The Tangwall Campagin. The entry into force of new customs duties between the European Union and the United States is not good news for Normandy …
Hervé Morin. There are still a lot of uncertainty about implementation. Certain sectors such as aeronautics or defense are spared, important areas in Normandy. And the region currently benefits from an unprecedented vagueness wave around energy, which will absorb the shock. For affected companies, there is no panic. The general feeling is: we avoided the worst. Yes, there will be cropped margins, market share that will crumble. But most of the manufacturers I questioned say they can adapt: they will drop their margins, negotiate with their distributors, will redirect their export efforts. Even if it will be limited, the impact will of course be real.
What are the most exposed Norman sectors?
I am a little skeptical about the study of INSEE which quotes, for example, the wheat sector. The wheat exported via our ports comes from all over France, not only from Normandy. It is not representative. In the pharmaceutical industry or chemistry, things are more nuanced. A boss explained to me recently: “I export to the United States, but I also have factories there. And then, certain products that I make are unique in the world. If their price increases, American customers will have no choice. »» Specialization plays a major role.
Are your economic interlocutors accuse the blow?
They collect, yes. But they do it without catastrophism. And above all, the great novelty is that we get out of uncertainty. We know what to stick to. This is what I said again yesterday: it is not the immediate economic impact that strikes me the most, that is what it reveals from the situation in Europe.
Has the European Union failed?
It’s more than a failure: it is a moment of truth, a historical rocking for Europe. This case reveals the European decline. We bet on the soft power – Standards, multilateralism – without assuming the requirements. Less investments than Americans in research, higher education, innovation. No real common market. Result: artificial intelligence, future technologies are American. The humiliation inflicted by Trump is not a surprise: it sanctions our renunciation. After losing on the hard power (The soldier), we see our dropping out of the economy and our inability to face heavy strength relationships.
Have we delegated our economic policy too much in Brussels?
It is not just a question of delegation. The real problem is that we have chosen the model of liberal regulation without giving ourselves the means to make it exist. Forty years ago, Europe weighed as much as the United States in world GDP. Today, it wins (17 % for the EU against 26 % for the United States). And above all, American purchasing power is now 30 % higher than ours. It is not just an economic gap, it is a pivotal moment. Europeans preferred comfort to ambition. Will Europe now make the effort to straighten up the two American and Chinese jaws or definitively accept vassalage?
“If Emmanuel Macron had a sense of national interest, he should resign”
Macron says: “We won’t let ourselves be done. »» Bayrou talks about ” submission “. What do you understand in this cacophony?
What is striking is the silence of a president who, usually, wants to be everywhere. This silence is revealing because we are witnessing a grotesque comedy. I was minister. I know how it goes. Ursula von der Leyen cannot consent without calling the big European capitals. They necessarily agreed. And now that the slap is public, everyone plays their role. But the truth is that they all said yes. In any case, it is a staging to hide a comedy of downgrading.
So you stay on your spring position: nothing will happen by 2027 and the president should leave?
Yes. If Emmanuel Macron had a sense of national interest, he should resign. France will lose two years. Two years for nothing. Two years of procrastination. Bayrou does what he can, but he cannot do a miracle. The system is seized. You need an exit from above. And it will not come from default management.
Finally, as a regional president, what do you look at the constitutional project for an autonomous Corsica?
I am in favor of the autonomy of Corsica. It has its own identity and it is the only island in Mediterranean not to benefit from such a status. The fear of laxity is often agitated, especially on town planning. But sorry: the Corsicans have protected their coastline much better than the Alpes-Maritimes! You have to trust them. De Gaulle understood this in 1969: France will never weaken by intelligently decentralizing.
