The Business Council, Bercy's new "co-construction" tool, welcomed by employers

Mr. Lombard received them with the Minister for SMEs, Véronique Louwagie, and indicated that he wanted to "co-construct with businesses" on issues that concern them.

This is the approach adopted by the Bayrou government: the Prime Minister will hold a conference on public finances on Tuesday, well in advance of the budget, which will be presented in September, and will involve parliamentarians, social security organizations, and local authorities.

It worked well at the start of the year at Bercy.

Mr. Lombard, a left-wing man and open friend of the First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, had received all the parliamentary groups in January to discuss the budget with them, which had ultimately escaped censure.

After the meeting, which lasted two hours on Monday and is scheduled to take place every six weeks, the guests praised the method.

"A timely initiative," according to Medef President Patrick Martin, who said that this type of "open, trusting" discussion is "exactly what our country needs."

"Stupidity"

A "very positive format" for Amir Reza-Tofighi, the president of the CPME, while Michel Picon, the president of the U2P (local businesses), considered the meeting "very interesting", praising "the serious work" carried out at Bercy.

Another guest, Patricia Barbizet, president of Afep, the corporate lobby group, avoided the press. Afep was there primarily to discuss the customs duties Donald Trump wants to impose, as it represents major exporting companies.

Regarding these customs duties, Patrick Martin noted that "we must be extremely attentive to the proper balance of our trade relations with China," which is in an open trade war with the United States, while Michel Picon also mentioned a "fear of invasion by Chinese products which have already damaged many of our small businesses."

Mr. Picon expressed skepticism about the possible imposition of heavy taxes on "Gafam" - Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook - noting that "all companies are completely dependent on these tools." He called for "taking time" over customs duties, "and not responding with stupidity to the stupidity of the American president."

Amir Reza-Tofighi also stressed the need for simplification for businesses and the financing of the social model, which should shift "from work to other sources of income."

"Very slightly"

The €40 billion effort to be found next year, announced Sunday by Eric Lombard to reduce the public deficit below 5% of GDP, and to be distributed among the State, Social Security, and local authorities, was also a central theme of the discussion. Employers are generally in favor of reducing public spending.

On Monday, Mr. Lombard put the amount of savings to be found into perspective: "Forty billion euros is the deviation from the natural trajectory of the budget as it results from the usual way of working."

For him, this amounts to "slightly reducing public spending, very slightly, compared to its 2025 level." A little later, he compared this effort to "stabilizing, or even slightly reducing, public spending."

From "dialogue with all stakeholders," Mr. Lombard hopes to see a "consensus" emerge. For him, bringing the public deficit back below 3% of GDP—by 2029, according to government forecasts—is "a national cause."

On Friday, Eric Lombard will bring together trade union organizations at Bercy, along with Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, to discuss the impact of significant increases in customs duties.