"We are worried, France must not fall behind": MEDEF boss Patrick Martin warns about the budget

The boss of bosses' warning. Rising unemployment, declining growth, declining investment... The country's economic outlook is hardly reassuring, and Patrick Martin is sounding the alarm this Wednesday, July 9, on RMC, ahead of François Bayrou's government's budget presentation.

"We are worried because we see that other EU countries are accelerating," he noted to Apolline de Malherbe.

"Growth, investment, employment, we must be careful that France does not fall behind," warns Patrick Martin.

On Tuesday, July 15, the Prime Minister is expected to submit the government's budget proposal, which promises drastic savings, with a total target of €40 billion. "There have been reassuring statements from the Prime Minister: no tax increases, no abolition of the corporate surcharge, no reduction in payroll tax relief," he lists.

A week before the announcement of the budget guidelines for 2026, the possibility of a blank year is among the options on the table, several members of the government have stated, without, however, providing details. Patrick Martin does not seem opposed to it a priori, believing it to be a "good option" even if it will "not bring in 40 billion."

His ideas for finding 40 billion: chainsawing the health sector: "We're going to make 90 proposals to regulate spending, particularly health spending, which is the one that's drifting the most. We have the right to make proposals because companies pay 110 billion euros a year for health care.

"There are obvious ways to save money," he said, particularly by interfacing with health insurance and supplementary health insurance files, as this helps identify fraud and anomalies. "We need to implement more AI; there is a culpable delay at the CNAM and also in other administrations. There are obvious productivity gains to be made by finding and tracking fraud more effectively."