French President Emmanuel Macron has promised a renewed push to reform the labour market and cut red tape for business, while doing more to help the inflation-squeezed middle class as he seeks to reboot his second term.
In a wide-ranging press conference on Tuesday night at the Elysée palace, Macron laid out the priorities for the new government he named last week after a tumultuous stretch marked by parliamentary battles and unrest.
He cast the actions in the context of the fight to contain the rise of the far right, led by his perennial rival Marine Le Pen, arguing that the government must work to address issues that drive voters into its opponents’ arms, such as unemployment, degraded public services and illegal immigration.