Macron vows to boost economy shaken by pension protests

DUNKIRK (AP):

Building factories to boost job creation and make France more independent – that’s President Emmanuel Macron’s ambition for the French economy.

It’s a big challenge, as France reels from protracted protests, rising food and energy prices and other fallout from the Ukraine war.

While Macron woos investors to help “re-industrialise” France and reduce Europe’s dependence on China and the US, protesters follow him around the country, banging saucepans to protest economic injustice and his leadership.

More than 200 international business leaders gathered yesterday at the ‘Choose France’ event staged at the Palace of Versailles to promote foreign investment. Eminent business leaders taking part in the sixth such pow-wow ranged from The Walt Disney Company’s Robert Iger to Lakshmi Mittal of Arcelor Mittal.

Elon Musk was a surprise visitor, meeting first with Macron at the Elysee Palace with discussions about “significant progress in the electric vehicle and energy sectors”, as well as digital regulation, the president tweeted.

France vaunts its attractiveness and plans to prove it with the announcement of €13 billion (about US$14.14 billion) in investments via 28 initiatives, several of them announced recently.

It follows a series of incentives announced by Macron last week to support innovative industries and transition towards greener technology. They include tax credits in fields like battery production, electric cars, hydrogen and wind power, as well as accelerating authorisation for industrial projects.

“France is changing, is getting adapted to the course of the world and I believe that we’re following the right path, which is to reindustrialise the country, to be more sovereign and more respectful of the climate and biodiversity,” Macron said Friday during a visit to Dunkirk, in northern France.

Macron’s move comes after months of protests against his decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. The unpopularity of the change has weakened his government at parliament and hampered his economic strategy.

Speaking on French television network TF1, Macron said Monday that he planned to continue with the pension reform despite the nationwide outcry. He also promised €2 billion (US$2.2 billion) in middle class tax cuts, which was seen as a sweetener.

Unions have called for a new round of nationwide demonstrations on June 6. Meanwhile, opponents keep staging small protests, with people loudly banging pots and pans in places where Macron and government members are scheduled to travel.

Credit rating agency Fitch last month downgraded France’s sovereign credit rating, citing the protest movement. “Political deadlock and (sometimes violent) social movements pose a risk to Macron’s reform agenda,” the agency wrote.

In Dunkirk Friday, Macron made time for selfies with workers from several local factories who attended his speech at Aluminium Dunkerque, one of the biggest aluminum production sites in Europe. No one asked him about the retirement age, but unlike previous visits across French regions, he didn’t walk through city streets to meet with the crowd.

A heavy police presence was deployed in Dunkirk to keep potential protesters away.