The Commission's message to François Hollande: companies and the deficit, period.

(BRUXELLES2) Questioned during the midday press briefing on the lesson of the municipal elections by a colleague, the spokesperson for the Commission had this message addressed to François Hollande and the new French government, encouraging him not to release the effort. « We must speed up structural reforms to make French companies, large and small, more competitive, to improve their ability to create jobs. And continue the process initiated to ensure the stability of public finances » said Simon O'Connor, the spokesperson for Olli Rehn, the Commissioner in charge of the Economy.

Wanting to know more, I asked him if that wasn't a bit of a short answer. As the campaign for the European elections begins, does having only the words "competitiveness" and "deficit reduction" in your mouth make sense? Isn't there another intelligible message for citizens? The spokesperson did not budge. « The question is to have competitive companies capable of creating employment, capable of attracting investment, of creating innovation and of having a public administration that is more favorable to investment. » he confirmed, adding that « French companies were not competitive and had unfortunately lost competitiveness ».

At least, it's clear ! And the new French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, is warned. Focus on business and deficit reduction. The rest will wait for the Europeans. With such a program, the European Commission is pushing the fires of the National Front...