Bayrou's First Council of Ministers: Emmanuel Macron Calls on François Bayrou's Crew to “Not Sail Along the Shore”

The Bayrou government upon its arrival at the Élysée Palace this Friday, January 3. MAXPPP – Franck castel

This Friday, January 3, at the Élysée Palace, the Head of State chaired the Council of Ministers, urging the government to seek both “unity” and “boldness” to avoid getting bogged down.

President Emmanuel Macron called for “boldness” to the government during the first Council of Ministers of the executive led by François Bayrou, which was held on Friday, declared government spokesperson Sophie Primas.

“The President of the Republic has committed to unity […] but he has also insisted on the fact that we must be bold, that is to say, get off the beaten track to find solutions together, which are solutions that may have been unthought of until now and which allow us to move forward“, she told the press at the end of the Council of Ministers.

The Head of State indicated “that we must not coast along the shore, to use his exact expression, but we must be bold and not not just manage”, added Sophie Primas.

François Bayrou was appointed Prime Minister last month after the fall of the Barnier government and presented a government called, according to him, to “emerge from the recognition of impotence” in the face of a fragmented Assembly that threatens a new censure.

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Among the priorities is the development of a budget for 2025, on which the previous executive failed. The latter had said that he was counting on a public deficit of 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for this year.

A deficit of 5.4% ?

In an interview with La Tribune at the end of December, the new Minister of Economy and Finance, Éric Lombard, mentioned a deficit “a little over 5%“. This Friday, the daily newspaper Le Monde, citing sources, reported that the public deficit target had been set at 5.4% of GDP in 2025.

Asked about this figure, Sophie Primas did not wish to answer. “The deficit will be the result of the consultations and the path that will be found during the consultations at Bercy and also for the PLFSS [social security financing bill]“, she said. “We will first set this dialogue“, she continued, adding that the government was not losing sight of the objective of reducing the debt“.

The threat of blocking the Rural Coordination

Will the Rural Coordination, the second largest agricultural union, complicate the task of the new government ?

This was the threat that the union made this Friday, January 3, demanding an urgent meeting from the Prime Minister. The date of January 13, proposed by Matignon, does not suit the union.

In the absence of any progress, the Rural Coordination has called its members à "go up to Paris" starting this Sunday, by organizing "partial blockades".

"We don't have an answer coming to us, so we have to go and get it", said president Véronique Le Floc’h on RTL.