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PARIS (Reuters) – French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Tuesday informed lawmakers that France was drowning in debt, however pledged to take heed to concepts to renegotiate a landmark 2023 pension reform in a bid to win help from the left to move the 2025 finances.
Under are a few of the key quotes from his speech in parliament:
DEBT:
“There are numerous causes for concern. Nonetheless, there may be one which emerges with evident power: our nation’s over-indebtedness.”
“For the reason that conflict, France has by no means in its historical past been as indebted as it’s at present. I affirm that no coverage of restoration and rebuilding might be performed if it doesn’t have in mind our over-indebtedness and if it doesn’t set itself the target of containing and lowering it.”
“I affirm that every one the so-called authorities events have a accountability within the state of affairs created in latest many years. And I affirm that every one the opposition events, continually demanding further spending, have additionally danced the deadly tango that has led us to the sting of this precipice.”
“This debt is a Damocles’ sword hanging over our nation and our social mannequin.”
EUROPE:
“For France to maintain its treasure of civilization alive and to proceed to share it with the world, Europe, our Europe, should grow to be a strategic group, a political and defence energy on the dimension of the financial energy that it needs to be.”
“France’s prosperity is dependent upon that of Europe.”
POLITICAL DEADLOCK:
“Our impasse shouldn’t be solely monetary. It is usually political.”
“On the coronary heart of this impasse there’s something cultural, our incapacity to dwell with pluralism; to disagree with out threatening one another with the worst. Indictments and invectives undermine residents’ belief. It’s time to vary our democratic software program.”
PENSION REFORM:
“The imbalance of our pension system and the huge debt it has created can’t be ignored or evaded.”
“Pension reform is important for our nation and our social mannequin.”
“I be aware appreciable progress on this impassioned debate: nobody denies that there’s a major problem financing our pension system. On the similar time, lots of the contributors within the discussions affirmed that there have been methods to enhance, that the identical outcome could possibly be obtained by way of a fairer reform. I’ve due to this fact chosen to revisit this difficulty, with the social companions, for a short while, and beneath clear situations.”
“I hope that this settlement will probably be reached. But when the companions don’t agree, the present reform will proceed to use.”
PUBLIC FINANCES:
“The target is: 3% public deficit in 2029 … It is going to be proposed to set the general public deficit goal for 2025 at 5.4% of GDP.”
“I’m asserting the creation of a particular fund solely devoted to state reform, financed by realizing a portion of the belongings, significantly actual property, that belong to public authorities in order that we will make investments, for instance, within the deployment of synthetic intelligence in our public companies …”
CUTTING RED TAPE
“The federal government will interact in a strong motion of debureaucratization. The invoice to simplify financial life that has begun to be examined have to be adopted rapidly.”
MAYOTTE:
“The migration disaster that this (abroad) division is experiencing can not be ignored, until we need to make the folks of Mayotte second-class French folks. No debate is taboo on this topic.”
NEW CALEDONIA:
The occasions of Might 2024 have plunged this territory right into a deep quagmire. I hope that the political course of will resume with negotiations that needs to be concluded by the top of the quarter. On the finish of January, I’ll invite the political forces to come back to Paris to open these negotiations …”
MERCOSUR:
“The settlement with Mercosur imposes manufacturing requirements on our farmers that aren’t imposed on their opponents. That is unacceptable.”
