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Opinion

Summer is over, Macron’s honeymoon too.

Now that the holidays – and the honeymoon period – are over,our French blogger, Reuven Levi, looks into President Macron's immediate future

September 6, 2017 10:31
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2 min read

“C’est la Rentrée!” It’s back to school, back to work and back to the harsh reality of French politics. Despite indifferent summer weather in much of France, the tourist inflow set a record with Americans and Japanese back in force. Economic growth and job creation exceeded forecasts. But President Macron celebrated his 100 days in office with a sharp fall in popularity, mostly of his own making.

Before the recess, parliament passed a popular law to forbid parliamentarians from hiring family members and to hold them to account when spending their parliamentary allowances. But no-one noticed. Macron continued to notch up foreign policy successes, like the promising immigrant management deal with Libya. But voters care mostly about what affects them directly and in that domain Macron simply dropped the ball. A series of unexpected and unexplained budget cuts upset the military, public servants, local authorities, students, retirees and the assisted poor. Firing the charismatic army chief-of-staff did not help.

Explanations abound to explain the Macron setback. Overconfidence. Inexperience of the Prime Minister and many of his Ministers. Presidential absence on the domestic front and distain for the media.In parliament, Macron’s party showed arrogance, amateurism and poor leadership. On the flip side, however, enthusiastic newcomers challenged procedures that rewarded longevity rather than performance.

After a short vacation, President Macron marked his return with new instructions for his ministers and an impressive 15-page interview in a Le Point, a major weekly magazine, answering his critics and laying out his vision for the future. He sees France strong, competitive, self-confident, committed to excellence. Free market structural reforms no right-wing government has ever dared contemplate and a European ambition with Germany no recent French President could have carried for want of credibility.