News: France - "Unemployment is our biggest problem"

"The hardest is yet to come," headlines a Parisian weekly after the takeover of Emmanuel Macron.

France's President Macron wants to present his new cabinet today. This assumes a heavy legacy: for example, an unemployment rate that is above the European average.Doris Pundy from Paris.

Today, the location is calm at the monument to the French Revolution on the Place de la Republique. The statue is a traditional starting point for protests in Paris. The traces of the last large demonstration on May 1 have been wiped out. The office of Claire Pauchet and Bernard Aznar is located 300 meters from here, in a small side street. They fight for the rights of French unemployed and precarious workers. They know the Place de la Republique well. In the week-long demonstrations against the labor market reform of former President Francois Hollande, both were present.

Poor government balance for Hollande

"With all objectivity, we can not really say that Hollande has made a strong commitment to the rights of the weak," says Aznar, head of the Mouvement National des Chomeurs et Precairs (MNCP), the national movement for the unemployed and precarious. The walls of the small office space are full of photos of demonstrations. Hollande was a very liberal president, his former Secretary General Emmanuel Macron had left his mark. The activists now fear further liberal reforms.

Macron wants to promote business start-ups. But think about what he really means, "says Claire Pauchet." That means that all are self-employed. Just like the young people who eat their own bicycles, "says Pauchet." They are not employed, they have no social security. Nothing! "Aznar and Pauchet demand that the new government take the concerns of the unemployed seriously and provide alternatives.

"Unemployment, together with trade deficit and high government debt, is our biggest economic problem," explains the economist Philippe Crevel. "It's more like the European average," says Crevel, "almost 10% of all adult French are unemployed, while the under 25s are just under 25%.

Lost time

"For 15 years there have been attempts to improve the situation on the labor market, but one president comes after the next," says the expert, and nothing changes. The cost of a labor force would still be too high, working time constraints would be too rigid, and France's workforce would not be well educated for digital change. "Emmanuel Macron has a tremendous responsibility, and now something has to be done," says Philippe Crevel. In order to reduce unemployment in France sustainably, the economist calls for a package of measures: lower social contributions, better education, more investment and more competence.

"We are young, energetic and do not belong to any of the traditional parties in France." Emmanuel Macron and his new political party, "La République en Marche", will have to hold parliamentary elections in June. "The party is faced with a major challenge: it does not currently have a single mandate, but it needs an absolute majority," says the expert."Macron's five-year presidency will not be enough to turn everything around in France," says Patrick Vignaux. "But what counts is that now finally movement comes into the matter." Vignaux has been a volunteer for over ten years. In the beginning he helped only a few hours a week in the "Solidarites Nouvelles face au Chomage" (SNC) association. A few months ago, he was released from his employer for a year to engage in full-time employment.

Resistance to reform

"Francois Hollande has tried to improve the situation on the labor market," says the social worker, "but he did not manage it." Unemployment fell by only 0.1 percent under Francois Hollande. In the meantime, she even climbed to a record high of almost eleven per cent. "We need profound economic reforms," ​​Vigaux says, but also vocational training should be better.

In 2016 demonstrators protested against Francois Hollandes' economic reforms at the Place de la Republique in Paris.

Thousands demonstrated in 2016 in Paris and other major French cities against the Labor Market Reform of the Francois Hollandes government. The former president wanted to revise loose overtime regulations, collective bargaining agreements and soften the protection afforded. After months of protests and strikes, Hollande passed the presidential decree to avoid parliamentary vote.

"The trade unions are already preparing for the next fight," the economist Philippe Crevel smirks. "We will certainly hear a lot from them in the coming months", he is convinced. The announcement of Emmanuel Macron's decision to adopt a first economic reform also this summer by decree is not really a good thing for the activists: "If it is necessary under Emmanuel Macron, then we will march up again," says Claire Pauchet.