First President of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici is cited as a potential future Prime Minister. While his political and technical experience is an asset, it is not certain that he will find sufficient support in the Assembly.
Can he make a political comeback? Pierre Moscoviciwho renounced any mandate in 2019 to return to the Court of Auditors and be appointed First President of the institution in 2020 by Emmanuel Macron, is he the one that the head of state will appoint as the next Prime Minister? The name of the senior civil servant is in any case cited among the serious options for Matignon. Without appearing as a favorite, Pierre Moscovici could be a solution to form a hybrid government: technical without being too far from the political dimension required for Matignon.
The First President of the Court of Auditors, who is also a former Minister of Economy under François Hollande and who served as European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, has the advantage of mastering the most delicate economic issues. A major asset when you know that one of the next major meetings of the Parliament will concern the examination of the 2025 finance bill, which must be presented to the Council of Ministers, and therefore finalized, at the end of September, in less than a month.
At a time when the public deficit is worsening and the public debt has exceeded 3,100 billion dollars – which has worried the European Commission, which has been paying close attention to the French situation – the appointment of Pierre Moscovici to Matignon could be justified by the need to manage the country well from an economic point of view and despite the political context marked by an institutional blockage. “Reducing our debt is a burning obligation. It is neither left nor right: it is in the general interest” assured the head of the Court of Auditors in the columns of Point in July 2024. Now, if he is appointed to Matignon, he could himself act to reduce the debt by finding compromises between the different political forces on texts designed by experts and experienced people like him.
Pierre Moscovici censored by the right or the left?
The fact remains that being Prime Minister is inevitably political and that the appointment of Pierre Moscovici to Matignon can only be considered by Emmanuel Macron if the First President of the Court of Auditors is assured of the support of a majority of elected representatives in the National Assembly, whether explicit or tacit. The 66-year-old has belonged to a single camp throughout his political career: that of the socialists and social democrats. A past that could earn him the support of the left, but it is not that simple. Like Bernard Cazeneuve, Pierre Moscovici divides since he was a minister under François Hollande in a period considered by some to be responsible for the decline of the left. But can the senior civil servant, now displaying a more technical than political profile, convince enough people on the left and within the NFP?
And what about the right? Laurent Wauquiez, who has taken over the reins of the party, has ruled out the appointment of a personality from his party to Matignon, leaving the field open to people from the left. And representatives of the Les Républicains party have said they are open to collaborative work, as long as it is based on or includes the texts of their “legislative pact”. No veto has been cast against the name of Pierre Moscovici, but nothing guarantees sufficient support behind the senior civil servant either. Will the profile and chances of the head of the Court of Auditors resisting a motion of censure convince Emmanuel Macron to make him the next Prime Minister? And in which case, will Pierre Moscovici respond favorably to the proposal? Neither one nor the other have agreed on the subject.