The long line winding outside the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 27, might have suggested a tennis star was playing. But neither Jannik Sinner nor Carlos Alcaraz was on the Philippe-Chatrier court – instead, it was Patrick Martin, the president of MEDEF and the main representative of French employers. No doubt inspired by the setting, the "bosses' boss" alternated between defense and offense as he opened the traditional Rencontre des entrepreneurs de France, held until Thursday.

Three days after the surprise decision by Prime Minister François Bayrou to call for a vote of confidence for his government in the Assemblée Nationale on September 8, Martin expressed his support for Bayrou: "The prime minister was right to alert the French people to the seriousness of our country's situation," he said, while urging political leaders to "rise above their partisan rivalries. (...) It doesn't look like it will be happening, and I deplore it."

Indeed, many business leaders from all over France did not hide their exasperation with elected officials. "If politicians could think about France instead of themselves, it would do a lot of good," said Stanislas Lacroix, leader of Aldes, a family-owned business specializing in ventilation, based in Lyon, which employs 1,800 people.

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