What policy for the coming months? The question remains, 48 hours after the second round of early legislative elections which divided the National Assembly into three blocs: in the lead, with 184 seats, the New Popular Front (NFP), followed by the Macronist camp and its 166 deputies, then the National Rally and its allies, with 143 elected representatives. No absolute majority or “project” coalition has emerged, raising fears of a blocked hemicycle and political life at a standstill.
A lack of visibility that is obviously not likely to reassure business circles. Faced with the possibility of a Prime Minister – and therefore a government – coming from the left-wing coalition, all the employers’ organizations fear the implementation of the NFP program. Overview of reactions.
Independents call for a “pre-entrepreneur” against the NFP program
Minimum wage of €1,600 net per month, indexation of salaries to inflation, increase in taxes… so many measures described as “devastating” by members of the Union of the Self-Employed and Very Small Enterprises (SDI).
“Without making any in-depth judgment on the values held, we note that the economic program of the coalition leading the legislative elections presents major dangers for the French economy and more particularly for artisans, traders and managers of very small businesses. Our initial feedback demonstrates a major fear among these professionals who are suspending or even canceling their planned investments.”warns the organization’s secretary general, Marc Sanchez.
The SDI therefore calls for the creation of a “pre-entrepreneur” to open “an economically and socially sustainable path” within the hemicycle of the Palais Bourbon. In the meantime, entrepreneurs are preparing to deal with “a period of major political uncertainty”. For the union, the solution could be to “the ability of responsible political forces to organize a republican front”the only one according to him “take into account the already complex economic reality” SMEs.
Local businesses want “calm the country”
The same observation was made by the Union of Local Businesses (U2P), which emphasizes that the French “did not produce a clear majority” and that he “it will be all the more necessary to emerge from the ideological rearguard battles and to calm the country by building majorities of projects”. Faced with a lack of visibility, the employers’ organization, to which the Confederation of Crafts and Small Building Enterprises belongs (Capeb), lists a number of issues.
Worried about “France’s indebtedness” and of “the threat of measures that are totally unsuitable for small businesses”Independents call for new MPs “to work in a spirit of partnership, seeking to find reasonable compromises, calling on social partners who know how to find agreements in the economic and social fields, and being more attentive to the territories and civil society”.
“A new labor law will be necessary”
It remains to be seen whether the professionals’ grievances will be heard. Hoping “simple and pragmatic solutions”They are also waiting for the simplification project to be reopened and for the TPME test to be “quickly” put in place.
In their eyes, “a new Labor law will also be necessary to address purchasing power, the financing of social protection but also the transposition into law of national interprofessional agreements” concluded at the end of April. These concerned the CETU (universal time savings account), professional retraining and the pooling of dismissals due to incapacity of employees over 50 years of age.
Political uncertainty “is not reassuring” SME managers
The parliamentary fog that is falling over France is therefore preventing business leaders from planning ahead. Since none of the three blocs can constitute an absolute majority to have the slightest text adopted, “It is difficult to know by whom France will be governed”regrets the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME).
A political uncertainty that “is not reassuring” managers, still waiting for a more favorable economic and social context to confirm their investments and recruitment. As a reminder, business bankruptcies have already jumped by 18% during the first half of the year.
Here again, the NFP program is very far from reassuring the business community. For the CPME, whose French Building Federation (FFB) is a member, “massively increasing spending and compulsory levies in a country which holds the European record in this area would inevitably lead our country into financial default”.
“Unravelling the unemployment insurance reform and going back on the pension reform would go against the measures that should be taken”
The employers’ association also deplores the fact that certain issues were not or were barely addressed during the election campaign. “Our country’s debt, which is one of the main current threats, can no longer be considered as incidental. There is now no other choice but to reform public action by ceasing to stack the levels and by agreeing to set limits on the increase in staff numbers which are today so poorly distributed.”still pins the confederation.
The thorny issue of working hours is also back on the table. The social protection system, “whose financing is mainly based on earned income”would not be so “more viable without increasing working hours”. Therefore, “Unravelling the unemployment insurance reform and going back on the pension reform would go against the courageous measures that should be taken”CPME still believes.
Having been shelved due to the dissolution of the National Assembly, the administrative simplification project should also be reopened to ensure the competitiveness and development of small structures. Finally, their representatives are asking that the climate transition “become a vector of growth again”.
The Medef calls for “pursue” economic policy “carried out for 9 years” and who has “produces results”
Finally, the Movement of French Enterprises (Medef) also reacted by calling for its wishes “a clear and stable economic policy, guaranteeing the competitiveness of businesses and the only one capable of restoring confidence and ensuring employment”In an international context that remains complex and due to the volatility of financial markets, employers fear stagnation of growth, or even recession, and note the increase in business bankruptcies as well as the freezing of investments and hiring.
While public finances are already in a pitiful state, the organisation also points out that compliance with the European framework will be imposed on the new government. “The economic policy pursued for the past 9 years, which has produced results in terms of growth and jobs, must continue and expand because it is the right response to face the challenges of the ecological and digital transitions that the country must take up”states the Medef in a press release.
“Choosing the country rather than partisan interests”
Chaining: “It must continue to respond to the legitimate demand of our fellow citizens to see their purchasing power increase, to respond to the necessary reindustrialization of our country. Finally, it must continue to reduce deficits and stem debt.”
The flagship measures of the NFP are once again targeted: “An increase in taxation on individuals and businesses, a brutal revaluation of the minimum wage and an automatic indexation of salaries on inflation, a renunciation of pension reform or that of the labor market, a freeze on prices would inevitably have recessive effects, plunging France into a deep and lasting economic crisis.”
Without taking sides, the Medef nevertheless asks Emmanuel Macronreminding him that he is “guarantor of national cohesion”of “choosing the country over partisan interests”At the risk, according to the movement, of causing the French economy to stall and accelerating the downgrading of France on the international scene.
