“We were critical enough of the LFI program to say that this announcement reassures us,” admitted the movement's president, Patrick Martin, at the Medef Meeting of French Entrepreneurs (REF) on Tuesday.
Employers were particularly concerned about the planned tax increases, or the plan to raise the minimum wage to €1,600 per month, which they considered to be very damaging to business, or even a repeal of the pension reform, which they wanted and by RN.
A “first positive sign”
The number of businesses and jobs has increased since 2017, and the unemployment rate has decreased by two points, as a result of the supply policy promoted by the executive, employers estimate. CPME President François Asselin saw in the Elysée announcement “a first positive sign”, while he considered it necessary “to remain cautious because the game is not over”.
Michel Picon, president of U2P, spoke of “excellent news”. “We cannot blame Lucie Castets (NFP candidate for Matignon, NFP), whom we do not know, apart from the fact that she contacted all the social partners except the employers' organizations,” he said.
Prime Minister NFP or not, business, currently oscillating between the boost given by the Olympics and a gloomy economic situation, marked by a rise in business failures (63,095 on a year in July, up 25.2% from July 2023). ), are eager for the situation to settle.
Concerned business leaders
For CCI France president Alain di Crescenzo, bosses show both “more optimism but also more realism” as he notes that “business is difficult because of its volumes and margins.”
Some, worried, came to the REF “to exchange with other business leaders, to see their perception of the world”, like Thibaut Antoine-Pollet, president in Aix-en-Provence of Locacoeur, which installs security equipment ( defibrillators, first aid). kits etc.) in businesses and communities.
It is trying to internationalize, but its foreign partners are still hesitant “to make decisions for several years” in the current context. “I am worried about the economic figures that will be published in September,” adds Thibaut Antoine-Pollet.