The meeting was important for Edouard Philippe. The boss of Horizons, who still hopes to establish himself as the sole candidate of the central bloc during the presidential election, was the guest, Thursday October 8, on France 2 of the first issue of the resurrected program "L'Heure de vérité".
For more than two hours, the former Prime Minister was asked questions on high school mobilization, purchasing power, pension reform, but also the international situation with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The former Prime Minister unveiled several measures from his program, particularly on purchasing power. Here's what you need to remember.
He plans around twenty ordinances if he is elected
“The actors before going on stage, they have stage fright. I am impressed by the task,” said Edouard Philippe from the outset, when asked about the weight of the presidential role. Upon his arrival at the Elysée, where he does not intend to live, the former Prime Minister plans to present around twenty ordinances during an extraordinary session in July 2027 in Parliament.
Edouard Philippe also assumed that he would propose "efforts" to the French because he is "convinced that if we want to get out of this, we will all have to work a little more."
He wants to “totally review the family allowance system”
Questioned on the question of the purchasing power of the French, Edouard Philippe suggests “working more (...), two hours more per week”, for a gain of “1,000 euros more per year”. “It’s not negligible when you’re on minimum wage,” he said. The presidential candidate also wants to “totally review the family allowance system.” “Our nation needs to support those who have children.”
Concretely, the mayor of Le Havre proposes to pay a single family allowance of 350 euros per month from the first child. The measure would “then be degressive with income tax”. He also wants to “support working families who have a child, then a second, then a third if they wish, by ensuring that they obtain a tax reduction of around 3,000 euros.” Finally, he wants to offer "the possibility of obtaining a zero-interest loan for families who, having a child, have to change apartment and decide to buy an apartment."
He defends his pension reform
“After a life of work, we must be able to guarantee retirement to those who take it.” The Horizons candidate returned to the pension reform that he wishes to implement if he is elected and which he unveiled at the end of September. Edouard Philippe had thus proposed "to gradually increase the contribution period to 45 years and the starting age to 65 for French people who can do so". Concretely, he wishes to resume Elisabeth Borne's 2023 reform, suspended in 2025, and extend it to achieve these two objectives in less than ten years.
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“If we want to balance the pension system and if we want to prepare for the retirement of those who work today, (...) we must balance the system by working a little longer and putting in place a capitalization system,” he argued.
He promises to reduce the duration of unemployment compensation from 18 to 12 months
“We must put our accounts in order,” insisted Edouard Philippe, who made it a mantra in his campaign. He proposes to "dedicate 50% of the effort to the largest mass of public spending, that is to say social spending."
To achieve this, the mayor of Le Havre wants to reform unemployment insurance to reduce the duration of compensation from 18 to 12 months. He also wants to reorganize state agencies and hopes that, in the next five years, only two departures out of three concerning the 750,000 retirements in the public service will be renewed.
He criticizes Parcoursup
“I have no desire to be brutal with high school students: I have it at home,” defended Edouard Philippe, questioned about the mobilization of high school students after his criticism of the participants' slogans. “In the demands, there are some that sometimes seem secondary to me, but there are others that are well-founded, legitimate and important to take into account.”
The former tenant of Matignon thus endorsed the demands of the high school students on Parcoursup. According to him, “this system is stressful and does not work as it should.”
He does not “want war with Russia” and assures that we must “talk” with Donald Trump
“I do not want war with Russia and Russia, I believe, does not want war with NATO,” assured Edouard Philippe, regarding the war in Ukraine. “Helping Ukraine in its defense of its sovereignty, against Russian aggression, is helping the interests of France, because it allows us to avoid Russia putting pressure on us,” he defended on several occasions. “One day we will talk again with Russia,” he also predicted.
“Donald Trump is extremely brutal, in his words and in his decisions,” also assured Edouard Philippe, speaking of a “degraded relationship” with the United States. But, he qualified, “they are still our allies” and we must therefore continue “to discuss” with the American leader. “We have major disagreements at the moment” with Israel, continued Edouard Philippe about the war in the Middle East, without wanting to denounce commercial relations with the Jewish state.
He wants to “halve legal immigration”
“Our integration policy is not working (...). We must admit that immigration is too important,” he said. “We must halve legal immigration, but that does not mean reducing it to zero,” explained the former Prime Minister, defending “work immigration.” To do this, he wants to attack "family reunification and the right to lead a normal family life" without completely eliminating a referendum on immigration, proposed by other candidates.
He also wants the European Union (EU) to define “a list of safe countries” whose nationals could not request asylum within the EU. He also maintained his proposal to denounce the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968.
It promotes a “proud identity”
In a long tirade, Edouard Philippe defended his vision of France and its identity. “France is not great because we look at it in the rearview mirror,” he said, wanting “to ensure that our country is proud of what it is.”
“We live in a society where people look at each other and are suspicious, but there are also extraordinary moments when we share something. We must have a proud identity.”
He wants to “decarbonize our lives as much as possible”
“Our country is not sufficiently prepared for the rapid and increasingly rapid climate transformation that is coming. We must adapt,” regretted Edouard Philippe. “We must fight against the phenomenon, that is to say decarbonize our lives as much as possible,” he added.
Edouard Philippe explained in mid-September that he wanted to "provide France with a real climate security policy", with several proposals, in particular the creation of a "single fund for adaptation to climate change" of 2 billion euros per year.
He is against GPA
Edouard Philippe maintained his position: he is against GPA which leads "to a form of commodification" of women's bodies. "I've been against it for a long time and I still am. And I think I'm going to be against it for quite a long time."
Concerning the fight against sexual and gender-based violence, he confessed that he did not take these subjects "seriously enough" when he was a teenager and young adult and said he evolved on this societal subject under the influence of his children.
