MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Macron, who won the second round of the French presidential election with 66.1 percent against right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen's 33.9 percent during his campaign pledged not to raise the current retirement age or cut pensions leaving in place the controversial 35-hour workweek, which has been criticized by conservative politicians as a too moderate approach to reforms.
"Macron’s vague program means continuity: in France and in Europe … he is a puppet of the banking world that put him where he is, with the help of former president [Francois] Hollande … France needs a shock remedy, but Macron cannot deliver it," Modrikamen said.
Modrikamen added that Macron's moderate approach would not be enough to solve the country's economic problems and enable it to challenge the German hegemony in the European Union.
"The budget has not been balanced in the last 20 years and the debt is huge. France is in dire straits with very high unemployment: 10%, double that of Germany. As Marine Le Pen said in her one-liner during the debate, Europe will be presided over by a woman; either me or Mrs Merkel. It will be Mrs Merkel," he pointed out.
In 2016, the French public debt amounted to $2.376 trillion, or 96 percent of French GDP, having increased by 49.678 billion since 2015. At the same time, the national economy last year grew by only 1.1 percent, which is 0.6 percent lower than the eurozone's average and 0.8 less than Germany's performance.
