Patrick Martin (Medef) reconsiders a management meeting against the "bitter potion" of the budget

On October 6, the Medef (Medef) cancelled a meeting scheduled to take place Monday at the Accor Arena in Bercy, "out of concern for calm," following the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu - who was reappointed Prime Minister on Friday.

"It's postponed," he assured RTL on Tuesday, fearing "the bitter potion being prepared for us" in the budget. The president of the Medef (French employers' association) expects "€10 billion in additional compulsory levies on businesses" in 2026, after already €13 billion in 2025.

"It risks being very painful for businesses, therefore for the economy, therefore for employment, therefore for investment, therefore for the country, and we will say so," he assured, noting an Odoxa survey which mentioned that 84% of business leaders are in favor of such an expression of employers.

While the two other employers' organizations, the CPME and the U2P, had refused to join the meeting planned for Monday - the president of the U2P, Michel Picon, in very virulent terms against the Medef, which had apparently consulted its partners little before announcing the meeting - Mr. Martin assured this time "that he would take the opinion of Michel Picon, very sincerely and very amicably", and "that of (his) counterpart from the CPME", Amir Reza-Tofighi, before announcing a new meeting.

The president of the Medef (Medef) reiterated on Tuesday his firm opposition to a suspension of the pension reform, which the Socialist Party is demanding from Mr. Lecornu so as not to censure him.

"We must stop convincing ourselves that everyone is in favor of this shift," he said. "That tactically, it's understandable and that it's done, why not (why not?, editor's note), but let's understand the consequences," he said, while "we have our backs to the wall in terms of public debt."