This Tuesday 1 October, Michel Barnier appears before the National Assembly, where he does not have a majority. The Prime Minister will take the floor at 3 p.m. for his general policy speech, a delicate speech that will have to juggle the divergent demands of his partners on tax issues, the differences within his government, and the constraints of a tight budget to be finalised.

Key points from Michel Barnier’s general policy speech

Michel Barnier calls for a ‘contribution from the wealthiest French citizens’.

To tackle the deficit, the Prime Minister is proposing an ‘effort limited in time, based on a requirement for fiscal justice’. This contribution will primarily concern ‘large companies generating significant profits’, while taking care not to compromise the country’s economic competitiveness.

At the same time, Michel Barnier also wants to introduce an ‘exceptional contribution’ for the ‘wealthiest French citizens’, to ensure a fairer distribution and ‘avoid tax avoidance strategies on the part of the main taxpayers’.

Michel Barnier calls for ‘resolute’ development of nuclear energy

On the energy front, the Prime Minister affirmed his intention to pursue ‘resolutely’ the development of nuclear energy, stressing the need to build new reactors to strengthen France’s energy independence.

At the same time, he wants to step up efforts to promote renewable energies, while taking care to ‘assess their impact more accurately’. Michel Barnier cited the case of wind turbines, which are often the subject of debate.

Another priority: the fight against ‘ecological debt

After mentioning the issue of public finances, the Prime Minister highlighted an equally urgent threat, which he described as ‘another sword of Damocles’: the ‘ecological debt’. Faced with this major environmental challenge, Michel Barnier called for the adoption of ‘an ecology of solutions’, a pragmatic approach based on concrete measures to protect the planet in the long term.

Pensions: Michel Barnier calls for ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the recent reform

On the issue of pensions, Michel Barnier stressed the need to ‘relaunch the dialogue’. Although preserving the long-term equilibrium of our pay-as-you-go system is a priority, he acknowledged that ‘certain flaws’ in the latest reform deserve to be reviewed.

The Prime Minister highlighted sensitive issues such as phased retirement, professional wear and tear, and gender equality in pensions, believing that these topics ‘deserve more than a simple refusal to discuss them’. He therefore proposed inviting the social partners to work together to find ‘reasonable and fair adjustments’.

Towards a ‘national citizens’ consultation day

To strengthen the link between citizens and decision-makers, Michel Barnier plans to introduce a regular ‘national citizens’ consultation day’. On this occasion, he would like each local authority to be able to put a question to its residents, thereby enabling their expectations to be better integrated into the decision-making process.

Barnier says he is ‘ready’ to discuss proportional representation

Referring to the results of the last legislative elections, Michel Barnier acknowledged the complexity of ‘a National Assembly more fragmented than at any time since 1958’, where no party was able to obtain an absolute majority, even with its allies. While pointing out that this situation was ‘the choice of the French people’, he said that he had ‘heard the calls for greater representativeness’.

The Prime Minister is therefore open to the idea of conducting ‘an ideology-free reflection’ on the introduction of proportional representation, in order to respond to the aspirations of the people and promote better parliamentary representation.

Marriage for all, abortion, MAP: Michel Barnier pledges not to touch any acquired rights

Michel Barnier was keen to clarify his position, stating that there would be ‘no questioning of freedoms’ such as marriage for all, the right to abortion or access to MAP. This stance comes in response to a call from his predecessor, Gabriel Attal, now head of the Ensemble (Renaissance) group at the National Assembly, who had urged him to take a clear stance on these issues to avoid any risk of ‘going backwards’.

Michel Barnier’s ‘red lines’: unshakeable principles

Speaking from the rostrum, the Prime Minister defined his ‘red lines’ around five fundamental principles, which he refuses to transgress:

• Zero tolerance of racism and anti-Semitism,
• Zero tolerance of violence against women,
• Zero tolerance of any form of communitarianism,
• Absolute respect for secularism,
• No discrimination and no questioning of acquired rights, such as the right to abortion, marriage for all and PMA for all.

With these firm commitments, Michel Barnier is reaffirming his commitment to preserving individual freedoms and republican values.

The Prime Minister wishes to extend the zero-rate loan throughout France

Michel Barnier has pledged to introduce ‘rapid measures’ to stimulate rental investment and encourage access to home ownership. Among these initiatives, he is proposing to extend the zero-rate loan nationwide, with particular emphasis on first-time buyers, to make it easier for them to buy their first home.

Support for farmers: greater transparency on supermarket margins

In the agricultural sector, Michel Barnier intends to ‘increase the transparency of margins applied by supermarkets’ in order to offer long-term visibility to farmers. He also wants to encourage tripartite contracts between producers, processors and distributors in order to better secure farmers’ incomes.

Social landlords: adjusting rents according to tenants’ incomes

The Prime Minister is asking social landlords to ‘regularly re-evaluate’ rents in line with tenants‘ incomes, thereby ensuring a better adjustment to households’ financial capacities.

Relaunch of profit-sharing for all employees

Michel Barnier is proposing to revitalise employee profit-sharing and incentive schemes in companies, and stresses that these measures should not be limited to large structures, but should also include SMEs.

Increase in the minimum wage from 1 November

Finally, the Prime Minister announced an early increase in the SMIC (minimum wage) of 2%, to be applied from 1 November instead of 1 January, to support workers’ purchasing power against a backdrop of high inflation.

Michel Barnier stresses the importance of respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary

Michel Barnier has reaffirmed his attachment to respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, fundamental values that he wishes to preserve. This statement follows controversial comments by his Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, who caused controversy by questioning the ‘sacred’ nature of the rule of law, before backtracking.

Controlling immigration: towards tougher entry conditions

Michel Barnier intends to introduce ‘rigorous management of integration’ in France. To achieve this, the Prime Minister plans to further reduce the number of visas granted to countries that refuse to take back their illegal immigrants, stressing the need to welcome into the country only those ‘whom we have chosen’.

The head of government also wants to tighten immigration controls by exceptionally allowing illegal immigrants to be held in administrative detention for longer periods, deploring the fact that France ‘no longer has effective control over its immigration policy’.

To improve penalties for certain offences, Michel Barnier is proposing the introduction of short prison sentences and the reinforcement of prison infrastructures, in response to an emergency that he considers to be a priority.

Juvenile violence: priority to immediate prosecution

The Prime Minister wants to ‘curb juvenile violence in sensitive neighbourhoods’. To achieve this, he is proposing immediate prosecution for young offenders over the age of 16 and announcing a review of the possibility of relaxing the ‘excuse for minority’.

Michel Barnier is committed to making the police more visible in order to reassure the public, thereby responding to the concerns of many French people.

Mental health made a major national cause for 2025

The Prime Minister has announced that mental health will be a major national cause for 2025, illustrating his desire to place this issue at the heart of public concerns.

Michel Barnier is considering a ‘nurses’ law’ to broaden their remit and thus combat medical deserts more effectively, a measure that could also be extended to pharmacists and physiotherapists.

Responding to the teacher shortage: a call for volunteer retired teachers

Faced with a recruitment crisis in education, Michel Barnier is proposing to make greater use of volunteer retired teachers to bolster teaching teams and maintain a high standard of teaching.

Immediate return of the farm bill to support farmers

The government will immediately resume the suspended farm bill, with the aim of simplifying the rules for farmers and defending their interests in European negotiations, while ensuring rigorous monitoring of trade agreements.