Behind the call for national unity, a supposed antidote to the upheavals of the time, a word underscored the wishes of Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, December 31, 2022. Seventeen times the President of the Republic used the term “work” or its declension “ Work”. “We have to work harder” This is what the head of state emphasized when welcoming the reform of unemployment insurance or recalling what he believed to be the absolute necessity of reforming pensions. A lexical field that has declined in several respects, with a leitmotif: France will change “through our work and our commitment”. On eight occasions, Mr. Macron used this phrase to list his ambitions: “Rebuilding a Stronger France”, “Transformation of Public Services”, “Building a Fairer Society”reindustrialize the country “Increase Internal Security Forces Resources”… According to Elysée, the success of this second five-year term will be determined by the question of work.

This rhetoric was not chosen at random. Omnipresent during the presidential campaign, it has returned to a macronistic expression since the fall of 2022, after a summer devoted to purchasing power. “I believe in a France of work and merit”, Mr Macron said on October 26 during a program broadcast on France 2. While many majority MPs in September wondered about the significance of his second term and worried about the president’s vagueness, the value of work emerged as a possible axis.

During several sessions of the majority in the National Assembly, but also around the Secretary General of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler, the Macronist leaders agreed to make this the arc of a second five-year period that is still looking for its rhythm and its history. The aim is to establish a link between the various ongoing or forthcoming reforms (unemployment insurance, pensions, vocational high school reform, etc.). With one goal: full employment, i.e. less than 5% unemployment.

“For France to become or remain an industrial power again, we must emerge from this togethertranslates Charles Rodwell, Substitute (Renaissance) of Yvelines. This draws a line between the reforms, but also with the first five-year term in which we have created 1.3 million jobs, in which we have reduced payroll and employer contributions, in which we have reformed learning. There’s a consistency, and it really was Emmanuel Macron’s identity from the start. Without forgetting that there is a real ideological difference between the nupes [Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale] and us on this topic. »

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