Macron suffers yet another blow as key minister quits

Bloomberg

It’s been a long, hot summer for Emmanuel Macron. The French president went into the break buffeted by a scandal over a rogue aide and returned to a string of bad news on the economy and his reform agenda. But the biggest blow came out of nowhere on Tuesday: Nicolas Hulot, his star minister for energy and the environment, resigned, citing “small steps” taken by Macron’s administration for the planet.
While not the first minister to quit, Hulot’s critique is particularly cutting for Macron, who came to power last year saying that his election was the embodiment of France’s transformation, even revolution. One day after a foreign-policy speech loaded with grand ambitions, the resignation is a reminder that Macron’s presidency hinges on the success or failure of his domestic programme.
“It takes time to change things in a country and Macron knows it, but what we see now is a climate, a change of mood in France over his actions,” said Bernard Sananes, who heads Paris-based polling institute Elabe. “He’s facing severe headwinds.”
The 40-year-old leader, known internationally for his pro-active, reform-focussed agenda, is running into obstacles at home as he prepares for a fresh wave of economic overhauls, from taxes to social benefits, that threatens to alienate even more voters. His government has warned that the economy won’t grow as fast as planned this year and next making any new budget cuts even more difficult for the French to swallow.
Stubbornly high unemployment and an economic expansion that lags that of France’s European peers are rubbing away the sheen of Macron’s 2017 victory.