Emmanuel Macron launches the National Council for Refoundation, boycotted by the opposition

Published on: 08/09/2022 – 13:07 President Emmanuel Macron kicked off the National Council for Refoundation (CNR) on Thursday, intended to “rebuild consensus” to reform France. The opposition and part of the unions shunned the meeting. A dialogue with the French. Emmanuel Macron gave, Thursday, September 8, the kick-off of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR), intended to “rebuild consensus” to reform France by announcing that citizens would be associated with it through an online consultation. Problem: the meeting is boycotted by the oppositions and part of the unions. “We are in a historic situation”, with climate and energy challenges and the war in Ukraine, hammered the head of state to the press before to open the inaugural meeting of the CNR in the presence of some forty representatives of elected officials, employers, trade unions and associations, as well as about ten ministers. In this context, we must “arm ourselves with good will, courage” and “act on the ground” to “change things in depth”, he launched in the decor of the National Rugby Center in Marcourssis, near Paris. New method of governance This new method of governance, announced by the president before the legislative elections in June and intended as a tool for “democratic renewal”, is highly contested and all the opposition parties have chosen to boycott it. wrong”, replied Emmanuel Macron, noting that twelve representatives of the “living forces of the Nation”, out of the 52 guests, were not there. But the “door will always be open”, he said. From the extreme right to the extreme left, the oppositions see above all in the CNR a means for the president to circumvent the Parliament, where his camp does not no longer has an absolute majority, to regain control in the public debate. “We must not explain after that we have not been consulted, or that it is too vertical”, warned the Head of State drawing up the program of the new body. The proposals resulting from the debates of the CNR could “lead to referendums”, he noted: “I do not exclude anything”. “Very broad national consultation” Five major themes have been retained in the exchanges to come in the coming months: full employment, school, health, “aging well” and ecological transition. A “very wide national consultation” of the French will also be offered online “from next week “, he announced. A site dedicated to the CNR must also be launched in the evening, specified the Élysée. Elysium. “The key (was) to install confidence”, noted Emmanuel Macron, to justify this choice. The President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, refused to come, believing that “representative democracy” is Parliament, and that there is already a “civil society forum” with the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese). he was represented. Only three unions were present: the CFDT, the CFTC and the Unsa. general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, on his arrival while explaining that he is in a logic of “proposals”. The president of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, called for “give the product a chance”. future which is interesting. We are open to dialogue. We are in an emergency and I hope that it will be perceived during the day”, declared é Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the league for the protection of birds (LPO). Guy Geoffroy, vice-president of the Association of mayors of France (AMF), sees it as an “outstretched hand”, but will be “very vigilant the end point of the process undertaken”. The approach “seemed a little confusing to us. The president made it less confusing,” he reported to Marcoussis. After an introductory remark by the president, the participants presented their expectations and priorities. In the afternoon, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne will chair a meeting to determine the projects and establish their long-term implementation. “In one year to the day, we will be preparing to face the All Blacks” at the world of rugby, launched Emmanuel Macron, as if to set the tone for the challenge to come for the CNR. With AFP