(Bloomberg) — France’s newly appointed prime minister, Michel Barnier, indicated he’s willing to make minor changes to President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies that don’t compromise efforts to curb rising public debt.
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The European Union’s former Brexit negotiator said he’s open to small modifications to Macron’s 2023 law raising the retirement age, which sparked mass protests and opposition across the political spectrum.
“We won’t call everything into question,” Barnier said on TF1 TV on Friday in his first television interview in the new job. “I’ll open the debate on improving this law for the most vulnerable people.”
He declined to say whether the minimum age of 64 for receiving a state pension could be part of an overhaul, but said any modification should not have a negative impact on public finances.
“In the time I’m here, which I hope is until the end of the presidential term if parliament wishes, I don’t want to increase our country’s debt,” Barnier said. “I will state the truth, even it’s difficult and very grave, but there are also reasons for hope.”
Macron’s mandate is due to end in 2027.
Barnier also indicated he could drop the president’s dogma of not raising taxation, saying he doesn’t rule out “greater tax fairness.”
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