French political high-flyer Emmanuel Macron has enjoyed a lightning rise from the world of investment banking to the economy ministry where his maverick attitude has irked his leftist colleagues.
However it appears no reprimand can quench the zeal of the photogenic 38-year-old minister whose potential presidential ambitions have transfixed France.
"If approval was a criterion in this country, nothing would ever get done," Macron said last year.
Ever since his appointment to the government in 2014, Macron has taken on cherished leftist ideals, questioning the 35-hour work week and blaming sky-high unemployment and weak growth on "a lack of competitiveness, a loss of French economic muscle..."
"France is sick. It's not well," Macron said after his surprise appointment.
His first big test was to convince the notoriously change-averse French to accept reforms to kickstart their economy, with business-friendly laws such as allowing shops to open more often on Sundays. The move sparked angry protests.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls had to force the so-called "Macron Law" through parliament without a vote to avoid leftist rebels sinking it.
Macron's straight-talking, anti-establishment flair -- and the fact that he is a fresh face in an often stagnant political pool -- has seen him win over many young, cosmopolitan French people.
It is these "winners from globalisation", as Le Monde newspaper described them, who flocked to a meeting of Macron's political movement "En marche" (On the move) on Tuesday.
Yet, crucially, it is unclear how wide the appeal really is of a man who has never held elected office, and Macron has certainly rubbed many up the wrong way.
In June, angry union activists pelted him with eggs and yelled at him to "get lost" in reaction to a video in which he told a member of the powerful CGT union that "the best way to afford a suit is to work".
He has also called for tougher labour reforms than the current package before parliament which have prompted violent street protests.
In January he irked workers when he said entrepreneurs often have "a harder life than employees (because) they can lose everything and have fewer guarantees".
- Will he or won't he? -
Macron's speech to the gathering Wednesday looked and sounded like a presidential campaign bid, but France was still left wondering: Will he or won't he?
Macron -- who routinely steals the spotlight and front pages from deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande -- merely hinted at his intentions.
He pledged to lead his movement "to 2017 and to victory" and took several digs at his own government by calling France "a country worn down by broken promises".
Macron routinely polls higher than Hollande and Valls, and his stint in the spotlight comes as the president appears to represent a weak choice as the potential Socialist candidate for next May's presidential election.
Hollande's response to Macron setting up his movement was to say the economics minister "has to be in my team, under my authority".
"It's a question of personal and political loyalty," the president said.
Macron has regularly faced reprimands from fellow cabinet ministers and observers have questioned how long he can stay in government while he is "distracted" by pursuing his own interests.
"It's high time all this stopped," an exasperated Valls fumed Tuesday.
- Wife was his teacher -
Macron's personal life is also a source of great interest. When he was 17 he ran off with his French teacher from his high school -- a woman 20 years his senior to whom he is now married.
An interview with his wife Brigitte in a French magazine pictured the couple walking into the president's Elysee palace under the headline "Together on the road to power".
Macron later said the spread was a "mistake".
Born in the northern French city of Amiens, Macron began his career with a masters in philosophy.
He then followed the well-trodden path to joining France's political class by graduating from the elite Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA). Macron also found time to learn German and become an award-winning pianist.
In his dizzying rise to the top, Macron would meet and become a close ally of Hollande.
In 2008, he was snapped up by the Rothschild banking group where he quickly climbed the ranks and became a millionaire.
Hollande kept Macron -- a card-carrying Socialist since the age of 24 -- by his side in his rise to the presidency, while publicly dubbing the world of finance his number-one enemy.
When he captured the Elysee in 2012, Hollande took Macron with him as a senior member of his staff, and made him economy minister two years later after a cabinet revolt over the direction the country's economy was taking.
French political high-flyer Emmanuel Macron has enjoyed a lightning rise from the world of investment banking to the economy ministry where his maverick attitude has irked his leftist colleagues.
However it appears no reprimand can quench the zeal of the photogenic 38-year-old minister whose potential presidential ambitions have transfixed France.
“If approval was a criterion in this country, nothing would ever get done,” Macron said last year.
Ever since his appointment to the government in 2014, Macron has taken on cherished leftist ideals, questioning the 35-hour work week and blaming sky-high unemployment and weak growth on “a lack of competitiveness, a loss of French economic muscle…”
“France is sick. It’s not well,” Macron said after his surprise appointment.
His first big test was to convince the notoriously change-averse French to accept reforms to kickstart their economy, with business-friendly laws such as allowing shops to open more often on Sundays. The move sparked angry protests.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls had to force the so-called “Macron Law” through parliament without a vote to avoid leftist rebels sinking it.
Macron’s straight-talking, anti-establishment flair — and the fact that he is a fresh face in an often stagnant political pool — has seen him win over many young, cosmopolitan French people.
It is these “winners from globalisation”, as Le Monde newspaper described them, who flocked to a meeting of Macron’s political movement “En marche” (On the move) on Tuesday.
Yet, crucially, it is unclear how wide the appeal really is of a man who has never held elected office, and Macron has certainly rubbed many up the wrong way.
In June, angry union activists pelted him with eggs and yelled at him to “get lost” in reaction to a video in which he told a member of the powerful CGT union that “the best way to afford a suit is to work”.
He has also called for tougher labour reforms than the current package before parliament which have prompted violent street protests.
In January he irked workers when he said entrepreneurs often have “a harder life than employees (because) they can lose everything and have fewer guarantees”.
– Will he or won’t he? –
Macron’s speech to the gathering Wednesday looked and sounded like a presidential campaign bid, but France was still left wondering: Will he or won’t he?
Macron — who routinely steals the spotlight and front pages from deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande — merely hinted at his intentions.
He pledged to lead his movement “to 2017 and to victory” and took several digs at his own government by calling France “a country worn down by broken promises”.
Macron routinely polls higher than Hollande and Valls, and his stint in the spotlight comes as the president appears to represent a weak choice as the potential Socialist candidate for next May’s presidential election.
Hollande’s response to Macron setting up his movement was to say the economics minister “has to be in my team, under my authority”.
“It’s a question of personal and political loyalty,” the president said.
Macron has regularly faced reprimands from fellow cabinet ministers and observers have questioned how long he can stay in government while he is “distracted” by pursuing his own interests.
“It’s high time all this stopped,” an exasperated Valls fumed Tuesday.
– Wife was his teacher –
Macron’s personal life is also a source of great interest. When he was 17 he ran off with his French teacher from his high school — a woman 20 years his senior to whom he is now married.
An interview with his wife Brigitte in a French magazine pictured the couple walking into the president’s Elysee palace under the headline “Together on the road to power”.
Macron later said the spread was a “mistake”.
Born in the northern French city of Amiens, Macron began his career with a masters in philosophy.
He then followed the well-trodden path to joining France’s political class by graduating from the elite Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA). Macron also found time to learn German and become an award-winning pianist.
In his dizzying rise to the top, Macron would meet and become a close ally of Hollande.
In 2008, he was snapped up by the Rothschild banking group where he quickly climbed the ranks and became a millionaire.
Hollande kept Macron — a card-carrying Socialist since the age of 24 — by his side in his rise to the presidency, while publicly dubbing the world of finance his number-one enemy.
When he captured the Elysee in 2012, Hollande took Macron with him as a senior member of his staff, and made him economy minister two years later after a cabinet revolt over the direction the country’s economy was taking.
