Among comments on France's role on the world stage, the French President announced several domestic economic measures he aims to implement as soon as possible.
ADVERTISEMENTEmmanuel Macron has a little over three years before his second and final term is up.
In a high-profile press conference on Tuesday, he laid out his vision for a 'stronger France' that not only focused on migration, education and law and order, but sweeping economic reforms too.
Here are the most salient measures we can expect to see for the country's coffers for the rest of the Macron mandate:
A €2 billion tax cut
It’s been in the pipeline for a while, but the French president confirmed on Tuesday that middle-class people would benefit from a €2 billion tax cut as soon as 2025.
It's worth noting however that he didn't specify the conditions to be considered middle class. A salary range should be communicated in the coming months.
Macron has been known for implementing several tax cuts since he took office in 2017, such as the annual property tax which was later abolished in 2023.
But tax cuts mean less cash in the government's piggy bank, and can result in headaches for politicians who are trying to figure out how to reduce the country's debt.
A new parental leave
Currently, on top of maternity and paternity leaves, French parents can opt for an extended parental leave, and stay at home to raise their child from one to three years (or more in the case of multiple births or adoptions).
However, if the leave allows the parent's work contract to be suspended and later resumed once they come back to work, it's not particularly lucrative: The minimum is €428.71 per month, and while some can qualify to receive a bit more, the sum rarely compensates for the loss of salary typically experienced by the child's mother.
Macron says he wants to replace the current system with a "birth leave" that would only cover six months per child but would guarantee both parents get 67% of their salaries.
It means that a full-time minimum wage worker would receive about €1,184 per month. This new leave would be added to the current maternity and paternity leaves that parents are entitled to when a child is born or adopted.
The French president insisted his goal is to reverse the declining national birth rate, yet fell short of announcing stronger gender equality measures in this area that experts say may address why women, in general, are more reluctant to give birth nowadays.
In the past, Macron and his party relentlessly campaigned against a European measure that would have given mothers and fathers leaves of similar lengths. Right now, French women get a compulsory 16-week leave around their child's birth, but fathers only have 25 optional days off (28 for simultaneous births, such as twins).
Full employment
Unlike what its name suggests, France considers "full employment" to be an unemployment rate of 5% or below.
To help achieve this, Macron reiterated in his speech on Tuesday that he intends to continue reforming the French labour market to include tougher rules around unemployment, such as losing benefits when two permanent job offers proposed by the country's unemployment bureau are declined in a row.
The announcement follows a proposal shared a few days earlier by Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, who suggested changing the rules of unemployment, so fewer people are accounted for, and reducing the duration of unemployment benefits for over 55-year-olds.
It is currently three more months than the standard two-year duration, as older citizens struggle more than their younger peers to find work after being laid off.
