The President of the Republicans is stepping up initiatives with the business community and unveils his flagship measures to restore the competitiveness and confidence of entrepreneurs.
Bruno Retailleau, president of the Republicans, places the French economy at the forefront of his ambitions in his presidential project for national recovery. One year before the 2027 presidential election, the Republican candidate intends to establish himself as the spokesperson for economic circles, banking on a speech of “truth” and strong proposals to seduce entrepreneurs and restore confidence in a France that he judges to be losing momentum.
An alarming observation and a message to entrepreneurs
The Republican candidate starts from the alarming observation of a France which is “going into debt collectively” when the French are “becoming poorer individually”. Bruno Retailleau presents this diagnosis as the starting point of a collective start, sending a direct message to the creators of wealth. “Entrepreneurs are not cash cows, nor potential delinquents. We cannot do without them. I suggest they move away from social statism, pay better for work and strengthen competitiveness. Because to break this spiral of decline, only better paid work and more competitiveness will allow us to return to prosperity,” he says.
Before his big launch meeting, scheduled for Saturday June 20 at the Parc Floral in Paris, Bruno Retailleau will have held meetings with employers’ organizations, think tanks and economic players, often twice a week. The senator recently spoke with Rodolphe Belmer, president of the TF1 group, Maxime Saada, president of the Canal+ group, the Mozart circle in Montpellier, the investors of UI Investissements in Paris, the Medef office chaired by Patrick Martin, and will participate in the conference of the French Electricity Union (UFE).
To develop his economic and social project, Bruno Retailleau surrounded himself with recognized figures from the business world. François Asselin, former president of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME), joined the campaign to support it on these subjects. “The fruit of my commitment to him is his background and his seriousness. He always seemed to me to be very attentive on these subjects, perfectly wired and in tune with the bosses of SMEs,” he confides. Pierre Danon, a personality from the business world, was appointed treasurer of the Les Républicains movement in 2025.
Among his flagship measures, Bruno Retailleau proposes zero social charges for the employer and employee beyond the 36th hour worked. This measure is presented as a driver of a 13th, or even a 14th month for employees and a 35% reduction in labor costs for companies. He also undertakes to “return 40 billion in social security contributions and taxes” to companies to compensate for the competitiveness gap with their European competitors. He promises a “normative shock” and defends the possibility of derogating from labor rights via company agreements resulting from social dialogue. “I will remove the stupidest standards that hinder prosperity and I will revise the Constitution to erase the precautionary principle,” he announces.
Restoring confidence and entrepreneurship
Beyond technical measures, Bruno Retailleau insists on the need to restore trust between employers and employees, a condition for a solid economy. Three pillars structure its vision: prosperity, order, French pride. For him, “those who create wealth are those who produce it and who work”, a principle that he establishes as a primary condition for independence and the preservation of the social model.
Summarizing his project, Bruno Retailleau says: “I want to get away from everything that has weakened French business for decades.” Through this strategy, he hopes to convince entrepreneurs and establish himself as the Republicans’ pro-business candidate as the 2027 presidential election approaches.
