French President Emmanuel Macron will hold his first prime-time news conference on Tuesday, January 16, to announce his top priorities for the year as he seeks to revitalize his presidency, vowing to focus on “results" despite not having a majority in Parliament. On Tuesday evening, Macron is expected to detail the key goals assigned to new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, 34, and the government to bolster his legacy amid growing political pressure from the far right.
More than three years before the end of his term, Macron is trying to bring in fresh faces and ideas after appointing a new government last week led by France's youngest-ever prime minister. He said in his New Year's Eve address that he wants 2024 to be a year of "effective results" and "French pride" marked by the Paris Olympics this summer.
Macron has held few wide-ranging news conferences at the Elysée Palace – and none in the evening, a timing meant to reach the broadest audience possible. Tuesday's event will be broadcast live on six national television channels.
Macron's move to refresh the government comes after two major laws he had promised were adopted last year. One pushed the retirement age from 62 to 64. The other, on immigration, is intended to strengthen France’s ability to deport foreigners who are considered undesirable. The contentious immigration bill has been criticized by some in opposition as too right-leaning, and Macron himself had to argue it was not a victory for the far right.
His government still faces a major challenge: With no majority in Parliament, it can only pass laws by bargaining with opposition lawmakers and using special constitutional powers. EU elections in June are another major challenge for the French president, who is a staunch supporter of the European Union.
Amid other promises, Macron has vowed to bring France back to full employment by the end of his term. The proportion of jobless people fell since he arrived in office in 2017 from over 10% to about 7% last year, but it has started to rise again.
The first days of the new government have been marred by controversies over newly named ministers. The appointment as culture minister of Rachida Dati, an outspoken figure from the conservative party Les Républicains, was highly criticized. Dati had been handed preliminary corruption-related charges in 2021 by investigative magistrates over consulting fees she received from the Renault-Nissan automobile manufacturers' alliance. Under French law, preliminary charges mean magistrates have strong reason to suspect wrongdoing but allow time for further investigation before deciding whether to send a case to trial. Macron’s office argued she has the right to the presumption of innocence.
Another controversy broke out when the new education minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, said she preferred to send her children to a private Catholic school in Paris, pointing to the issue of public school teachers who, she said, go on leave without being replaced. The next day, she said she "regretted" for having offended some teachers. The comments prompted an immediate debate about French elites’ privileges compared to most ordinary people, whose children attend public schools that struggle with a lack of human and financial resources.