This time, there it is. At the end of fourteen months of pandemic which claimed more than 100,000 victims in the country, France is preparing to reconnect with the “Life before”. Reopening of shops, cinemas, museums and terraces of bars and restaurants, curfew pushed back to 9 p.m., ramp-up of vaccination: with the second phase of deconfinement which begins Wednesday, May 19, France could finally turn the page on the Covid-19 crisis. At least that’s what Emmanuel Macron hopes.
The progressive and proactive schedule for this return to normal, announced three weeks ago despite a still high number of contaminations and overwhelmed hospital services, is proof of this. More than ever, the Head of State wants to show that he has not lost any of his momentum for transforming the country. He intends to impose an agenda that will allow him to complete his mandate other than as the “president of the Covid”. One year before the presidential election, the Elysee is thus seeking a final strong measure that would speak to the French, in line with what was its trademark during the 2017 presidential election: reform ambition.
“It’s the last mile theory. Standing still will not be the mantra of this past year, hammers the entourage of the head of state. It will not be a soft year. “
While the oppositions are preparing for 2022, the outgoing president has already drawn the beginnings of this last act in his interview given at the end of April to the regional daily press: “From the beginning of June”, he says he’s decided to “Resume [s]we stick pilgrim and go to the territories to take the pulse of the country “, all in “Invent[ant] a second step in the revival ” who would go through a “Drastic simplification and acceleration of investments”. A direct allusion to the great march which preceded his victory in 2017, but also to the great national debate established after the social crisis of “yellow vests”. The objective for Emmanuel Macron being to listen but also to test proposals.
“A balancing act”
Coming out of a historic recession, and while the extent of the recovery remains uncertain, the Head of State and his entourage are reflecting, from concordant sources, on a “Package” economic and social measures combining a second stimulus plan and far-reaching reforms. In any case, the budgetary dimension should not be a brake, one indicates within the executive, no offense to Bercy. “Politics is a balancing act”, we slip.
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