Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister and candidate for the Horizons party, outlined several policy proposals during his appearance on the L'Heure de vérité program on Thursday. These included plans to increase work hours, reform family policy, and reduce legal immigration by half. Philippe, the first guest on the revived show by France Télévisions, spoke about the need to move France away from its current "bad situation" and to ensure the country is "commanded and governed." He criticized the end of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, which he described as being marked by chronic instability, and expressed his intention to sideline Marine Le Pen (RN) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), whom he believes would lead the country to ruin and confrontation. Philippe ruled out making "unconsidered promises," stating that "magic money does not exist," and reiterated his belief that "to get out of this, we will have to work a little more." He proposed exempting employees who agree to work longer hours from social contributions, which would allow them to earn more while reducing labor costs for companies. He also mentioned an annual increase of 1,000 euros for a minimum wage employee. Regarding family policy, Philippe proposed a complete revision of the family allowance system, helping families from the first child and offering a tax reduction of about 3,000 euros for middle-class families during the three years following the birth of a child. On public finances, he aims to bring the deficit significantly below the 3% threshold, targeting 2% by the end of his five-year term. This would involve reducing social spending by 50% and local authorities' budgets by 25%. Philippe defended the pension reform unveiled last week, which would gradually increase the contribution period to 45 annuities and the legal retirement age to 65 years, with a third of employees exempted. He did not specify whether this reform would be adopted by Parliament, by referendum, or by ordinance, but mentioned that it would include a consultation phase with social partners. He also indicated he does not want to replace one out of every three civil servants retiring, which would equate to 250,000 positions eliminated over five years. After the legislative elections that would follow a dissolution if he were elected, Philippe plans to present "about twenty decrees" intended to take effect "as early as autumn" to end the state of uncertainty in the country since at least 2024. These decrees would cover areas such as justice, education, and health. Philippe aims to halve legal immigration, returning to the level that existed before 2010, largely below 200,000 residence permits issued each year. He stated that "immigration is too high" and judged the right of asylum "misguided." Internationally, he reaffirmed his support for Ukraine, noting that "the only decisive element of the conduct of foreign policy is the interest of France." He expressed his major disagreement with the Israeli government's policy and the "massacre" in Gaza, which he did not qualify as a genocide. Regarding his strategy to impose himself on the center-right, Philippe once again ruled out the possibility of a primary and stated he wants a "rallying of the right and the center, and perhaps beyond at the right time."