Emmanuel Macron pronounced his wishes to the French on the occasion of New Year’s Eve on Saturday. Despite the war in Ukraine, inflation or the energy crisis, the President of the Republic sought to send a message of confidence and unity.
Here’s what to take away from his speech:
“This year will be the year of the pension reform”
Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that his government will reform the pension system in 2023. “Indeed, this year will be the year of a pension reform that aims to balance for the coming years and decades,” said the President of the Republic. According to the president, “we have to work more.”
Regarding the reform of the executive, Emmanuel Macron specified that the new rules of the pension system “will be applied from the end of the summer of 2023”.
The rise in energy prices “will continue to be limited in our country”
“I say this to each one of you. Although energy prices have reached historic levels, the increase will remain limited in our country”, explained Emmanuel Macron. Before adding, to the management “in particular of our artisans, our bakers but also our most industrial companies”: “starting tomorrow they will have adapted aid in addition to the tariff shield already in force”.
Thus, according to the President of the Republic, “the sustainability of [leurs] our activities, our jobs, our competitiveness can be assured”.
“We will help you until victory”: Emmanuel Macron’s message to the Ukrainians
As the year 2022 was marked by the war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron addressed the Ukrainian people. “For the next year we will inevitably be by his side,” he said. And to add: “We will help you until victory.”
“We respect and admire you, your fight for the defense of the nation is historic and inspires us,” Emmanuel Macron also greeted.
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 to the “start of the construction of new” nuclear power plants.
Regarding the threat of power outages this winter, “it is 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 commission our nuclear reactors as planned, we will achieve it,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
