“I will be the president of the daily newspaper (…), of purchasing power. For months now, Marine Le Pen has been hammering to the French the priority of her program: to return their money to the French. But this Wednesday evening during the presidential debate, facing the outgoing president, the candidate of the National Rally failed to occupy her favorite ground. And this despite her multiple proposals in favor of the wallet, at the heart of her program and her well-received punchlines such as the “APL lowered by 5 euros” or even Emmanuel Macron’s food vouchers which she compares to ” rationing”.
Anxious to enumerate the measures that won over her voters in the first round – reduction of VAT to 5.5% on energy, abolition of VAT for 100 basic necessities, exemption from income tax for under 30, second tax share from the second child, doubling of aid for single-parent families, reindexing of retirement pensions on inflation… she contented herself with reciting for four long minutes, leaving the field for her adversary to prepare the response.
VAT frictions
Example with the proposal of the RN candidate to increase wages by 10% thanks to an exemption from employer contributions. “You are trying to make people believe that you are going to increase salaries when it is not true, Emmanuel Macron sent him back. You don’t do payroll. Not eager to develop his program on purchasing power less provided than his opponent, the LREM candidate did not specify the terms of his food check. It was mostly content to identify the weaknesses of the competing proposals.
As with the abolition of VAT on the basket of essential products. An idea qualified at the same time as “unfair” by Emmanuel Macron because it targets all social categories: “You and I do not need to pay 0% VAT. But also “ineffective”: “The various institutes say it’s 13 euros” more purchasing power per year, he insisted, while recalling that the margins would mainly go into the pockets of “the supermarkets” rather than those of the consumer.
Over the minutes, Emmanuel Macron also brought his opponent to an expected playground: energy prices. The Head of State jostled his opponent by ensuring that his tariff shield was “twice as effective as the reduction in VAT” to 5.5% proposed by the RN. Abused, Marine Le Pen finally recognized that, as president, she would not cancel the tariff shield. “I am happy to learn that you support him because you voted against in the Assembly”, he repeated, satisfied to point out a contradiction of the candidate.
Visibly worried about being caught out on figures or technical points, sometimes in difficulty in the face of attacks on the weaknesses of her program, Marine Le Pen remained on the sidelines in the face of an outgoing president who was sure of himself and satisfied to have prevented his opponent from winning on his favorite ground.