Patrick Martin, President of the Medef (French Association of MEDEF), Announces "Huge Meeting" of Employers in "A Few Days"

Medef (French employers' association) President Patrick Martin announced on Tuesday, September 23, that a "huge meeting" of employers would be held "in a few days" to confront what he described as "dangerous theories," referring in particular to the proposed Zucman tax on high net worth individuals.

"We will be organizing, all employers' organizations combined, a huge meeting in a few days to say positively, joyfully, what we are and what we are proud to be," Mr. Martin declared during the BIG event organized by the public investment bank Bpifrance.

The head of France's largest employers' organization had already warned in mid-September of a "major employers' mobilization" if taxes increased as part of the 2026 budget proposal.

The issue of taxing the richest is at the heart of the debates between Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and the Socialist Party, which could prevent him from being censored on this crucial text.

The Medef, questioned by AFP about the date and location of the meeting, did not immediately provide details.

Mr. Martin, who, like all the speakers of the day, spoke on the theme of "Truth," considered that entrepreneurs, by being "in the facts," "get closer to the truth."

"We must assert our essential contribution to the public good," while "certain theories that are dangerous for our businesses are circulating frantically at extremely high decibel levels," he said, referring in particular to the Zucman tax proposal, which would involve taxing the wealth, including professional assets, of the 1.800 richest French people at a minimum of 2% per year.

"We would like to imply that (companies) are nothing more than shareholders hungry for dividends and indifferent to the general interest," Mr. Martin noted, denouncing "a falsehood that we must not allow to take root."

"I don't know how to dance the Zucmania, and I have no intention of doing it," he said.

He recalled that Medef companies also represented 12 million employees.

"I'm not saying that everyone in our businesses is as happy as a pope, but I see the polls: our fellow citizens have never had so much confidence in business, (notably) because other decision-makers have discredited themselves, and that's worrying for our democracy."

"We have a collective interest, and it is our responsibility to make ourselves better known," he insisted.