Opinion. “Social Gaullism is not a memory but a resource for France”, by Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée

Senator, former minister [du gouvernement Barnier en 2024, NDLR] and former social advisor to President Chirac, I am today undertaking a process of reflection within a collective entitled “Sursaut”, to contribute to the development of a political project that lives up to what France expects, deserves and is entitled to to hope.

The political debate hesitates between two very dangerous ways of not thinking: the denial of our problems and the search for scapegoats. He moved away from both the daily lives of the French and the long-term ambitions for France. He locks himself into commentary, into the moment, into the inability to decide and into the little game of personal tactics, for the benefit of the extremes.

Deficit, debt, threats to social protection and national cohesion, disintegration of authority, loss of international influence, deindustrialization, demography at half mast, downgrading in terms of training, escheat of public services and infrastructure, sales of our flagships are the result of more than a decade of uncertainty and lack of a clear strategy for France. A territorial divide has been superimposed on the social divide: now there is no national divide.

During this lost time, great powers and small states are moving forward and preparing a new world order. It is against this renunciation which ultimately only benefits those who are satisfied that nothing changes or the extremes, that “Sursaut” was born.

Above all, it is time to affirm what we are and what we want to become. Our approach is based on a deep conviction: nothing is written in advance. France is not condemned to decline. It has important assets to bounce back and regain prosperity and cohesion as well as its place in the concert of nations. But on condition of rediscovering what, in its history, has always allowed it to rise again: a collective, a requirement, a will, a certain idea of ​​itself.

Social Gaullism, at its most vibrant, embodies this spirit. Not as a memory, but as a resource. The energy of the start when everything seems to be wavering. The energy of unity when the poison of division threatens. The energy of just progress that abandons no one. The energy of French pride and ambition. The energy, finally, of independence – energetic, industrial, food, technological – without which there is neither lasting freedom nor real power.

This spirit does not divide, it connects. He doesn’t delay, he demands. It does not choose between economic efficiency and social justice: it makes them inseparable. He doesn’t give up. He does not resign himself to the balance of power in the world: he inscribes the voice of France.

“Sursaut” will not put, in the public debate or via parliamentary proposals, a catalog of additional measures. France does not need additional complexity but a clear direction, a rediscovered coherence, an assumed ambition. Rebuilding a nation, regaining control of the future, providing concrete protection, guaranteeing everyone a dignified life in a State that stands up and keeps its promises: these are the guiding principles that will guide this reflection.

In the coming months, this approach will be expressed through contributions, speeches and exchanges intended to nourish the public and parliamentary debate, in a spirit of openness, demand and unity, with a single ambition: to live up to this moment.

Because there are periods when history hesitates. And where it is up to women and men to decide whether they accompany the movement, or whether they provoke it. France does not need a simple alternation. She needs a direction. She needs a boost.

par Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée