44 billion euros of "effort": to reduce debt, Bayrou plunges the country into a diet

It's time for action, well, almost. Three months to the day after convening the first Public Finance Alert Committee, during which he spoke at length about the state of decay in the accounts, François Bayrou met a similar audience this Tuesday, July 15, in the same room—150 people invited, including all the ministers in the front row, parliamentarians, representatives of trade unions and employers' organizations, and other senior officials.

In this annex of Matignon located on Avenue de Ségur (Paris 7th arrondissement), the temperature is, however, significantly lower than in the spring, both literally and figuratively. The slogan has also changed. In the background, in blue letters, "the truth allows us to act" has given way to the "moment of truth." "There are moments in the history of peoples when they have an appointment with themselves, and this is one of those moments," began François Bayrou. During his hour-long speech, the Prime Minister unfolded his plan, graphics projected on a large screen, to ensure that the country does not fall into what he calls the "potentially irreversible trap," or even the "death trap" of debt—and to ensure that