Photograph of Édouard Philippe in 2017 — Édouard Philippe in 2017 (CC BY-SA 4.0 photograph by Nicolas Richoffer, Wikimedia Commons). Macron's first prime minister (2017–2020).

First-Term Reforms

2017–2022 — the reformist blitz, and the resistance it met.

The opening blitz

With his 2017 majority, Macron moved fast. By ordinance in late 2017 he reformed the labor code, capping unfair-dismissal payouts and easing firm-level bargaining. He replaced the wealth tax (ISF) with a property-only tax (IFI), cut corporate tax, and introduced a flat tax on capital income — a package critics branded gifts to the rich and supporters called supply-side repair.

The SNCF reform — 2018

The 2018 railway reform ended special hiring status for new SNCF workers, triggering months of rolling strikes — the first great standoff of the presidency, which the government won.

The crises

Yellow vests (2018–2019): the fuel-tax revolt that forced major concessions. (Yellow Vests)
COVID-19 (2020–2021): lockdowns, then one of Europe’s fastest vaccination campaigns, managed with the “whatever it takes” pledge — quoi qu’il en coûte.
Pension reform attempt (2019–2020): a first, ultimately abandoned effort to create a universal points-based system, shelved during the pandemic.

The European front

The 26 September 2017 Sorbonne speech launched his European agenda — sovereignty, defense, a eurozone budget — pursued through the Aachen treaty with Germany (2019) and the EU’s pandemic recovery fund (2020). (European Policy)

Source notes

Reform contents and dates follow official records and standard references. The “quoi qu’il en coûte” pledge (12 March 2020 address) is widely documented in French press coverage.