promises…
