Emmanuel Macron restarts his steamroller. A month after having tried to saturate the media space with a long series of trips devoted to the reindustrialization of the country and its renewed attractiveness for foreign investors, the President of the Republic embarked on Tuesday in a new sequence, devoted to that there to sovereignty. Or at least how the head of state wants to go about trying to win her back.
The Covid health crisis had highlighted the country’s dependence on China for the production of medicines, masks and also basic necessities. In the process, the post-Covid recovery highlighted the dependence of France in the supply of semiconductors, in particular.
Finally, the war in Ukraine underlined its energy dependence on foreign countries, while the majority of nuclear power plants were shut down for maintenance. Hence the offensive in the form of a triptych that Emmanuel Macron is deploying from Tuesday.
First, a trip to Ardèche to talk about health sovereignty. Today, France depends 60% to 80% on foreign countries, particularly China, for the production of medicines, in particular antibiotics or anesthesia products. “France is suffering from significant deindustrialization which results in strong dependencies”, we observe at the Elysée, where we recall the shortages of paracetamol during the Covid pandemic.
For the Head of State, it is a question of “strengthening” the sovereignty of the country by reindustrializing and innovating while international competition is raging. The Head of State could thus detail the list of drugs deemed to be priorities and whose production could be relocated to France. Initially, this list was to be unveiled at the end of May.
Second stage, Wednesday, at the Salon Vivatech, in Paris, to talk about technological sovereignty, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence. “At the moment there are very strong innovations emerging, major questions arising on regulation, on the way in which we finance all these players”, explains an adviser to the president. During a speech, the President of the Republic must make a “certain number of announcements”, we promise at the Elysée.
Last step, finally, at the beginning of next week, at the Paris Air Show, this time to address the theme of sovereignty in decarbonization, in particular in the production of planes and helicopters. “It is a sector in which France is a world leader (…) How do we manage the turning point of decarbonization?”, Explains an adviser, promising, again, announcements from the Head of State . He needs to be heard. This is the objective and all the difficulty of this series of trips by the President of the Republic.
As with the reindustrialization of the country, regaining sovereignty is a long-term affair. It is difficult to show results when the relocation process takes years. For deindustrialization, Emmanuel Macron had circumvented the obstacle by relying on concrete examples of the successes of his policy: the establishment of factories in Dunkirk. To illustrate the renewed sovereignty of the country, it is more complex. In any case, the short-term issue is not there.
For Emmanuel Macron, it is above all a question of continuing his tour of France of appeasement launched after the adoption of the pension reform more than two months ago. And turn the page to launch a second five-year term mired in protest. It’s been going on since last week.
While each of his trips has so far been marked by the organization of casserolades to contest his reform, the President of the Republic has returned to the simple pleasure of the walkabout, in Normandy, on the occasion of the commemorations of the 6 June 1944. The same day, the unions organized their fourteenth day of mobilization and saw their ranks thin.
At the same time, the oppositions are firing their last cartridges at the National Assembly. Last week, the Liot group’s repeal bill fizzled. Monday a new motion of censure filed against the government of Elisabeth Borne failed.
In opinion polls, Emmanuel Macron observes a slight rebound in his popularity after a long descent. He had given himself a hundred days to appease the country, he has a little more than a month left before the deadline of July 14. Time to reflect on its political system.
To relaunch, the President of the Republic is considering a reshuffle. And once again reaches out to LR to try to obtain this absolute majority which it has been lacking in the Hemicycle for a year. The theme of sovereignty, which he brandishes from Tuesday and for a whole week, also aims to do this: to convince the Republicans that they can agree with him on a few major themes.
