Before a return to school whose social context could be explosive and after a year marked by the war in Ukraine and its economic consequences, the President of the Republic has tinged his New Year’s Eve address with optimism.
Emmanuel Macron pronounced his wishes to the French this Saturday in a speech of 18 minutes 30 – a record – on the occasion of New Year’s Eve. Despite the war in Ukraine, inflation or the energy crisis, the President of the Republic sought to deliver a message of confidence and unity from the library of his personal office at the Élysée.
Here’s what to take away from his speech:
“Live 2023 as much as possible in a united and united country”
In the introduction to his wishes to the French, Emmanuel Macron evoked an imperative “of unity of the nation”. “I wish us above all to “live 2023 as much as possible in a united and united country”, said the President.
“If we gave in to the spirit of division that presses us from all sides, we would have almost no chance of getting by in such a harsh world, in such hard times,” he warned.
Listing the country’s successes, the president invited the French, whom he often portrays as too pessimistic, to be “proud”. “We need to have this pride and this confidence” to face the challenges of the coming year, he pleaded.
“This year will be the year of a pension reform”
Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that his government will reform the pension system in 2023. “This year will indeed be that of a pension reform which aims for a balance for the years and decades to come”, said the President of the Republic. . “We need to work harder,” he said.
Regarding the reform of the executive, Emmanuel Macron specified that the new rules of the pension scheme “will apply from the end of the summer of 2023”. Nevertheless, “the lengthening of our working careers will be gradual, it will be done in stages over nearly ten years” and “will also be fair taking into account long careers, choppy careers, the difficulty of certain tasks, certain trades”, tried to reassure the Head of State.
The rise in energy prices “will remain capped in our country”
“I say this to each of you. While energy prices have reached historic levels, the increase will remain capped in our country”, explained Emmanuel Macron.
Before adding, to the address “in particular of our craftsmen, our bakers but also our most industrial companies”: “from tomorrow, you will have adapted aid in addition to the tariff shield already in place”.
Thus, according to the President of the Republic, “the sustainability of [leurs] activities, our jobs, our competitiveness can be ensured”.
“We will help you until victory”: Emmanuel Macron’s message to Ukrainians
As the year 2022 was marked by the war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron addressed the Ukrainian people. “During the coming year we will be unfailingly at your side,” he said. And to add: “We will help you until victory”.
“We respect you and we admire you, your fight for the defense of the nation is historic and it inspires us”, also welcomed Emmanuel Macron.
Winning the “battle” of the “ecological transition”
The president insisted that France must “win” the “battle” of the “ecological transition”, promising to “accelerate the deployment of renewable energies” in parallel with the “launch of the construction of new” nuclear power plants.
Regarding the threat of power cuts this winter, “it’s in our hands,” said the head of state. “If we continue to save energy as we have been doing for a few months” and if “we continue to bring our nuclear reactors back into service as planned, we will get there”, he assured.
“I salute the memory of His Holiness Benedict XVI”
After the death this Saturday of Benedict XVI, the President of the Republic had a word for the Pope Emeritus. “I salute the memory of His Holiness Benoit XVI whose disappearance, I know, affects many Catholics in France and around the world”, declared the President of the Republic.
