sustainability with some surprises – EURACTIV.com
Following the appointment of Elisabeth Borne as prime minister on Monday (16 May), the rest of the government was appointed on Friday (20 May) and is largely a continuation of previous governments.
The new government, with several new faces and some ministers better known to the French, will meet in the Council of Ministers on Monday morning. Including the Prime Minister, the government is equal as it consists of 14 men and 14 women.
Sovereign ministries on the right
It is interesting that, with the exception of the Ministry of Justice, the sovereign ministries are mostly attributed to right-leaning individuals.
Some important ministers of the outgoing government are being reappointed. Bruno Le Maire remains in Bercy in the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry and Digital Sovereignty.
Gerald Darman is confirmed at the Home Office and former barrister Eric Dupond-Moretti, Keeper of the Seals, is also renewed.
A new face settles in at the Quai d’Orsay with the appointment of Catherine Colonna as head of the European and Foreign Affairs Ministry. He was Ministerial Representative for European Affairs under Jacques Chirac from 2005 to 2007, before being appointed French Ambassador to Rome and then to London, where he has remained ever since.
Ms Colonna will be assisted by Clément Beaune, Minister for Europe.
The latter is a member of the European Parliament elected on Renaissance lists in 2019 and is appointed Secretary of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships.
As for foreign trade, outgoing minister Frank Riester has been confirmed.
Sébastien Lecornu also gets a “promotion” as he moves abroad to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, thus replacing Florence Parlin at the age of just 35.
Outgoing ministers were promoted
Gabriel Attal, who was the spokesman of the government until then, will head the budget at the age of only 33. Coming from the left, he is one of Macroni’s heavyweights.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher and Amélie de Montchalin switch portfolios and become Ministers of Energy Transition and Environmental Transition respectively. The two women have a very similar profile: they came from the private sector and are considered more technocrats.
Brigitte Bourguignon, the Minister of Autonomy, is also promoted and takes the head of the Ministry of Health and Prevention.
Former socialist Olivier Dussopt, the outgoing budget minister, was appointed to the Ministry of Labour, Full Employment and Integration, succeeding Elisabeth Borne, who became Prime Minister.
Marc Fesneau moves from Parliamentary Affairs to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty. Note that the word “sovereignty” appears twice in the names of various ministries.
Ministers were transferred
Olivier Veran, Minister of Health and Managing the Covid Crisis since March 2020, becomes Ministerial Representative of the Prime Minister and is responsible for Parliamentary Relations and Democratic Life.
As such, he could be responsible for organizing Mr. Macron’s campaign-promised “transpartisan convention” to envision the institutional reforms to be implemented.
The Secretary of State for the Social Economy, Olivia Gregoire, has been appointed government spokesperson.
New faces
Rima Abdul-Malak was appointed to the Ministry of Culture. He passed through Paris’ city hall between 2008 and 2012, when socialist Bertrand Delanoe was mayor of the capital. Until today, he was Emmanuel Macron’s adviser on culture at the Elysée Palace.
A notable war prize is the appointment of Damien Abad, president of the Les Républicains group in the National Assembly, as Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and the Disabled.
Christophe Bechu, the right-wing mayor of Angers, has been appointed as the Minister responsible for Local Authorities.
Several MPs entered the government, along with Justine Benin, appointed Secretary of State for the Marine, Yael Braun-Pivet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Stanislas Guerini, Director General of La Republique en Marche, appointed Minister of Public Service.
And finally, a bit of civil society
Several figures from civil society are mentioned, as Emmanuel Macron has done in previous governments supporting him.
Sylvie Retailleau, academic, physicist and president of the University of Paris-Saclay, was appointed Minister of Research, Higher Education and Innovation.
Magistrate Isabelle Rome becomes ministerial representative for gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities.
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the current director general of the French Tennis Federation, will be the Minister responsible for Sports and the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.
Charlotte Kaubel, Magistrate and Director of Youth Court Protection, is appointed Secretary of State for Children.
One of the biggest surprises of this government is the eventual appointment of Pap Ndiaye, director of the Museum of Immigration History and left-leaning minority historian, to the Ministry of Education and Youth. “Republican meritocracy” According to Elisha.
