France under curfew anticipates a 'no frills' New Year message from Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron will present his New Year best wishes to the nation this Thursday to herald the end to a particularly trying year, marked by a pandemic that is showing little sign of weakening and will remain top of the presidential agenda for 2021.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to give his New Year address to the nation at 20h00 local time this evening CHARLES PLATIAU POOL/AFP

According to government spokesman Gabriel Attal, the President of the Republic will be delivering "a message of truth and transparency, following an extremely difficult year for the country."

This comes as a Harris-Interactive poll found that 82% of French people viewed the year 2020 in a negative light. With this in mind Macron, will "give a perspective on the future with the arrival of vaccines” along with a strategy to reboot the economy and a message of unity, says Attal.

The Elysée Palace has promised that 2021 will be a year of "results", "concrete action" and the "pursuit of the reform agenda."

At the last Council of Ministers on 21 December, a Covid-stricken Macron underlined "What our fellow citizens expect from us in 2021 is to make it a meaningful year of fighting back, recovery and ambition."

The French president intends to retake control of the agenda after 2020 was swept away by "a historic pandemic, international crises, terrorism, divisions in society and an unprecedented economic and social crisis".

The end of the year has also been marked by the death of three French soldiers in Mali on Monday, to whom Prime Minister Jean Castex will pay tribute from neighboring Chad just after Macron’s televised address scheduled for 8pm.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio this Thursday, former advisor Sylvain Fort explained that within this context, Macron will have to "find a balance between the solemnity of New Year message" and the need "to follow the current state of mind of the French and to lay out very precise prospects."

⬇️ECOUTEZ - Sylvain Fort, ancienne plume d’Emmanuel Macron et conseiller du Président de mai 2017 à janvier 2019 est l'invité de @SoMabrouk à 8h15 dans Europe Matin

Regardez le direct #Europe1 👇https://t.co/H14cXti2pO

— Europe 1 🎧🌍📻 (@Europe1) December 31, 2020

Out of Control

The Covid-19 crisis remains the President’s top priority and this evening's speech will be his ninth televised address this year.

After portraying an image of crusader against the first wave of the virus, Emmanuel Macron changed tack during the second wave of the pandemic, playing the role of a protective president while appealing for "unity".

But for any who hope for the Covid restrictions to be lifted in 2021 will be disappointed: "it seems rather unlikely that a large number of constraints will be eased", says Attal, who is skeptical that museums, cinemas, theatres and other cultural venues will reopen on 7 January, as previously planned.

Meanwhile, the 8pm curfew which was suspended for Christmas Eve, will be fully enforced this New Year’s Eve, and from Saturday will brought forward to start at 6 p.m. in France’s most affected regions - a measure considered too light by some elected officials in these areas.

The average level of daily contaminations remains on a fairly high plateau of 15,000 far from the target of 5,000. As of Wednesday, 24,560 Covid patients were hospitalized, including 2,652 in intensive care.

And following the Christmas festivities, France’s Scientific Council believes an "uncontrolled resumption of the epidemic" is probable.

DIRECT - Coronavirus : le Conseil scientifique juge «probable» une «reprise incontrôlée»https://t.co/tNIFQJn6pf

— CNEWS (@CNEWS) December 29, 2020

Reconstruction

To mark New Year, the Legion d’Honneur list will pay tribute to people who mobilized in the fight against Covid-19.

While the virus has killed more than 60,000 people in France in 2020, the government is banking on the vaccine campaign, whose sluggish roll-out has been criticized by front-line workers and politicians alike.

Minister of Health Olivier Véran has taken responsibility for this cautious strategy, arguing that getting the right information out to the population is key to combat a strong mistrust of vaccines amongst the French.

Although uncertainty remains on whether restaurants and bars will reopen on 20 January, Emmanuel Macron will outline his strategy for the economic reconstruction of the country.

He may also mention some of the more contentious issues of his five-year term that have been eclipsed by the crisis, such as pension reform.