French president accused of ‘monarchical’ drift after addressing both houses of parliament at former seat of French kings

The French president Emmanuel Macron has promised a “profound transformation” of France and Europe, calling for an end to defeatism and “cynicism” in a rare address to both houses of parliament in the gilded palace of Versailles.



In a ninety-minute speech intended to echo the style of the US state of the union address, Macron reiterated his key campaign proposals to change French labour laws and overhaul the workings of parliament, demanding lawmakers get on board and silence “the cynic that lies in all of us”.

Macron repeated his promise to slash the number of members of parliament by one third and hold a referendum on it if parliament did not approve. He promised to give citizens more power to use petitions to get key topics discussed in parliament and to add a “dose” of proportional representation to French parliament – without giving further detail.

He confirmed that France’s state of emergency, in place since the Paris terrorist attacks of November 2015, would be lifted this autumn. But after human rights lawyers had voiced concerns, he vowed new antiterror laws would include checks and balances by judges. In an attempt to reach out beyond his economically comfortable support base, Macron promised to end the persistent inequality in France that still left people “imprisoned” by their “social origins”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest French President Macron addresses a special congress gathering both houses of parliament at Versailles Palace Photograph: Eric Feferberg/EPA

The pro-European centrist was at his most emotional on the need to reinvent the Europe Union after Brexit. He said Britain’s vote last year to leave the European Union was a “symptom” of a “failure... that we must have the courage to face head-on”.

He said: “We have never needed Europe more”, but insisted the European Union must be revived by a “new generation of leaders”.

“The last 10 years have been cruel for Europe,” he said. “We have managed crises but we have lost our way.” He added: “I believe firmly in Europe. But I don’t find the scepticism unjustified.”

He added: “The building of Europe has been weakened by the spread of bureaucracy and by the growing scepticism that comes from that.”

Macron said France and Germany would launch “democratic conventions” across Europe by the end of 2017 to discuss the future of the EU. The conventions would take the form of national debates on the EU and would be aimed at “refounding Europe”. Each member state would be “free to sign on or not, but there is no longer time for quick fixes”.

Macron had summoned members of parliament and senators to sit in a joint congress at the sumptuous palace at Versailles to listen to his speech – a gesture which has never before happened at the start of a French presidency and which confirmed his tendency to use regal and majestic symbols to stress what he has promised would be a “revolution” in France.

Some opposition MPs on the left boycotted the gathering in the regal setting, accusing him of a “monarchical” drift. The address in the former seat of French kings provoked anger among leftist parliament members and concerns over costs among some centrists.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest French President Macron addresses the special congress Photograph: Eric Feferberg/EPA

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the leftist France Unbowed group, led his 17 MPs in a boycott, accusing “Macron the pharaoh” of crossing a line in his “monarchical” approach to the presidency, slamming the speech for its “bleating Europeanism” and “deathly dullness”.

Macron’s new party, La République En Marche, which defines itself as “neither left nor right”, won a solid parliamentary majority last month. This has been bolstered by members of some other parties saying they would support the government’s key proposals.

This gives Macron a free hand for his agenda to change labour protections. But the first sittings of parliament have seen heated rows among opposition MPs about the size of Macron’s majority and the president’s role.

Monday’s Versailles speech was seen as shaping Macron’s personalised approach to the presidency. He slammed the “immobilism” of previous eras in a dig at his socialist former mentor François Hollande and criticised the one-time “agitation” of the presidency in a dig at the former rightwing president Nicolas Sarkozy.

“Until now, we were too often on the wrong track,” said the 39-year-old who won the presidency on a promise of political renewal amid the collapse of France’s traditional parties of government. He warned that in the past France “preferred procedures to results, rules to initiative, a society where you live off inherited wealth, to a fair society”.

It is the second time that Macron has appeared amid the pomp of Versailles since his election – the first was to host the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in May.

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In 2008, Sarkozy made constitutional changes to allow a French president to directly address both houses of parliament at Versailles. Prior to that, direct discussion with lawmakers was the preserve of the prime minister. A president could only address both houses through a written message read out by the prime minister.

The timing of Macron’s speech is crucial – his address comes the day before the prime minister, Édouard Philippe, gives his opening speech to parliament setting out the details of the proposed structural reforms, including the changes to loosen the French labour code to ease rules on businesses.

