After the dramatic turn of events of the resignation of the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, the Élysée proposes to replace him with Stéphane Séjourné at the European Commission. The current resigning Minister of Foreign Affairs is very close to Emmanuel Macron and he knows the mysteries of Brussels well.
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Elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019, Stéphane Séjourné first chaired the French delegation of the presidential party before taking the lead of the centrist Renew group.
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At the time, this third group in the European hemicycle was able to tip the balance when it came to voting, with the conservatives and social democrats not having a majority between them.
A discreet figure
In this arena where there is much talk of compromise, Stephane Sejourne was able to exercise his talents as a strategist. But he is also a discreet figure, without political weight, little known for his mastery of economic subjects, yet necessary for a position where he will have to defend European competitiveness.
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Thierry Chopin is a special advisor to the Jacques Delors Institute: “ It is true that Thierry Breton had very strongly embodied these issues of industrial policy, of technological sovereignty. (…) The question, obviously, is to know to what extent Stéphane Séjourné who once again has real European experience, will be comfortable in a position such as that, and only the future will tell. »
The Élysée Palace specifies that the France aims for an expanded portfolio ” focused on the issues of industrial and technological sovereignty and European competitiveness “.