Macron wants to start over

DrAnthem, most TV stations fade away at the Elysee Palace. It’s eight in the evening in France and the president is addressing his countrymen in an official address. The ritual seems more royal than ever, but the message Emmanuel Macron It is a completely new one. “Together we must learn to govern differently and make different laws,” he says. This is the first time the president has addressed the French since losing an absolute majority in Sunday’s general election.

Voters were slapped in the face. The president, who loved the role of the Republican monarch, wants to start over. “We have to find new compromises through dialogue, listening and respect,” he says. He promised this in the citizens’ dialogue after the yellow vest crisis, but he quickly forgot it.

Macron did not mention the far right

On Wednesday evening, Macron turned his attention to Europe, “to other Western democracies”, where it has long been the case that no one party alone can make laws. Lists Germany and Italy. Addresses coalition charter or majority change. “It would be possible to find a wide majority for work,” he says. He wants to prevent a permanent siege. “Our country needs ambitious reforms.” He warns that additional spending on health care and climate protection, as well as emergency measures in the face of high inflation, cannot be financed through more debt or higher taxes. Macron expects the various factions in the National Assembly to reveal “with complete transparency” “how far they are willing to go”.

From conversations with officials of the most important parliamentary blocs, he got the impression that cooperation is possible. Macron did not mention the far right. He also received Marine Le Pen in an interview at the Elysee Palace. Several prominent voices from the presidential camp, including Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti, did not want to rule out cooperation with the far-right National Rally (RN). And Europe Minister Clement Bonn strongly opposed this: “We will not conclude an agreement with the National Assembly.”

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