A rural setting as a setting, the French gardens of the Élysée Palace. Then a light breeze sometimes came to refresh, on this scorching day, the tenor of the exchange between Emmanuel Macron and his two interlocutors, the journalists Anne-Claire Coudray and Caroline Roux. For the grand return of the July 14 presidential interview, the Head of State has taken care of the form of this ritual, which has been somewhat forgotten in recent years. Only the second since being elected in 2017.
But, basically, the viewers who waited to listen to it before going to the table must have enjoyed their meal with a little aftertaste of concern. Because the message that the President of the Republic came to deliver this Thursday did not suffer from the slightest ambiguity: the hour is serious, and the country will have to adapt to the emergencies of the moment.
VIDEO. Uber, pensions and Russian gas… The points to remember from Emmanuel Macron’s interview
An hour of interview, almost, where the main subject was posed from the outset: the war in Ukraine and its consequences which have not finished weighing on the domestic level. Will it last? “I would be lying if I said we have all the answers. But today, we all have to prepare for it to last”, Emmanuel Macron goes straight to the point, before specifying that “summer and the beginning of autumn will undoubtedly be very hard” in the area of conflict, particularly in the Donbass.
“The scenario for us to prepare to do without Russian gas exists”
Chilling. Just like the behavior of Vladimir Poutine who wants to harden the tone with the Westerners by cutting them part of the Russian gas supply. A few weeks ago, the government had always suggested that France had sufficient reserves to offset any risk of shortage. But in recent days, the discourse is quite different. And here is the executive overtaken by the realpolitik of the master of the Kremlin.
“It’s a very clear message. Russia wants to use gas as an instrument of this war. And the scenario for us to prepare to do without Russian gas exists. This risk is even very probable”, recognizes the tenant of the Élysée, calling in the face of this hypothesis for “the general mobilization” of all French people.
With two watchwords: “responsibility and collective sobriety”. Responsibility of the State which, from now on, will show the example by developing an energy saving program so as not to empty the stocks. Then sobriety requested from all individuals, such as companies, with “quantified objectives”, he announces, during a plan which will be unveiled in the next few weeks.
Playing on the spirit of resilience of the French
Around him, we assume this deliberately heavy discourse. “He recalled the course, that of a presidency in the face of crises. But a president who has always known how to face them, as in the past with the Covid”, plants his entourage by speaking of a “major challenge that we had not known since the post-war period”.
A way, too, to make everyone face up to their responsibilities, including political opposition, especially in the event that companies find themselves partially shut down, due to lack of energy supply. Until this dark scenario evoked by some in the corridors of power, with an economy hit hard, even certain populations who would find themselves this winter without the means to heat themselves or to supply themselves with electricity.
Like past episodes of the previous five-year term, Macron intends above all to play on the spirit of resilience of the French. Even more so at a time when climate change is imposing radical behavioral changes on everyone. “This crisis can also be an opportunity”, he boasts, in particular to accelerate “the hunt for energy waste”. Everyone’s responsibility, again. As in the face of economic challenges and pension reform that will have to be put back on the bench. And quickly: opening of discussions with political forces, trade unions and employers from the start of the school year, for entry into force in the summer of 2023.
“Vulcan” rather than “Jupiter”
In short, a president in the storm, a register well known for five years, confronted with several contrary winds: those of inflation, political opposition (the presidential camp only having a relative majority in the National Assembly) which intend to make life difficult for him… but also old files that come to the surface. Like the controversy over the “Uber files”, where he is suspected of having favored the development of the VTC company when he was Minister of the Economy. “I didn’t help Uber particularly. I do not have a temperament to be under the influence”, evacuates with a dark look Macron, almost lightning.
The return of the Jupiterian president? “I have never claimed this mythological comparison”, he takes advantage of it by way of clarification, while seeing himself rather as “Vulcan”, the warrior god of the forge… but also son of Jupiter.