“Nothing is set at this hour.” Four days before July 14, 2023, a relative of the Élysée testifies to BFMTV of the doubt hovering over a possible speech by the president for the national holiday. However, last April, following the pension reform crisis, Emmanuel Macron had himself set July 14 as the date for a “first assessment” of the progress of the new major projects of the executive. In the current context of urban protest, the president could change his mind.
In April, Elisabeth Borne detailed Emmanuel Macron’s “100 days” program during a press conference. “The roadmap responds immediately to the concerns and expectations of French people who expect concrete solutions and life-changing actions, responses to the great challenges of our time.”
However, 3 months later, the retirement page has been turned somehow. If projects have been launched in many areas (France Travail, the reform of the vocational high school, the climate plan, etc.), the French are waiting for a concrete return on the course taken by the executive. And, this July 14, seemed like the opportune moment to present new measures, and perhaps a new government, to France. But, since the death of Nahel shot by a policeman in Nanterre on June 27, the government is facing a new episode of crisis. How is the July 14 speech impacted by this?
“That’s the problem with setting a course at 3 months: so many things can happen,” said Alba Ventura, political journalist, on RTL. In recent days, several nights of riots have taken place in France. In this context, the Elysée is wondering about the form and date that the president’s next speech should take.
Although calm has returned, the executive fears new riots. According to the intelligence services, a resurgence of violence over the summer is plausible. “We often see an upsurge in violence when there is no school,” explained a police officer on BFMTV at the end of June. While Élisabeth Borne promised “massive means” to “protect the French” on July 13 and 14, “it’s sure that if the president speaks and after that it breaks again, we go a little for idiots”, confides a Renaissance deputy to BFMTV. Would the solution be to postpone the speech originally scheduled for July 14?
Not giving a speech on July 14 would not be a first for Emmanuel Macron. The president has not always complied with the exercise. He only spoke twice on National Day: the first in 2020 shortly after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and then the second in 2022 at the start of his second five-year term. It could be that the president does not speak on his political agenda on July 14. According to BFMTV, he could wait until July 26, which corresponds to the day for the end of the “100 days”. Moreover, this date also coincides with the end of the parliamentary session, in other words before the holidays of the deputies.
