French President Emmanuel Macron roasted over € 500k-worth plates

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron has been roasted online for ordering a set of porcelain tableware reportedly worth half a million euros, days after complaining about the "crazy amounts of dough" spent on social security. The culture ministry allocated some € 50,000 ($58,000) to pay around 30 artists to submit proposals for the "Elysee Blue" collection.

French investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine reported on Wednesday that at current list prices - a single, unadorned plate sells for ¤400 - the 1,200 pieces of tableware would cost at least € 500,000. The pieces will be produced by the Sevres porcelain factory, a state-owned company founded to produce royal china. The presidency on Thursday said a modern table service was needed for large state dinners and other gatherings because the existing collection dated from the 1950s.

It also said the cost of the new collection, to be delivered over three years, would be covered by the annual subsidies to the Sevres factory, which are expected to reach about ¤4.5 million this year. The order will not lead to increased subsidies, it added. But in a video releasedthis week, Macron assails social spending.

"We spend a crazy amount of dough on social security and the people are poor..." he said. The comments are not likely to help him shake off the label of "president of the rich", which has stuck since he pushed through changes to labour laws last year making it easier for firms to dismiss employees. "Macron spends 'crazy amount of dough' on new dishes for the Elysee!" tweeted Socialist leader Olivier Faure.