A candidate in the LR primary for the 2022 presidential election, the former European Commissioner appointed Prime Minister this Thursday wanted to straighten out public finances, displaying a liberal program.
He defines himself as “a social Gaullist”Michel Barnier, appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron this Thursday, September 5, two months after the legislative elections, will have to “to form a unifying government to serve the country”. A coalition to build, but on what program? If the new head of government did not speak immediately after his appointment, the former European Commissioner had defended a liberal economic policy, firm on sovereign issues, during his campaign for the primary of the right in 2021 – he had finished third. Overview of his main proposals at the time.
Retirement at 65
Denouncing the slippage in public spending during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, Michel Barnier advocated at the end of 2021 “a strict trajectory of savings, finally healthy management and control of debt”. “I will not make the unrealistic commitment to return to a balanced budget within five years, but to implement courageous reforms without delay.”he said in an interview with Point . First of them: “retirement at 65” a more ambitious program than the reform adopted by the Macronist majority in 2023. Now in power, he will probably not propose to repeal it, as the left is demanding.
Tax reductions
To stimulate the “return to work and activity, (…) key to growth”he recommended reducing production taxes by 10 billion euros, and lowering social charges on intermediate salaries, from 1.6 to 2.5 times the minimum wage. “All this is expensive, I know,” he acknowledged. “But betting on the return of work and activity is the key to growth.” He also planned to increase wages in the “essential public services of health and education”This was before the deficit slipped, reaching 5.5% of GDP in 2023.
Reduction of public spending
Michel Barnier wanted to reduce public spending in 2021. He advocated for a “greater state efficiency” and local authorities, “in particular to eliminate all our administrative duplicates”To finance his tax cuts, he also counted on the fight against social fraud, particularly in health insurance, and proposed to do this by replacing all Vitale cards with biometric cards, claiming that this would make it possible to:“save considerable sums” by deleting one “a real nest of fraud”.
Also readCould a biometric health card help combat social fraud?
Immigration: a “moratorium” […] from three to five years old”
The former European Commissioner had defended very firm positions on immigration and security: “We can’t repair anything, we can’t build anything without security and if it’s the smugglers and the judges who decide who can enter France and who can stay there”he stated in our columns in November 2021. Michel Barnier therefore proposed a “moratorium” on immigration from three to five years: this «pause» would be a “prerequisite to taking back control of our migration policy”he explained. With this in mind, the candidate wanted “stop unconditional regularization of undocumented immigrants”, “speed up the asylum seeker’s journey”tighten the criteria for family reunification, and reduce the issuing of long-stay visas. He also wanted a “immigration referendum”.
He had also surprised, even shocked, even his own camp, by advocating a referendum to allow a return to “freedom of maneuver” on immigration, suggesting that France should free itself from the rules guaranteed by the legal authorities of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Criticized, the person concerned had castigated “cry of alarm” and a “bad controversy”and maintained that in matters of immigration, “If we don’t change anything, there will be other Brexits”.
Institutions: no 6th Republic
In an interview with Le Point, the former minister showed himself to be opposed to a profound upheaval of the institutions, thus refusing to move towards a “institutional revolution”as La France Insoumise wishes for example. “Many evils result from current governance, not from institutions. We are not going to divide ourselves on institutional debates, any more than on social issues.”he snapped.
Energy: opposed to wind turbines
On the energy issue, Michel Barnier assured, like Emmanuel Macron, that he wanted to revive nuclear power and invest in renewable energies, such as photovoltaics, biomass and hydraulics. However, he attacked wind power, which would, according to him, “a lot of damage”.
Social: charge against “welfare”
Taking up a classic mantra of the right, the former minister said he wanted “encourage work and merit, to the detriment of welfare”in particular by suspending unemployment benefits “after two refusals of a reasonable offer”. He declared himself, however “much more concerned” of social dialogue that President Emmanuel Macron and advocated for the establishment of a “capped single social allowance […] so that the accumulation of social benefits in the event of inactivity is always lower than the salary that one could receive while working”.
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