Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire leaving the Elysee Palace on August 23, 2023 in Paris (AFP/Bertrand GUAY)
The Minister of the Economy, the Prime Minister and even the president by videoconference: the figures of the executive crowd Monday and Tuesday at the start of the Medef, a few days after having offended the employers by slowing down the disappearance of a tax of production.
Elisabeth Borne (Matignon), Olivier Dussopt (Labour), Clément Beaune (Transport), Bruno Le Maire (Economy and Finance), Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Energy transition), Thomas Cazenave (Public accounts)… A dozen members of the government are expected at the Longchamp racecourse, in western Paris, for the Meeting of French Entrepreneurs (REF).
They will be preceded by the Head of State Emmanuel Macron, who will inaugurate the summer high mass of employers on Monday afternoon with a video message. A speech from which the President of the Republic had refrained in recent years.
His pre-recorded speech will undoubtedly be an opportunity to reaffirm to the business world that the government, in search of savings to complete its next budget, will not deviate “not one inch” from the business-friendly policy implemented since 2017. , as promised Thursday by Bruno Le Maire.
Real or overplayed, doubt was instilled in the minds of the bosses after the government decided to stagger until 2027 the abolition of the Contribution on the added value of companies (CVAE), a tax initially supposed to disappear completely in 2024.
Elected in July to the presidency of Medef, Patrick Martin thus underlined Sunday in Le Figaro how much “fiscal instability” was “the enemy of companies”.
The new president of Medef, Patrick Martin, on July 6, 2023 in Meudon, in the Hauts-de-Seine (AFP/Archives/Ludovic MARIN)
“When a commitment is made and announced, it is imperative that it be respected”, warned on Tuesday the secretary general of the Confederation of small and medium-sized enterprises (CPME) Jean-Eudes du Mesnil du Buisson, calling to seek rather savings in the public service.
The 4 billion CVAE remaining to be eliminated “represent only 0.4% of public expenditure. Do not be led to believe that we cannot find this saving elsewhere”, thunders Patrick Martin.
“I will say it again in a constructive attitude to the Prime Minister”, promised the number 1 of Medef, who must speak on Monday just before the head of government.
In addition to tax issues, Patrick Martin should speak in his speech of ecological transition, reindustrialization and autonomous social dialogue between unions and employers, indicates his entourage.
– Tomorrow never dies –
From Tourcoing (North), Elisabeth Borne for her part said on Sunday that “from part-time work suffered to poorly paid jobs, through career progression and the fight against discrimination, we expect a lot from companies.”
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in Tourcoing, August 27, 2023 in the North (AFP / FRANCOIS LO PRESTI)
A year after her first intervention at the REF in her functions as Prime Minister – a call for energy sobriety received without enthusiasm by the audience – the head of government must remain on stage on Monday for around thirty minutes, where she will first respond to questions from journalist Christophe Jakubyszyn before addressing a short speech to the bosses.
While waiting for the government’s arbitrations for the 2024 budget, expected at the end of September, the 150 speakers announced will debate various subjects: energy transition, future of transport, role of the State in the economy but also women’s rights, education system, intelligence artificial and even future of religions.
The CEO of Veolia Estelle Brachlianoff, the CEO of Suez Sabrina Soussan and that of System U Dominique Schelcher will question Monday the possibility of reconciling growth and sobriety, alongside economist Patrick Artus and climate expert Jean -Marc Jancovici.
The next day, the leaders of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné and EDF Luc Rémont will work on how to “support growth without damaging the climate” ah, with climatologist Jean Jouzel and Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Despite shocks and crises, “for entrepreneurs, tomorrow never dies”, according to the title of the 2023 edition of REF, which takes up the title of an opus in the James Bond film series.
Over the two days of the event, just over 10,000 people are expected by the organizers. An influx which, if confirmed, would be slightly higher than that of 2022.
© 2023 AFP
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