The Minister of Transport gave an interview to Le Parisien, to explain his recent disagreements with Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne.
Has Clément Beaune lost face? Did he put himself out of the game by taking a position against the immigration law, and by falling into line following Emmanuel Macron’s reframing in the Council of Ministers? The young Minister of Transport believes no. “Do I think that after having exchanged a lot with the Prime Minister, we have moved the text in the right direction? Yes”, he said on the immigration law, as if to justify his non-resignation, although mentioned at the end of the year. “Is it over? No, there are still battles to be fought. Do I want to take part in them? Yes”, he still asserts in an interview with Parisian.
The minister even seems to be able to give political lines on this text of immigration law, which should be partially challenged by the Constitutional Council, considers that “it will be necessary to return to the principle of the student deposit”, “revisit the measure on the Personalized housing assistance (APL)” and “avoid any new debate on State medical aid” for undocumented foreigners. And even to assure the Parisian that there still remains a combative minister, listened to and heard, while a reshuffle is looming. “After a difficult fight, my temperament is to get back into the ring. And I want to get back into the ring.”
“We must preserve the legacy of 2017: overcoming, the European fight and the fight against the far right. Without forgetting societal progress, such as the end of life,” believes Clément Beaune. “The divide between us, the pro-Europeans, and the nationalists – who were for leaving the euro, against the European vaccine, in support of Mr. Putin – exists more than ever,” he underlines, at a few months before the European elections.