Sébastien Lecornu
@SebLecornu · Europe
Sébastien Lecornu is followed by Storyz World for government and public service coverage connected to France in the Europe chapter.
In Oslo today, to pay tribute to King Harald V and represent France at his funeral. Norway is losing a sovereign who served it for more than thirty years with loyalty, dignity and a profound sense of duty. France is also losing a friend, who did much to bring our two countries closer together. To King Haakon VIII, the royal family and the Norwegian people, France's condolences.
Translated from FrenchIn my letter to France's entrepreneurs, I announce the creation of the Papin Pact to facilitate the takeover and transfer of our companies. Accelerated depreciation for productive investments made as part of a takeover, strengthened for very small businesses. And when a company is taken over by its employees: lower registration duties, the transferor's allowance doubled from €500,000 to €1 million, and payment of the tax spread out when seller financing is used. The Dutreil Pact facilitates transfers within families. It is being preserved. The Papin Pact should enable a company to be transferred to those who keep it going every day, while also allowing all buyers to invest from the moment of the takeover. A simple idea: better align capital and labor, and prevent a viable company from disappearing for lack of a buyer. @SergePapin_rf
Translated from FrenchLet’s be clear: there has never been any question of touching employee savings. We even want to do the opposite: allow employees greater freedom to access the money they themselves have saved. The Government supports Senator Olivier Rietmann’s bill allowing up to €5,000 of employee savings to be exceptionally unlocked, without tax or contributions. I asked for it to be placed on the agenda of the National Assembly: it will be examined there before the end of the year. Our position is simple: there is no question of taking more from employees’ savings. On the contrary, we want to give them more freedom to access their own money.
Translated from FrenchI've already said it: the 2027 budget is still being prepared. The “leaks” circulating are neither announcements nor trial balloons from the Government. We will not deny every rumor: that would end up revealing the budget indirectly, at the pace of those circulating them. But the fact that working-level information, some of which has never even made it up to Matignon, and which could sometimes directly affect economic or property interests, is appearing in the press is far from trivial. It is even serious. The decisions will be announced when they have been made. And on time. Not before. Consultations are continuing.
Translated from FrenchIn Vernon, France’s industrial history has been unfolding for decades. Today it reaches a decisive milestone for our sovereignty. This is where MaiaSpace will produce its first reusable launch vehicle. The first flight is scheduled for next year, to put satellites and demonstrators, both civilian and military, into orbit. The state has chosen to invest, accelerate procedures, and act as a customer itself. Because we must now move quickly to guarantee our access to space and our freedom of action. @Herve_Morin @VilledeVernon @RegionNormandie
Translated from FrenchThe summer we have just come through is one of the harshest our agriculture has experienced in decades. Faced with this situation, the Government is mobilizing more than €1 billion. First, compensate quickly, very quickly: more than €500 million under national solidarity and €350 million in property-tax relief wherever necessary. Next, restart agricultural production capacity: €235 million to finance, in each département, the most urgent needs for plants, fertilizer, fodder and seeds, under the supervision of the prefects. This plan was developed with people on the ground by Agriculture Minister @AnnieGenevard. We will ensure its proper implementation. One priority: that the aid reaches quickly the farmers who need it most.
Translated from French (France)In New Caledonia, the status quo is not an option. It creates social, economic and political disorder. Our responsibility is to act now, with New Caledonian stakeholders, whenever progress is possible, useful and shared. The State will continue its support for the territory: • €11 million to cover end-of-year 2026 needs; • €50 million to start 2027; • between €400 million and €460 million in enhanced support in the 2027 budget, mainly in the form of grants. A monitoring table for these measures and the recovery projects will be published and regularly updated. These resources will be included in the end-of-year financial bills submitted to Parliament. In parallel, certain simplifications can no longer wait. Recent progress shows that adjustments remain possible within the framework of the Nouméa Agreement. The High Commissioner will receive a mandate to identify, with the territory’s stakeholders, those that can be initiated immediately. New Caledonian women and men cannot be condemned to waiting. Rejecting the status quo means enabling the institutions to act and creating the conditions for New Caledonia’s recovery and stability.
Translated from French (France)In July, we made a commitment: to work all summer to build a comprehensive response to violence against women and children, and submit it to Parliament at the beginning of October. Promise kept. The so-called “comprehensive” bill will be the first text placed by the Government on the agenda of the National Assembly at the opening of the ordinary session. Strengthen the criminal-justice response, better detect and protect child victims, combat cyberviolence, strengthen prevention in the workplace, better train healthcare professionals, and combat violence in higher education: we want to act everywhere these forms of violence occur. Making it the first text of the session means giving this fight the priority it demands.
Translated from FrenchElectric vehicles continue to gain ground: in August, 38% of new cars sold in France were electric or plug-in hybrids, compared with an average of 20% in 2025. That is the whole point of the electrification plan: replacing imported fossil fuels with decarbonized electricity, produced in France and at a lower cost. And we are continuing to accelerate, with two new measures entering into force today: • for home-care workers, assistance of around €2,000 to buy or lease a used electric vehicle, with lease offers requiring no down payment and costing between €50 and €100 per month; • for taxis, assistance of around €3,500, which can reach €5,500 when the vehicle and its battery are manufactured in Europe. Less imported oil, more electricity produced in France at a lower cost: a transition that protects our purchasing power just as much as it strengthens our energy independence.
Translated from FrenchStarting today, mothers will receive a better pension. Why? Because having children can weigh on a career, the least favorable years will now be left out to a greater extent from the calculation of their pension. Specifically, the pension will be calculated using the 24 best years for mothers of one child, and the 23 best years for those who have had two or more children, instead of 25 today. Result: an average 1% increase in the pension for the women concerned. Another step forward: up to two quarters credited for the birth of a child can now be taken into account to retire earlier under a long-career scheme. These measures came out of dialogue with the social partners, and we included them in the Social Security budget to better recognize the impact of motherhood on careers and pensions.
Translated from FrenchÉdouard Balladur is associated with fifty years of the history of the Fifth Republic. From his beginnings alongside Georges Pompidou to his accession to Matignon, he was a major figure in our public life. Édouard Balladur was a statesman with a reforming spirit and will remain a reference for many men and women in his political family. I extend my sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.
Translated from FrenchJean-Luc Mélenchon’s proposal not to repay our debt is a moral fault, an economic fault and a patriotic fault. A moral fault: borrowing money and deciding not to return it is called theft. An economic fault: it creates a breach in our European monetary system and damages the eurozone. A patriotic fault: France’s signature is still respected. Introducing doubt means damaging something that works. His entire program rests on the opposite of reality. To finance it, he had to propose something unreal.
Translated from French (France)Making savings does not mean hitting the most vulnerable: no freeze on RSA, no de-indexing of small pensions, no cuts to the Solidarity Complementary Health scheme. I want a Social Security system driven by progress. A medicine that delivers major medical progress must be reimbursed. When an older treatment brings almost no benefit anymore, its reimbursement must be able to be reconsidered. Science must guide our choices. We must also combat abuse of sick leave to better protect those who are genuinely ill. @stephanie_rist @JPFarandou
Translated from FrenchMy priority: controlling spending so as not to increase taxes. A tax shock would derail growth that is already fragile. A few months before the presidential election, it is not for this government to upend our tax system. It is for the French people to decide next year.
Translated from FrenchThe state will bear most of the burden: its spending will continue to increase, but by less than inflation. I will propose that local authorities’ operating expenses grow in line with inflation: neither more nor less. That is fair. Social spending will increase more, notably because of the aging population. A budget is about choices, not indiscriminate cutting.
Translated from French (France)International disorder is already here: war in Iran, more expensive energy, tensions on the markets. Let us not add domestic French political disorder to it as well. “The little political game stops where financial risk begins.” A budget for 2027 is therefore necessary. Voting on a budget before the presidential election does not take the French people’s choice away from them. The text is not set in stone: our orientations will be discussed with the political groups, then in Parliament. And it will be reversible: the future majority will be able to amend it as soon as it takes office. @Amiel_David_
Translated from FrenchThis trip to Mayotte will not end with my departure. Each month, my chief of staff will bring together the relevant ministries to monitor the progress of the projects. The 17 mayors and the president of the Department will be received at Matignon in November for a major progress review. I will return to Mayotte at the beginning of 2027 to report on progress and take the next measures. The remainder of the five-year term must be useful to Mayotte. Every month must now count.
Translated from FrenchIn Mayotte, equality of rights must move forward without breaking employment. Social rights will be almost fully aligned in 2031, five years earlier than planned, while the convergence of contributions will be spread out until 2036. Starting this autumn, the activity bonus will increase for more than 1 200 households. The Social Security Code will apply in full in 2028. The convergence of the RSA, the minimum wage and almost all benefits will be completed in 2031. In the 2027 budget, support for more than 3 000 businesses in Mayotte will be extended, representing an effort of around 40 million euros. A clear trajectory: accelerate rights and support the Mayotte economy over time.
Translated from FrenchIn Mayotte, water remains a daily emergency. The territory needs 48,000 m³ each day and currently produces only 37,000. This shortfall still requires rotating water cuts, even as needs continue to increase. Responsibility for water management lies with the municipalities and the Les Eaux de Mayotte syndicate. The state will stand by them to speed up the works and mobilize available funding. Starting this autumn: - new boreholes will be drilled. - the fight against leaks, which account for up to 9,000 m³, will be strengthened, notably with the young soldiers of the RSMA. - after tanks were installed in 90 schools, the state will fund storage capacity for 13,000 vulnerable people. - the cap on the price of bottled water will be reinstated. At the same time, we must solve the production problem permanently: an additional 10,000 m³ per day with the Ironi Bé desalination plant by early 2028 at the latest, followed by a third hillside reservoir at Ourovéni. In total, the state is mobilizing 730 million euros under the Mayotte Water Plan. The objective is simple: increase production and gradually reduce rotating water cuts.
Translated from FrenchNearly two years after Cyclone Chido, reconstruction and development in Mayotte must accelerate, particularly for public facilities and everyday public infrastructure. That was the subject of this noon discussions with the mayors and presidents of intermunicipal bodies: identifying, municipality by municipality, the projects sufficiently advanced to begin work and removing the remaining obstacles, especially those involving engineering support and land. To achieve this, the prefecture resources will be considerably strengthened, and a territorial engineering platform will directly support the 17 municipalities. Above all, to enable mayors to launch their projects more quickly, the advances paid by the state will increase from 30% to at least 60%. The funding is there. It must now translate, throughout Mayotte, into concrete achievements.
Translated from FrenchIn Mayotte, the major projects awaited for years must get off the ground. For each one, every promise will have its next step: • new airport at M’Tsangamouji: declaration of public utility for the land before the end of 2026, for an opening no later than 2036; • Longoni port: the Department will take back control of it as of September 1. The commitment to turn it into a Grand Maritime Port will be honored: the details of this transformation will be finalized by the end of the year. • second hospital in Combani: €407 million has already been earmarked for hospital projects. The land has been identified and its securing has begun. The project will be definitively approved in early 2027, with an opening planned no later than 2030; • new 250-place prison: the site will be determined in early 2027 and the initial studies will be launched. These major projects are irreversible.
Translated from FrenchMayotte is France. Our armed forces defend our sovereignty there, combat people smugglers and save lives. To suggest that the role of our armed forces would be to “throw people into the sea” is disgraceful. Their presence is legitimate, necessary and will be reinforced. Radars, drones: the new resources we are giving them are intended to see earlier and act faster. One can attack the Government, but not smear those who serve France.
Translated from FrenchOn the island, we are moving from occasional crackdowns to a continuous presence. An additional 62 police officers and gendarmes are planned by the end of 2026. Every week, more than 100 personnel will target violent neighborhoods, illegal work, and criminal networks. Police action must be followed by judicial proceedings. Judges and court clerks will be further reinforced in 2027. A second 250-place prison is confirmed: its site will be selected and the initial studies launched in the first quarter of 2027.
Translated from FrenchOur diplomacy must also protect Mayotte. We must act from the countries of departure all the way to arrival on our territory. In 2024, nearly 300 million euros in official development assistance were devoted to Comoros and six countries in Africa's Great Lakes region affected by migratory flows toward Mayotte. We are creating a bonus-malus system immediately for the adjustable share of this aid: a country that fully cooperates with France on migration will receive more aid than a country that does not. The criteria will be public: departures prevented, action against people smugglers, consular laissez-passers issued, returns accepted, information exchanged, and smuggling networks dismantled. Direct humanitarian aid to populations will not be affected. Solidarity must go hand in hand with responsibility.
Translated from FrenchOur first responsibility is to protect Mayotte. 16,000 foreigners in an irregular situation were removed in the first half of the year: the results are solid. But the networks adapt, mutate and sometimes benefit from local complicity. We must therefore adapt our response. Under existing law, we accept a greater militarization of the protection of the archipelago. It is no longer just a matter of intercepting boats that have been spotted, but of detecting them earlier, tracking them for longer and intervening before they reach the coasts. Our objective: to eliminate the blind spots around the island. The four radars will be renewed. Long-endurance drones, onboard drones and tethered balloons will supplement surveillance. A permanent forward military post will be established in M’tsamboro. At sea, we have gone from four interceptors in 2017 to nine in 2026, and we will have 13 in 2028. In the air, a new surveillance aircraft is arriving in September. The military presence at sea will reach nearly 191 days this year.
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