Gabriel Attal is trying to set things right. On Thursday, April 4, when the prime minister received Le Monde, the windows of his office on the second floor of the Hôtel de Matignon were wide open. The spring weather was turning stormy. Both literally and figuratively. The unemployment insurance reform, which Attal had announced a week earlier, has been drawing criticism from all sides. The left-wing opposition criticized the government for making savings "on the backs of the unemployed."
The tumult had reached the presidential camp. Voices were being raised, such as those of the president of the Assemblée Nationale, Yaël Braun-Pivet (Renaissance), and former prime minister Elisabeth Borne, expressing surprise at a reform that contradicted the spirit of the 2023 reform – the prime minister's plan could reduce the duration of benefits at a time of rising unemployment. The debate escalated. At a cabinet meeting the day before, Emmanuel Macron expressed his concern, calling for "sense" to be restored to the narrative of government action.
Attal complied. "It's not a reform of the economy, it's a reform of activity and prosperity," he insisted. If this project was revealed alongside the announcement of an out-of-line budget deficit, at 5.5% of gross domestic product, it was pure chance. The planned initiative was one of a litany of measures promised by the head of government in his government policy statement in January.
"I take full responsibility. I was appointed to act. There will be a reform of unemployment insurance in 2024," asserted Attal, who claimed to have the support of a majority of MPs in his camp. Since his arrival into the PM's office, he has received some 150 elected members of the presidential coalition, and on Wednesday evening met with another 30 or so right-wing MPs, who pledged their support.
The spirit of the reform is to achieve full employment, Macron's Holy Grail, he said. "We've gone [since 2017] from 9.6% to 7.5% unemployment. We didn't achieve this historic drop by magic. It's the fruit of our reforms, notably of unemployment insurance," he argued.
In response to Borne, who in a tweet published the previous day praised the benefits of her previous countercyclical reform, the head of government pointed out that "he is committed to remaining within that thinking while evolving its parameters." He pointed out that "the Banque de France anticipates a strong economic rebound in 2025 when the reform will come fully into force."
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