President Emmanuel Macron wants to regulate screen time for French children and test compulsory school uniforms, and told a news conference he was not opposed to all primary school students having to learn the national anthem. He promised that France would become a “sensible” country.
Seeking to limit the potential gains of far-right forces in European elections, the French president days after appointing France's youngest-ever prime minister will focus on law and order, education and pro-business policies in the coming years. demonstrated the vision of , Gabriel Attal.
President Macron said his plan was for “France to remain France.” He will focus on low- and middle-income voters trying to live better lives, move on from last year's contentious pension reforms and immigration laws, and boost businesses by cutting red tape. I promised.
President Macron said he had recently asked scientific experts to “determine the optimal use of screens” for young children. He said French families are unsure about how much time their children should spend on TV, phones and computers. He said scientific experts should provide clear guidelines that “it is not reasonable to put children in front of screens until they reach a certain age”.
However, when asked how old he is and what restrictions might be in place, he said he could not say at this time. “There may be bans and restrictions,” he said.
Macron confirmed that compulsory uniforms would be trialled in around 100 schools, adding that civics classes should be increased and drama classes should be made available to all children in secondary schools. .
He said he wanted to work to reverse France's birth rate and launch a national program to combat rising infertility. He said parental leave would be restructured, resulting in improved six-month pay for either parent.
President Macron has confirmed that he will cut taxes for middle-income earners in a bid to counter the far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, the single largest opposition party in France's parliament. This is part of an attempt to appeal to French workers who earn relatively modest salaries but are too numerous to claim state aid. “France has a blind spot: many of our compatriots earn too much to receive aid, but not enough to live well,” he said.
He said Le Pen's party had no viable manifesto and was not telling voters the truth. “The National Rally has become a party that gets angry easily,” he says.
President Macron says he has “no regrets'' for defending the “presumption of innocence'' of movie actor Gerard Depardieu, even as the actor faces formal investigation on rape charges and intense scrutiny over sexist comments. said. Feminists and left-wing politicians reacted with outrage when Macron said last month that Depardieu was the subject of a “search.”
“If I have one regret, it is that I did not emphasize enough the importance of the words of women who are victims of this kind of violence,” Macron said.
President Macron will visit Ukraine next month to finalize a bilateral security guarantee agreement and said Paris would deploy more advanced weapons in the coming weeks.
The visit comes as two major aid programs for Ukraine have been stalled due to political infighting between the United States and the European Union.
France is working on a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine to strengthen its finances and strengthen its defenses against Russia, with the aim of deterring future Russian aggression.
President Macron said 40 Scalp long-range missiles and hundreds of bombs would be deployed in the coming weeks.
“Following these deliveries, I will personally go to Ukraine in February to finalize the document,'' President Macron said at a press conference, adding that European countries would ensure that Ukraine could continue to defend itself against Russia. He added that it was necessary.
Kiev is trying to keep military and financial aid flowing from its Western allies after nearly two years of fighting a full-scale Russian invasion.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kiev last week, signing a new security deal and announcing increased military funding for Ukraine to buy drones, including surveillance, long-range strike and maritime drones.
President Macron said Russia cannot be allowed to defeat Ukraine or European security will be at risk.
