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INPRIMATU
COVID-19 imposes on Macron's speech in a presidential campaign tone
  • The French President referred, in addition to the new measures on vaccination, to the reform of toilets and to nuclear. On November 9, he had his ninth speech on public radio and television since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. Macron has announced its decision to build new nuclear power stations and has increased the number of environmental complaints.
Jenofa Berhokoirigoin @Jenofa_B 2021eko azaroaren 11
Zentral nuklear berriak eraikiko ditu Frantziak (Argazkia: Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron again cited the latest decisions and measures in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic. The vaccination campaign focused on: -Insert you to be able to live normally. As of December 15, those over the age of 65 and the "people at risk" must take the third dose to make the transition to health valid (the third will be given to those over the age of 50, even if they are not required until the age of 65).

Once again, Macron has partially achieved its objective: As soon as the conference was over, 100,000 citations had already been taken on the Doctolib website to join in the next hour.

COVID-19 infections continue to increase in the French state and in Iparralde. The incidence rate has increased by 40% in the last week.

This has been the main news when it comes to COVID-19. Everything else has referred to other issues: a long list of what you have done or are going to do. In other words, Tuesday’s speech had a tangle of campaign for the presidencies to be held in April of next year.

In traditional logic: the road is nuclear.

The weight of nuclear in France is very high: 72% of electricity production comes from nuclear. Because this energy is what leads us to the conclusion of the waste problem – because this immense pollutant element is accumulating, because no solutions have been found for its disappearance – or the risks of accidents arising from these plants … these herzis are not mentioned by the French Government and are praised as if it were a ‘clean energy’. Macron has once again stressed the construction of new plants in France and the development of renewable energies.

Of the 56 reactors currently in place by 2035, 14 will be implemented, and the government wants to build new ones. The roadmap is being agreed with the actors in the nuclear sector and will be made known in the coming weeks. "Renewing the nuclear base means making sure we have enough energy to decarbonise France and also to ensure the safety of getting out of oil in transport," said Valérie Faudon, a member of the French Nuclear Energy Society.

Greenpeace regretted "deeply" that this decision is "disconnected from reality" and "undemocratic": "In Flamanville, the work of the new generation EPR reactors is nine years late and the cost has multiplied by six compared to the initial forecasts. At the moment, the figure is EUR 19 billion. In Taishan, China, the only EPR that is operating has been stationed for several months, following an incident of unknown origin that is still unknown in the reactor. Too expensive, too slow and dangerous, nuclear power is obsolete in the context of the climate emergency."

Stock reform, delayed but guaranteed

Macron has also announced his decision to postpone the reform of the retes, because he wants a "democratic debate" on which action must be taken. There too are the presidencies, because you know very well that it is a painful issue, a reform that generates a great discrepancy between the citizens. However, the President has made it clear that he is going to carry out the reform of the constitutional reform.

It follows its usual logic: "Working longer, delaying the legal age, removing special schemes that allow access to a fairer system, harmonising rules between the public and the private, and completing the full journey, ensuring that you cannot have a pension of less than EUR 1,000. Finally, to move towards more freedom, to stop progressively retiring, to accumulate rights more quickly and to make it possible for people wanting to work beyond legal age".

He also referred to the weakening of social rights and the "unemployment reform" that brings with it the increase in the precariousness of the unemployed, making it clear that in order to have access to unemployment, "at least six months must be worked in the last year", a requirement up to now of four months. He also talked about security – in that we cannot deny the campaigning atmosphere either.

Therefore, the French president took advantage of COVID-19 to launch a series of issues that are strategic to him.