PARIS—French President Emmanuel Macron summoned both chambers of parliament to the ornate Palace of Versailles on Monday to defend his first year in office, rejecting claims that his pro-business agenda favors the wealthy.
In a sweeping 90-minute address akin to a State of the Union, Mr. Macron dismissed opponents who have branded him the “president of the rich.” Instead, Mr. Macron said his tax cuts and labor market overhauls aimed to encourage investment and open up France’s heavily regulated economy to a new generation of workers.
Looming over Mr. Macron’s address was his choice of venue: the lavish grounds of Versailles on the outskirts of Paris where French monarchs held court before the French Revolution swept them from power. It was at Versailles that Queen Marie Antoinette, according to legend, said, “Let them eat cake,” after hearing the French people had no bread to eat.
“I don’t like elites, unearned income or privilege,” Mr. Macron said. “But the prosperity of a nation is the bedrock of any plan for justice and equality. If we want to share the cake, it is first necessary to have a cake.”
Mr. Macron peppered his speech with measures that aim to shore up support on the leftwing of his centrist coalition. Many include former socialists who feel ignored by the pro-business focus of Mr. Macron’s first year in office.
The French leader touted his plan to extend unemployment payments to people who voluntarily leave their jobs or work freelance jobs. He also said he will launch a new plan to fight poverty in September.
In his address, Mr. Macron said he aimed to overhaul and expand France’s use of apprentice programs to cut a path for younger workers to enter the workforce. He also called for deeper spending cuts across France’s bloated public sector, which he said his government planned to detail in the days to come.
“These are only the first fruits,” he said. “I am perfectly aware of the gap between the breadth of reforms undertaken and the result felt. It takes time.”
Since taking office, Mr. Macron has tried to remain above the political fray, eschewing consensus-building and public debates with the opposition that bogged down his predecessors. Instead he has used decrees to pass legislation and embraced ceremonial pomp—including his addresses in Versailles—in an attempt to elevate the office of the presidency.
But months of battles with striking transport workers and civil servants who oppose Mr. Macron’s plans to slash public spending have begun to take a toll on his popularity.
An Elabe poll conducted in early July showed Mr. Macron’s approval rating at 34%, down 6 percentage points from the previous month. And 55% percent of people polled by Odoxa last week described Mr. Macron’s annual Versailles address as “useless.”
Bruno Cautrès a political scientist at the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po in Paris, said the French leader “wanted to show that he would fight against true injustice, against a blocked society which stops people from being free.” Instead, he said, the Versailles speech might “continue to feed the idea that he is more center-right than center-left.”
Past presidents kept their distance from Versailles, using the palace only in times of emergency, such as in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the Nov. 13, 2015, terror attacks on Paris. It has served largely as a huge tourist attraction.
But Versailles is making a comeback under Mr. Macron as a center for state craft. A year ago, Mr. Macron hosted talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin there.
Monday’s session was the second time Mr. Macron addressed parliament there since taking office a little over a year ago, establishing Versailles as a site of annual political pilgrimage. That has not sat well for some members of parliament who regard the gilded palace as symbol of monarchical power that’s antithetical to the republican values of modern France.
More than a dozen lawmakers from three different opposition parties refused to attend the president’s address.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, described the event as a symbol of “absolute presidential monarchy” in a Twitter post on Monday as he boycotted the speech. Mr. Mélenchon also lamented over French radio that “every year we are convened to come and admire the brilliance of Macron I.”
Fabien Di Filippo, a lawmaker with the center-right Les Républicains, said he refused to take part in “the moment when the sultan asks us to come and kiss his slippers.”
But Stanislas Guérini, a lawmaker from Mr. Macron’s parliamentary majority, wrote on Twitter that the president’s address aimed to lay out a vision for a “welfare state of the twenty first century” that protects workers from economic shocks while providing them with social mobility.
Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com
Appeared in the July 10, 2018, print edition as 'French Leader Defends Economic Revamp.'