When there’s not much left to do, what to do? Three years is a long time, it’s short. Especially when there is a lot to do. The agricultural crisis, the housing crisis, inflation from which we are struggling to escape, preparing for the Olympic Games and then all these uncertainties, those we see and the others. “There will be no downtime for action” warned Gabriel Attal in The Parisian, echo of Emmanuel Macron who called for “audacity, action, efficiency”. In politics, the speed of action is a trap. Aim correctly, move at the right time, don’t upset public opinion too much if you fail to convince it, above all don’t upset Bercy – oh great guardian of public spending. Like revolutions, reforms are built. The President of the Republic has learned the lesson from the beginning of his first five-year term: too quickly is often too abrupt.
And there are emergencies, so numerous that we inevitably forget about them. At the government seminar, Saturday February 10, Gabriel Attal lost sight of Mayotte until Marie Guévenoux, new Minister Delegate in charge of Overseas Territories, raised her hand to put the island in the grip of a migration crisis back to order. of the day. At this same round table, some believed that the Universal National Service which Emmanuel Macron had spoken about during his major press conference at the beginning of the year would be discussed. Missed. The Prime Minister also skipped it in his interview with Parisian. Before, there was a Secretary of State in charge of the “gimmick” but the gadget has now disappeared from the attributions in the last reshuffle. Who takes care of it now? The Minister of National Education Nicole Belloubet? His colleague in the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu? Sabrina Agresti-Roubache (Citizenship)? Sarah El Haïry (Childhood, youth and families)? When questioned, a minister no longer knows.
Magic money
Go fast or be careful? Attalian dilemma. Does he even know what Emmanuel Macron wants? “Let us be terrible to free the people from being terrible,” said Danton at the time of the Terror. Error. Curb your ambitions, ladies and gentlemen ministers. On Saturday, again at the seminar, we warned the ministers: “Announcements not subject to budgetary consultation do not exist.” Beware of the smart guys: “They will be denied by Matignon.” The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire monitors the grain and efficiency of public spending: the French debt exceeds 3,000 billion euros. The rating agencies, which must re-evaluate France next May, will not be as lenient as in 2023.
The magic money no longer exists, but it flows freely. A billion has been released for farmers, and the “Beauvau bonus” for agents of the Ministry of the Interior on the occasion of the Olympic Games will oscillate between 500 and 700 million euros. This is without counting the “expenses related to the Olympic Games” – the euphemism is from a majority executive – to protect against any social conflict and other blockages this summer. The government will be careful not to overheat the unions in the upcoming negotiations, particularly those which will launch civil service reform. Social peace comes at a price.
Reform audacity has broken down. Time is an adversary. Before, it’s too early. Afterwards, it’s too late. It is already too late. Gérald Darmanin looks towards the exit, he who believes that “a cycle at the Ministry of the Interior will be reached after the Olympics”. The Minister of Culture Rachida Dati has her eyes fixed on the municipal election in Paris. “I think the Prime Minister is there for a little while even if our team is full of weaknesses,” a minister tries to reassure himself. A reshuffle has just finished, another is coming. What do you do when you already know you have to undo?
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