European studiesPolitical studies

How did the internal challenges escalate to French President “Macron”?



The first term of French President Macron – which began in 2017, was characterized by the predominance of some external considerations, whether as determinants of the president’s victory before the elections, or as priorities for action during the first five years, and on top of these considerations is the fight against cross-border terrorism and the proving of the effectiveness of the European Union in light of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. . On the contrary, it seems that the second term of the Elysée man – which began last April – will largely determine its features, the internal challenges, which soon exacerbated once Macron won the second term, especially with the escalation of the economic crisis and the pressures resulting from the continuation of the war. Ukrainian.

complex files

French President Macron faces a number of complex issues and challenges in his second term, which affect, in one way or another, the degree of public response to the policies adopted by the French President. The most important of these challenges are as follows:

1- The necessity of entering into difficult understandings to pass the legislative amendments: After President Macron’s party lost an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections that were held on June 12 and 19, 2022, the president was forced to enter into difficult understandings with the left coalition led by “Melenchon” and the extreme right coalition led by “ Marine Le Pen” to pass the necessary legislation to carry out the desired executive reforms.

This, and it is expected that the president and his party will meet fierce opposition from the two main opposition blocs, especially from the left, given the conflicting political agenda to a large extent with regard to public spending and the government’s dealings with the private sector, which may threaten to clash with a state of government paralysis that may prompt consideration of the possibility of Parliament dissolved.

2- Reaching an acceptable formula in forming the government: The consequences of President Macron’s loss of the parliamentary majority are not limited to the challenges of the legislative aspect, but also extend to the formation of the government, where the president found himself compelled, in front of the results of the legislative elections, to direct Prime Minister “Elizabeth Born” to form a government. A new government takes into account the balances of power in Parliament. The main challenge is that the two largest opposition blocs (the alliance of the left and the extreme right) will not accept ministerial seats that are not of fundamental importance, and at the same time, it is unlikely that Macron will assign one of the sovereign portfolios to either of them. Therefore, Macron tried to circumvent this challenge and the tendency to appoint some ministers from the Socialist Party from the left, and the Republican Party from the right, as a reflection of these currents, without resorting to the main opposition cadres. Accordingly, this situation predicts more obstacles in the executive aspect, which were not present during Macron’s first presidential term.

3- Dealing with the wide societal division: The causes of the president’s party losing the parliamentary majority lie in the great societal division, which the French president finds himself responsible for confronting, even if he is not the cause of it. The results of the recent presidential elections showed the continuing tendency of voters in big cities, the upper middle classes, and the retired to vote for Macron; While on the other hand, the more popular classes (such as the workers), the marginalized and the excluded, especially in the north-east and the Mediterranean regions, tended to vote for Marine Le Pen. In the face of this societal division, the head of state must rebuild social cohesion if he wishes to write success for his second term, and preserve the chances of the centrist movement to continue to rule in any upcoming presidential elections.

4- Addressing the continued decline in purchasing power: While Marine Le Pen made the purchasing power of the French people one of the main themes of its election campaign, Emmanuel Macron, for his part, raised, on April 13, 2022, a proposal for his adoption of an “exceptional law on purchasing power.” “It aims to reallocate all pensions according to prevailing inflation rates, and to reduce fees and taxes for independent business owners. To implement this, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire stressed earlier this month that the government is seeking to deal with the message of anger and apprehension among millions of French people who are suffering from unprecedented inflation rates due to the Ukrainian crisis and the resulting disruption in supply chains.

In light of the fact that this law has not come to light and the issue of its adoption is complicated after the results of the parliamentary elections, the French government has tended to take some temporary measures that meet some of the objectives of this law, the most important of which is the stabilization of the price of natural gas until the end of 2022. With this, the challenge of low purchasing power and high inflation significantly Big is an internal crisis with global roots, and therefore, Macron may succeed in mitigating its negative effects, but without expecting his ability to radically change the equation.

5- Confronting the medical sector crisis: France has long been suffering from recurrent crises in the medical sector, and the exposure of this sector has increased the spread of the Corona pandemic. Despite the presence of a good number of hospitals, laboratories and medical service centers, a number of them remain closed due to the low numbers of doctors and auxiliary staff working in these hospitals. This crisis continues, pending what Macron had previously announced by holding a major conference on the health sector. This, and it should be noted that after two years of the health crisis, and despite the unprecedented increases in the salaries of workers in this sector, the sector suffers more than ever before from a severe shortage of manpower.

6- Responding to the urgent climate challenge: After his election campaign that preceded the first round, in which environmental and climate issues were almost completely absent, Emmanuel Macron sought to use the environment and climate change paper between the two rounds, by making a pledge to move forward at a twice faster pace towards reducing emissions Greenhouse gases – up to 40%. After winning the elections, President Macron found himself faced with a fundamental internal challenge of fulfilling the commitment he had made, and at the same time appeasing the big businessmen and factory owners who are one of the main forces supporting him.

It was in Macron’s imagination to work more on the side of reducing the proportion of fuel consumption from the total energy consumption by expanding the program for the peaceful uses of atomic energy and building from 6 to 14 new generation reactors (EPR). He also promised to establish 50 wind farms in the sea by 2050 and to increase solar energy tenfold, in addition to a horizontal expansion in the use of electric cars. However, the requirements to reactivate and revive industrial sectors in light of the current economic crisis stand in the way of implementing these ambitious plans.

7- Confronting issues that undermine Macron’s moral image: The moral image of President “Macron” has been subjected to fundamental problems in recent times, especially after the report published by the French newspaper “Le Monde” on July 11, which claimed that the American “Uber” company specialized in transporting People made a secret deal with the French President when he was Minister of Economy in the government of former President Francois Hollande between 2014 and 2016. Under this deal, Macron contributed to strengthening the company’s position in the French market.  

restriction of movement

In general, the previous files add more complications to the movements of French President Macron. There are many economic and social problems that the French president is facing, and these problems are employed by the opposition forces to pressure Macron and weaken his legitimacy. These internal problems are also related to the French foreign policy because it restricts the French president’s movements at the international level, and urgent issues on the world scene such as the war in Ukraine and also the war against terrorism in the African Sahel region, which receives tremendous attention from Paris. Moreover, what is happening in other European countries, and the state of instability in Britain and Italy, may enhance the possibility of this situation spreading to France, and thus multiply President Macron’s fears of internal unrest.

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SAKHRI Mohamed

I hold a bachelor's degree in political science and international relations as well as a Master's degree in international security studies, alongside a passion for web development. During my studies, I gained a strong understanding of key political concepts, theories in international relations, security and strategic studies, as well as the tools and research methods used in these fields.

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