Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday August 24 at the opening of the council of ministers of the political return. His remarks echoed those pronounced at Bormes-les-Mimosas, when he had asked the French “to agree to pay the price of freedom”. “We are witnessing a great shift, we are experiencing the end of abundance, the end of carelessness,” he said. And to add: “Our regime of freedom has a cost, which may require sacrifices. »
Returning to the recent “series of serious crises” that Europe and France have gone through (and are still going through), from Ukraine to drought, emphasizing the terrible fires that have ravaged the South West, the head of the state wanted to thank firefighters, local elected officials and farmers for their resilience, calling them “key players in this fight”.
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“The moment we are living in may seem to be structured by a series of serious crises […] and it could be that some see our destiny as being perpetually to manage crises or emergencies. I believe for my part that what we are experiencing is rather of the order of a great shift or a great upheaval, ”said Emmanuel Macron during this speech to the ministers, exceptionally broadcast.
Emmanuel Macron announces a “government seminar”
While, faced with this situation, “our compatriots can react with great anxiety”, he called on the members of the government to “say things”, to “name with great clarity and without catastrophism”. “I expect the government to respect the word given and the commitments we have made to the nation,” he added.
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Emmanuel Macron also announced the holding of a “government seminar” next week “to structure the major projects” for the start of the school year. “What I hope we can do in the coming weeks and months is to reaffirm a very strong unity of the government, of the forces of the majority” around “a course that will allow us to consolidate our sovereignty, our French and European independence,” he added.
Faced with “the rise of illiberal regimes” and “the strengthening of authoritarian regimes”, the president called on the ministers to be “serious”, to “credibility” and not to give in to the temptation of “demagogy”.
“It’s easy to promise anything and everything, sometimes to say anything and everything. Do not give in to these temptations, it is that of demagoguery. They flourish in all democracies today, in a complex and frightening world. It can always sound appealing to say what people want to hear. […]but first you have to think about whether it is effective and useful,” he added, without citing concrete examples.