NICOLE NOTAT. A figure of trade unionism, Nicole Notat is in the running to be appointed to Matignon. The profile and experience of the woman head of the CFDT for 10 years could seduce the electorate of the center left.
Who is Nicole Notat? The question arises when this name is regularly mentioned behind the scenes of power. The 74-year-old woman is one of the candidates approached to succeed Jean Castex and become Prime Minister. Placed at the head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFGDT), the founder and former CEO of Vigeo-Eiris, a social and environmental assessment agency, has beautiful lines on her CV but none mentions an experience to the government. Faced with the Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne and the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde, other supposed candidates for the post of head of government, the appointment of Nicole Notat seems unlikely. Yet Emmanuel Macron is used to appointing personalities little known to the general public to assist him.
Nicole Notat, soon to be Prime Minister?
This is not an expected profile at Matignon but Nicole Notat could well be appointed Prime Minister for the start of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term. If she has never been part of the government, the trade unionist has frequented a few spheres of power, including some high up in the hierarchy. In addition to her trade union experience, Nicole Notat has carried out various missions at the request or under the supervision of ministers or the European Council, notably in 2010 when she was appointed to be part of the think tank on the future of Europe. And this is not the first time that Nicole Notat has been imagined as a future minister, in 2017 already the Figaro wondered about the parachuting of the former boss of the CFDT to the government. This time it is to sit at the head of the government that his name is mentioned. However, five years later the 74-year-old woman still has the same weaknesses, in particular the absence of parliamentary mandates.
But if his name is mentioned in high places it is because Nicole Notat has assets. First, Clément Beaune expressed on April 25 the “wish [d’Emmanuel Macron] of a female appointment to Matignon”, a criterion that Nicole Notat meets. She also seems to master the cogs of politics, as the experiences mentioned above suggest, and want to show discretion like Edouard Philippe and of Jean Castex on their arrival at Matignon.Also, she showed her support for Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and renewed it in 2022 despite a course that is more on the left.
Nicole Notat a candidate who speaks to the left?
While Emmanuel Macron has slid to the center right during his five-year term for the start of his second term, he would seek a prime minister with a political sensibility to the left of the political spectrum. The decade that Nicole Notat spent at the head of the CFDT reflects a desire to defend the workers and by extension the French, but above all it proves that the trade unionist handles social consultations wonderfully. A quality likely to speak to the left and which turns out to be a significant skill in getting reforms adopted, in particular that of pensions. Emmanuel Macron has promised to use consultation to adjust the contours of the unpopular reform, who better than Nicole Notat among the names mentioned to fulfill this mission? Other reforms have also been announced in the program of the President of the Republic: the overhaul of the health system and education. On these points the former teacher appointed to coordinate the Ségur de la Santé in 2020 does not lack legitimacy and can seduce the electorate of the center left.
Nicole Notat, maker of Ségur de la Santé?
Among the missions for which Nicole Notat has been appointed are the Ségur de la Santé and in particular the coordination between the actors concerned by the event. During this consultation organized for the hospital and medical world during the Covid-19 pandemic and under the aegis of Olivier Véran, caregivers and health professionals raised their demands and the government promised a response. Among other things, Nicole Notat played a role in organizing dialogue between workers and the government in a context of tensions where the medical sector was on the verge of collapse. An experience that will be useful if it is brought to implement other reforms while France appears divided into three blocks: the radical left, the nebulous center right and the extreme right.
Short biography of Nicole Notat
Born in 1947 in Marne to farming parents, Nicole Notat studied to become a teacher at the normal school for teachers in Bar-le-Duc, but quickly took the path of trade unionism. She began by participating in the May 68 movement and the following year joined the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT). First secretary of the General Syndicate of National Education Sgen-CFDT in the Meuse she rose through the ranks until in 1992 she became the first woman to lead the CFDT. She will remain the general secretary of the union until 2002, when she decides not to renew her mandate.
After leaving the CFDT, Nicole Notat founded and became the CEO of Vigeo, a European company for evaluating the social and environmental performance of companies. In 2015, the company merged with the British agency Eiris and Nicole Notat became the CEO of Vigeo-Eiris until 2020, when she was replaced by Sabine Lochmann. She still remains at the head of the board of directors.