France's new Prime Minister Michel Barnier set out his stall on Tuesday with his maiden policy speech to a fractious parliament. From slashing debt to boosting nuclear power and restricting immigration, RFI looks at the issues he promised would be top of his government's priorities.
► Taming public debt
Number one on Barnier's to-do list is reducing France's €3.2 trillion public debt, which he called a "sword of Damocles" hanging heavy over France.
The prime minister set his government the target of cutting the deficit from more than 6 percent of GDP now to 5 percent in 2025 and 3 percent in 2029. He plans to make two-thirds of those savings by slashing public spending, though he didn't specify where.
Big companies and wealthy individuals will also be asked to contribute extra taxes, Barnier said – yet his finance minister later stressed that any hikes would come later, be temporary, and not apply to the vast majority of French tax payers.
Barnier also indicated he would be seeking savings through efficiency, pledging to merge government agencies and crack down on benefit fraud.
France targets the rich with temporary tax hikes to bring down debt
► Higher minimum wage, pension reform revisited
For all his talk of spending cuts, Barnier was keen to stress that it wouldn't be all austerity.
France's minimum wage will go up 2 percent from November, he promised, two months ahead of schedule.
Saying he wanted everyone feeling the cost-of-living pinch to see their circumstances improve by next year, the prime minister hinted at measures to help first-time home buyers and adjust the support available to low earners.
Barnier also promised to re-open talks with unions on some of the previous government's thorny labour reforms – notably the contested increase in France's retirement age.
The new premier said he would consider "reasonable and fair" adjustments to that policy, though he has previously stressed that the pension system's strained finances leave little room for manoeuvre.
French trade unions stage nationwide strikes as PM Michel Barnier delivers first address
► Better public services
Barnier singled out health and education as the public services most urgently in need of attention.
Many of the improvements he floated related to staffing: better conditions to attract more teachers, more residency positions for doctors, and calling on retirees to fill gaps in the workforce.
Tackling France's "medical deserts" will also be a priority, Barnier said, suggesting that nurses and pharmacists could be granted new powers to treat patients while foreign doctors are encouraged to take up practice in underserved areas.
► Law and order
"We will be extending the system trialled during the Olympic and Paralympic Games," said Barnier, promising to make sure police remain a visible presence on the streets.
He also wants to increase the number of convictions that result in time behind bars, proposing to make "short, immediately served prison sentences" standard for certain offences. The conditions for suspending or reducing sentences should also be tightened, Barnier said.
With France's prisons already over capacity, he promised to add extra places – including, possibly, in new facilities reserved for short-term inmates.
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► Mastering migration and border control
True to form, right-wing Barnier talked tough on immigration, which he said France no longer had under proper control.
Seeking to ensure that people denied permission to stay in France get deported, his government will seek to extend the maximum time authorities can detain irregular migrants, currently capped at 90 days.
He is also mulling deals with other countries that could see France refuse to grant visas to their nationals unless they facilitate repatriations.
Barnier equally promised to speed up decisions on asylum requests and ensure that France "reinstates checks at its own borders" for as long as necessary.
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► Nuclear push
Fighting climate change will be as much of a priority as bringing down debt, Barnier vowed.
His proposed policies centre around the transition away from fossil fuels – and notably towards nuclear power.
France will pursue the construction of new reactors, the prime minister said, while also nodding to the need to develop renewable energy sources such as solar power.
► New Caledonia unrest
Acknowledging the crisis rumbling in one of France's overseas territories, Barnier called for a "new era" to begin in New Caledonia – where tensions between pro-France loyalists and those seeking independence are at their highest point in decades.
Local elections that had been due to take place on the Pacific islands in December will be pushed back to the end of 2025, he said, and a contested reform of voting rights is on hold.
More broadly, France's overseas territories are "an essential part of our country", Barnier said, promising to convene a committee to discuss their problems early next year.
Deadly unrest in New Caledonia tied to old colonial wounds
► Tending to France's influence abroad
France's influence in the world can't be taken for granted, Barnier stressed as he pledged to pursue the country's interests on the international stage "without arrogance".
Unsurprisingly for a former Eurocrat, he emphasised France's place within the European Union and reiterated foreign policy positions in line with the EU's – including support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and a two-state solution in the Middle East.
► 'Red lines' on social freedoms
Barnier also set out a few things he wouldn't do: roll back rights to abortion, equal marriage or IVF; tolerate racism, antisemitism or violence against women; or allow anything to undermine France's secular ideals.
► Culture of compromise
"Compromise is not a dirty word," declared Barnier, who vowed to make dialogue his government's watchword. In that spirit, he pledged to listen to MPs of all stripes, including those who fiercely opposed his appointment.
First up, he said, the government is open to "an ideology-free debate" on proportional representation – something long demanded by the far-right National Rally.
Barnier also hopes to invite the public to have its say via a "national day of citizen consultation", to be held once every year or two years.
Where did France's culture of political compromise go, and is it coming back?
