Jacques Serais // Photo credit: Mathilde Kaczkowski / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
With the visit of the President of the Republic to Brazil, the Council of Ministers is replaced by a government seminar. After the publication of the public deficit on Tuesday, the Prime Minister wants to take the opposite view of this unfavorable sequence. To achieve this, the executive is banking on work as a solution to a return to more balanced accounts.
This is a somewhat special Council of Ministers which will take place this Wednesday at the Élysée. Despite the absence of Emmanuel Macron, currently traveling to Brazil, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has decided to bring together his troops to hold a two-hour government seminar. The day after the publication of INSEE figures for the public deficit amounting to 5.5% of GDP instead of the 4.9% initially planned by the executive, the Prime Minister wants to focus this meeting on the theme work.
“Desmicardize” France and think about new forms of work
Work as a solution to replenish state coffers is, in short, what Gabriel Attal wants to demonstrate this Wednesday morning. To achieve this, three angles of attack are on the agenda of this government seminar. First step for the executive: encourage unemployed French people to find work. Gabriel Attal is expected to announce a reform of unemployment insurance, including a reduction in the duration of compensation, currently set at 18 months. “It is incomprehensible to see that our unemployment rate is stagnating at 7% while companies are looking to recruit,” say those around the Prime Minister.
Then, the host of Matignon wants to find ways to “desmicardize” French society, as he announced two months ago during his general policy declaration. Finally, Gabriel Attal says he wants to think about new forms of work, starting with the implementation of the 4-day week. To set an example, the administrations of the ministries will launch an experiment in the coming days and for a period of at least one year.