Employment results obtained since 2017 risk "disappearing", warns Attal

Forty-eight hours after a meeting with his successor Michel Barnier, Gabriel Attal told Le Figaro that he had renewed his "concerns about the impact" of an increase in the cost of labor to the minister, while the government is planning a reduction in employer contribution reductions in its savings plan.

A measure opposed within the government camp in the Assembly, and in particular within Ensemble pour la République (EPR), where some see it as a step backwards on Macron's employment policy since 2017.

"It would be dangerous to go the other way today," warned the head of the EPR group more broadly, citing the international situation and in particular the risk to the economy of Chinese and American competition with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, who warned that customs duties remained the cornerstone of his trade policy.

"We are witnessing an economic turning point. Either we succeed in negotiating it, or the results obtained over the last seven years on unemployment and industry risk disappearing," argued the Hauts-de-Seine MP, calling for "a complete overhaul of all the standards that hinder things," during the upcoming examination of a bill on the simplification of businesses.

"The refusal to increase the cost of labor is part of this New Deal, in which we can, for example, be more demanding on the compensation from our companies," added the former head of government, and sole candidate for the presidency of the Renaissance party, promising new proposals from his political family "from the first quarter of 2025."

On the other hand, he gave a cold reception to the government's proposal to raise the ceiling on taxes levied on real estate transactions for three years, in order to ease the budgetary efforts required of the departments. "These notary fees must not become a form of house arrest," he pointed out.