Emmanuel Macron is not officially a candidate for re-election. His trips to Creuse and Haute-Vienne would therefore not have electoral aims, but would simply be “in the continuity of rural trips” of his five-year term, said the Elysée. A five-year term that would have made "the reduction of territorial inequalities" one of its priorities.

To respond to the feeling of abandonment of rural areas, highlighted in particular by the yellow vests crisis, the government had established in 2019, a rural agenda, supposed to respond to various issues. This has no less than 181 measures, from medical desertification, to support for small traders, including the reduction of white areas for mobile telephony. According to a press release published on the website of the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities, “93.5% of the territorial recovery measures have been carried out or are in the process of being carried out”. A success and completion rate to be put into perspective, largely, according to the association of rural mayors of France. "It's a lot of communication, while there are still a lot of holes in the racket, especially from a global point of view", explains Cédric Szabo, director of the association of rural mayors of France. Overview of the key proposals... and the result.

Medical deserts: "The lack of doctors is still glaring"

This Monday, January 24, the President went to a multidisciplinary health center in Creuse, accompanied by his Minister of Health Olivier Véran. A tool, according to him, necessary in the fight against medical deserts in rural areas. “We have developed nursing homes with the communities. We are in the process of doubling them, ”he said on December 8. If we look at the numbers, we have gone from 1,322 houses and health centers in 2017 to around 2,400 today. “But the number of nursing homes is decorrelated from the evolution of the number of doctors, analyzes Cédric Szabo, director of the association of rural mayors of France. We must not be fooled by the illusions of the building, because the lack of doctors is always glaring and sometimes we have the nursing home, without a professional ”.

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Since 2010, the very many caregivers trained in the 1970s and 1980s have been retiring, departures that are not compensated. Between 2012 and 2021, the number of general practitioners per inhabitant fell by 7% in France. To remedy this, the public authorities have also removed the cap on the number of admissions to medical studies, the famous numerus clausus. The downward trend will not be stemmed until 2030, the date from which the number of doctors will start to increase, according to DREES.

Other measures were to contribute to this policy of combating medical deserts, including the deployment of internships for medical interns in sparsely populated rural areas. "But that is not done...", observes the director of rural mayors, for lack of character of obligation.

Public service houses, “relative proximity”

“I want us to set up this house which would be called “France services”, where, in each canton, we could have a place where the reception for the public of State services would be grouped. “It is with these words that Emmanuel Macron responded, in April 2019, to criticism of the decline of state services in the countryside. Result, three years later? The government prides itself on having uncovered nearly 2,000 public service houses, called “France services”, less than 30 minutes from each home. A one-stop shop, in short, where the user is supposed to be able to find answers in terms of taxes, employment, unemployment, retirement, family allowances, housing assistance, mutual insurance, mail, justice, identity papers...

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In fact, there were already 1676 of them, previously called “Maisons de services au public (MSAP)”. Only 400 were created by Macron-era governments. “It's better because there are more than before, underlines Cédric Szabo, however not stingy with criticism, in particular on the financial question of these houses. The State says that he left and that he wishes to return to these territories. It's a great story, but he does it on his own terms and very often (in eight out of ten cases) at the expense of local authorities.

A model that annoys and exasperates within the association of rural mayors of France. Because the responsibility for the viability of the project falls once again on local elected officials. According to the government, 2,500 France service centers should be open before the end of the five-year term (ie 500 more than currently). "It's a tool of relative proximity", warns Cédric Szabo, who recalls that there are 32,000 rural municipalities in France... In fact, Marianne had already documented the disappointments caused by these structures on the ground.

Digital divide: "Far from the goal, but huge progress"

In five years, Emmanuel Macron had set himself the objective of reducing the white areas of mobile telephony and deploying 4G wherever possible. “1,227 new pylons” have been put into service, according to the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion, since the “new mobile deal”. An agreement signed in 2018 between the government, the Telecoms Regulatory Authority (Arcep) and mobile phone operators. Result: according to Arcep, 80% of mobile network infrastructure switched to 4G, as soon as 2020, in areas that did not have access three years earlier. “This is the subject where the progress has been the most significant, comments the director of the rural mayors of France. The objective of eliminating white areas is far from settled, but enormous progress has been made. ".

Support plan for small businesses: "Shopping centers always attract"

Among the 181 proposals in the rural agenda was a support plan for small businesses in rural areas (cafes, bars, convenience stores, etc.). According to the press kit at the time (2019), the stated objective was to "create commercial revitalization zones in municipalities with less than 3,500 inhabitants which open the right, if the communities concerned so wish, to exemptions tax for small businesses, exemptions compensated by the State up to 33%”. Despite this tax incentive tool, “the curtains of rural businesses are struggling to stay open, assures bitter Cédric Szabo. Because shopping centers continue to attract”.

Mobility: some failures for night trains

On mobility, Emmanuel Macron had two claims: to open up the territories, using small lines, freight trains and night trains, to "develop more ecological means of transport". When he took office, only two night trains were in operation or rather remained (Paris to Rodez, as well as that from Paris to Briançon). Since then, two have been restarted, including the Paris-Nice line, tested and reopened by Jean Castex last May, and the Paris-Lourdes line, returned to service in mid-December. Emmanuel Macron had undertaken to "improve these two lines and create two additional ones" before the end of the five-year term. But according to our colleagues from France 3, the Lourdes-Paris line has experienced some hiccups, starting with the fact that the train finally stops in Toulouse… instead of Lourdes.

“With the regions, we have taken over the network of short lines: more than 7,000 kilometers will thus be preserved or regenerated. 1,500 kilometers have already been covered between 2017 and 2022,” he assured while visiting Limousin on Monday January 25. “We are reinvesting in local road and rail axes,” promised Emmanuel Macron. However, to fill the void left on certain freight and passenger lines, a citizens' cooperative has been active since the end of 2019.

“Farmers paid at the right price”: really?

Monday, January 25, the Head of State began his visit to the agricultural school of Ahun, accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Julien Denormandie. Since his candidacy for the 2017 presidential election, Emmanuel Macron has insisted that farmers must be better paid, or rather ensure that they are "paid at the right price". But the Egalim 1 law was a failure: "Supermarkets and intermediaries continue to charge prices well below production costs" testified in our columns Gilbert Julian, the president of the network of associations Solidarité Paysans, which accompanies the precarious farmers.

Faced with high school students, the President therefore recalled the importance of the Égalim 2 law, which is supposed to provide solutions for fairer remuneration for farmers, in particular for their production of raw materials. And the Minister of Agriculture added: “We fight every day so that your remuneration will be better tomorrow. We will always be by your side. “ Bad timing, while the controversy launched by the Leclerc baguette at 29 euro cents illustrates at the same time the battle over purchasing power and the difficulty of negotiations between farmers and large distributors.