Macron First French Leader to Seek Balancing Business, Politics

PARIS (Sputnik) — French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe intend to reach a balance between the world of politics and business, which had never been among priorities of traditional left and right policies, Republique En Marche (REM, or Republic On Move) party candidate for the general election Jean Viard told Sputnik.

"It’s a first president who sees the enterprises as a cornerstone factor for producing wealth, which is difficult in France, because we always had either one or another extremity … What is new about today’s politicians, Edouard Philippe included, that they do not belong to any party, they do not believe in political activism, but all of them share the idea that we need to equilibrate the world of the enterprises and the world of politics," Viard, who is also a sociologist and publicist, said.

Viard stressed that Macron, who used to be an investment banker, considered enterprises to be "a cornerstone factor" for producing wealth in France, while they had always been in the second place.

"The right parties think the state should encourage investment, the left – that it has to rather give everyone a job. And all of it was never in the interest of the enterprises. There are countries where politics crushed enterprises, notably the Eastern European countries, or the countries where it was the other way around. In France the enterprise was always in the second place," the REM candidate said, adding that Macron would significantly contribute to making the French economy powerful.

Viard pointed out that the French society should be inspired by having a young centrist president and a prime minister not well-known in the political circles, adding that people would have a sentiment that Macron was "opening doors and windows closed before."

Speaking about Macron’s vision of the future of Europe, Viard highlighted that Europe had long been in the heart of the French project, and the president would "give Europe its appeal back in the eyes of the French people."

In his presidential program Macron paid particular attention to the issue of enterprises, pledging to provide them support and ease some of the regulations affecting their operation.

On Sunday, Macron, who won the French runoff election on May 7, securing over 66 percent of votes, officially assumed office and on Monday, the new president announced that Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre and member of The Republicans' party, would serve as prime minister of the country.

The French legislative elections are scheduled to take place on June 11 and June 18.