Debates, “immersion”, speakers… How should Emmanuel Macron’s intervention on TF1 unfold?

More than two hours just for him. Emmanuel Macron will be at the heart of a program entitled "Les Défis de la France" (The Challenges of France) this Tuesday, May 13 on TF1. Hosted by Gilles Bouleau, who will be accompanied by Darius Rochebin on set, the program will begin at 8:10 p.m. and end well after 10 p.m. The head of state will be able, according to the Bouygues group channel, to confront the French people and their concerns after having given significant space to international issues in recent times.

The President will be placed "in total immersion in the middle of more than 100 m² of screens" to make him react to video questions and reports, describes TF1. He will thus express himself on a wide range of subjects addressed by different speakers, and in particular on the issue of organizing a referendum . A recent Elabe poll for BFMTV states that 83% of French people questioned advocate the use of this tool .

The evening's highlights will be a series of fifteen-minute debates that will pit Emmanuel Macron against key figures tasked with addressing a variety of topics. Sophie Binet, secretary general of the CGT ( General Confederation of Trade Unions), will question the President on the pension reform that marked his second five-year term and continues to be contested. Robert Ménard , the far-right mayor of Béziers, close to the National Rally, is scheduled to address the issue of security.

Adopted with difficulty, the 2025 finance bill is already a long way off for the government, which is now engaged in preparing the 2026 budget. In this context, ultra-liberal essayist Agnès Verdier-Molinié plans to question Emmanuel Macron on the public deficit and France's budgetary outlook. For her part, left-wing environmental journalist Salomé Saqué will bring questions and concerns shared by a section of the youth population to the President.

In addition to these on-set debates, Emmanuel Macron will also have to answer questions from other figures in civil society, without knowing the content in advance, TF1 specified. Fitness YouTuber Tibo InShape will ask a question about sports in schools, while Charles Biétry, a journalist suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease , whose voice will be reproduced by artificial intelligence, will address the subject of end of life. Former environmentalist minister and head of the NGO Oxfam, Cécile Duflot, will question the President on the place of inheritance in French society.

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Viewers will also be able to ask the head of state their questions live, while a major consultation on the TF1 website, open to more than 15 million French people, aims to convey the opinions of those consulted on the presidential record and their priorities for the end of the five-year term. Emmanuel Macron will be invited to comment on the results of the survey. He will also be asked to respond to previously unpublished reports produced in France by journalist François-Xavier Ménage, illustrating the country's economic, social, and territorial challenges.