Ecology and energy renovation
The first point on which the tone rose during the debate was the question of renewable energies.
Emmanuel Macron wishes to continue to bet on the development of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, especially offshore, by maintaining and improving nuclear power while renewable energies become more widespread in French energy consumption.
The presidential candidate also intends to reduce the country's needs by accelerating energy renovation with the MaPrimeRénov' scheme. He wants to double the number of renovated homes to 700.000 homes renovated each year if he is re-elected.
He also confirmed that he wanted to create a bonus to help seniors adapt their accommodation based on MaPrimeRénov' in order to enable them to avoid EHPADs and entitled MaPrimeAdapt'.
Emmanuel Macron wants to maintain the tariff shield on the price of energy during the crisis, after which he will no longer subsidize oil and fossil fuels and instead pay these subsidies in the form of aid for the energy renovation of French housing.
Marine Le Pen, accused by her competitor of being "climate-skeptical", wants to reduce VAT on fossil fuel products to relieve households and promote purchasing power. She also wants to get out of the European electricity market, which she sees as the source of rising energy prices, and instead let the state regulate prices.
She is also against the blocking of Russian gas imports because of the harmful effects this has on individuals and businesses.
She also affirms her desire to oppose onshore wind turbines because, according to her, this source of energy is too uncertain since it is based on the presence or absence of wind to power the turbines, too disturbing for those living nearby, citing "abnormal disturbances in the neighborhood" and that when the wind turbines are not turning "you have to use coal", which thwarts the ecological interest of wind turbines. It therefore wishes to dismantle the offending wind turbines and organize referendums to decide the fate of the other wind projects.
The Rassemblement National candidate also considers that the economic model of free trade is largely responsible for greenhouse gas emissions because “imports represent 50% of them”. It would favor a model based on local production as much as possible through reindustrialization in order to allow greater French independence and a form of “economic patriotism”.
The pace of ecological transition dictated by Emmanuel Macron is also questioned by Marine Le Pen. She denounces a "punitive ecological policy" for households that are not going fast enough in their ecological transition, in particular with significant out-of-pocket payments during energy renovation work on a home or the decision to ban the installation of new oil-fired boilers despite the fact that some households would "not have the means to do otherwise". Low Emission Zones have also been criticized by Marine Le Pen, denouncing an inequality for households that cannot invest in an electric or low-emission vehicle but who live in an EPZ.
Work and retirement
Marine Le Pen has announced that she wants to ensure that the social charges of workers posted to France are paid in France. The fact that these charges are transferred to the worker's country of origin is, according to her, "a net loss for our country and creates a foreign preference for employment in a certain number of sectors". For her, this mechanism causes an asymmetry for companies that do not use posted workers compared to those that use them.
For Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, his policy carried out so far has made it possible to reduce fraud and he considers himself satisfied to have “changed the rules so that the principle of “equal work for equal pay” concerning posted workers is respected. The current president also pointed out the fact that having the social charges of posted foreign workers paid in France but not applying the same principle to French workers abroad, that is to say "national preference employment", would represent "the end of the common European labor market.
The subject of pensions also showed the cleavage between the two candidates. Marine Le Pen wants to bring retirement back to 60 or 62 years (40 to 42 annuities) so that the French can take advantage of it.
Emmanuel Macron, for his part, maintains his intention to increase retirement to 65 but also to retain the hardship criteria, which they consider fundamental in the pension system, to continue to allow those who have exercised a difficult profession to leave. earlier in retirement.