Macron defends his economic record in the face of rising fuel prices

While France spends less than its European neighbors to contain the rise in prices at the pump, against a backdrop of budgetary constraints and a significant deficit, Emmanuel Macron defends his economic record. “I do not regret “whatever it takes”” declared the President of the Republic, interviewed on TF1 and France 2 this Thursday, September 24 from the Élysée Palace. “During Covid, during the gas and fuel crisis between 2022 and 2024, France helped much more than its neighbors,” added Emmanuel Macron, while the expenses incurred by the government during these two periods are accused of having reduced France's budgetary room for maneuver to protect consumers in the face of the current fuel surge.

“At the time we did it (whatever the cost), there was not a political leader to tell us ‘we must lower this or that’,” criticized the President of the Republic. Same scenario during the energy crisis of 2022-2024, according to Emmanuel Macron: “The opposition parties, including officials currently involved in the campaign, told us: “If you don’t do X cent more we will censor you!””

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Always against his opposition, the tenant of the Élysée also accused it of having “blocked” several of the “reforms that I had initiated to improve public finances” such as pension reform. “Major social reforms to adapt to aging” that Germany, Spain and Italy implemented much earlier, underlined the President of the Republic. “I take it personally, I failed to convince the political forces,” he conceded.