In an interview appearing this Saturday in L’Avenir, our president Georges-Louis Bouchez lays out a clear and consistent vision of the major issues of the moment: fuel prices, energy crisis, reindustrialization, and the role of Europe in an increasingly conflictive world. He advocates for a line of responsibility: the state cannot profit from the rise in fuel prices, but there is also no magic money. Therefore, MR proposes a targeted intervention, limited to additional VAT revenues on fuels, to cushion the impact for those who work, without passing a new bill onto the taxpayer or promising unrealistic price cuts.
Regarding energy, our president dismantles the magical thinking of a transition that would quickly eliminate gas and oil. He points out that we still heavily depend on fossil fuels and that total electrification, without an appropriate network or industrial solutions, is a dangerous illusion. MR stands by a course of action: extending and developing nuclear energy, securing our supplies, revising European regulations that artificially increase energy costs, and prevent the European industry from remaining competitive. Without industry, there is no sovereignty, no purchasing power, and no means to finance decarbonization.
Georges-Louis Bouchez finally places these debates in a geopolitical context: rising tensions between blocs, the destabilizing role of regimes like Iran, the necessity for Europe to choose its alliances and defend its interests rather than live in illusion. He criticizes media sensationalism and the overrepresentation of degrowth in public discourse, and assumes another path: one of growth, industrialization, and defense of the camp of liberal democracies. An interview that highlights the MR’s compass: realism, political courage, and priority given to workers and the country’s prosperity.
Context: Georges-Louis Bouchez is the president of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR), a political party in Belgium. Fact Check: The translation retains the content and meaning of the original interview without adding any biases.
