Why Bruno Le Maire prefers requests to companies rather than orders

• On January 3, Bruno Le Maire asked electricity suppliers to increase their support for bakers, a profession particularly affected by the energy crisis.

• The Minister of the Economy is accustomed to the fact, generally preferring a polite request to an order or a decree.

• Why, in this particularly tough economic period, choose such a method of negotiation?

In the National Assembly, his opponents ironically nicknamed him "Bruno asks".

Since occupying Bercy, Bruno Le Maire has stood out for his tendency to prefer to suggest actions to business leaders, rather than impose them, in his capacity as Minister of the Economy.

Between January 2020 and January 2022, the politician thus asked companies five times to increase wages.

But that's not all.

In March 2020, Bruno Le Maire invited large retailers to make their purchases from French farmers, out of economic patriotism.

A few days later, in April, he called on companies “to moderate dividends” during confinement.

We found him in October 2021, asking Renault to “live up to its responsibilities” for the employees of the SAM foundry, looking for a buyer.

January 2022, he expressed the government's "wish" that EDF would continue to sell its electricity at arm's length prices.

June, he encouraged the president of Total to make “an effort again because the price of fuel remains very high”.

Non-exhaustive list, which continues on January 3, with the minister asking for support from electricity suppliers for bakers.

Assumed liberalism

On Twitter, the parliamentary adviser, François Malaussena (Nupes), had fun compiling them in a thread.

He explains to

 : “Too many press articles are content to repeat “Bruno the Mayor has asked for wages to increase”, without recalling that he does it every month without effect.

At the beginning of the year, it turned into a caricature, it was almost monthly!

Because of his demands, we never really get to see his record.

That's why I created this thread.

»

Because he asked for all kinds of other stuff too.

For example, he asked Renault to "live up to its responsibilities" for the employees of the SAM foundryhttps://t.co/RCQglOE5Ci

— Francois Malaussena (@malopedia) May 25, 2022

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But then why does Bruno Le Maire always ask to act, instead of forcing action to be taken?

First of all by economic philosophy.

Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, professor of political communication at Sciences Po, reminds us: the minister is part of the right of the Macron government and claims to be a liberal.

A current opposing the intervention of the State, the economic sectors being supposed to self-regulate themselves.

Therefore, it makes sense for the Bercy tenant to suggest, rather than intervene.

Appearances more than actions

Problem, the world is emerging from two years of global pandemic, “where politicians have shown that they have their hands, especially on the economy and that they can constrain it.

Everywhere, they have slowed it down, for health reasons, ”says Stéphane Rozès, political scientist and author of

(Éditions du Cerf, 2022).

After such an interventionist sequence, “it is difficult to see the minister making pleas to business leaders”, continues the specialist, instead of opting for the passage in force.

Calling on companies or large groups to act nevertheless remains much easier and faster than compelling them by law or decree.

Simplifying his actions in this way “allows Bruno Le Maire to establish himself as a Prime Minister bis, without having the political capacities, by multiplying the files, and by bypassing Elisabeth Borne.

The minister is trying to extend his stature to establish himself as a decision-maker, rather than as a collaborator, ”recalls Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet.

Successful applications

Last benefit, exonerate oneself from responsibilities.

"With these pleas, the rulers are trying to postpone the consequences of their inactions on the economic actors", denounces Stéphane Rozès.

Similar observation with Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet: “It is tempting for politicians, in a period of uncertainty, not to act rather than to act badly.

Be careful, however, because the backlash could be brutal: "In the event of a major crisis, the French will turn against the rulers and will hold them to account and not the business leaders", concludes Stéphane Rozès.

We laugh, we laugh, but sometimes the "requests" succeed.

Success among many others, in November 2020, when in the middle of the second confinement, Bruno Le Maire had asked distributors to postpone Black Friday so as not to sanction small businesses which could not open at that time.

The date of the slashed prices had indeed been postponed after the deconfinement.

Still, the calls from the foot of Bruno Le Maire rarely succeed, the proof in particular with the salaries.

In this case, "it gives the feeling of powerlessness of the politician, which produces a comic and ridiculous effect", deplores Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet.

The impotence of politics

But even if he wanted to act and suggest less, could Bruno Le Maire really do so?

“The large groups are partly internationalized, and the State has no real capacity for pressure or action.

The room for maneuver has been considerably reduced for politicians,” notes Benjamin Morel, doctor of political science at the ENS.

The expert continues: “The market is also governed by numerous European laws, leading to sanctions, and a hypothetical forced passage would be paradoxical with a president who wants to be the herald of European construction.

»

Not enough to convince François Malaussena: “He is a minister, he can do everything that the law allows him, and if the law does not allow him, with the agreement of Borne and Macron, he can propose to change it.

If he wants to sanction companies, it is possible.

Nationalizing them is possible.

Even disobey the European Union.

»

A dangerous process in the long term?

Wanted or suffered, this impotence is not without consequences, and in the midst of an economic crisis, reinforces the crisis of confidence in politics.

Benjamin Morel insists: “The feeling that politics cannot constrain companies contributes to the crisis of representation, which is a crisis of ''acting effectively in the name of the people'' on reality.

If the state says ''We can't impose it, but I will strongly urge you to do so'', there is the risk of showing the lack of power and the incapacity of politics.

“What can even more, in a period of turbulence, scald the population, warns Stéphane Rozès.

“The French expect governments to regain control of their destiny, for the State to be responsible and to return to the service of the nation.

We do not pretend with the people.

»

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