[Portrait] Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Recovery
Audio 03:30
French Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, March 9, 2020 in Paris.
ERIC PIERMONT / AFP
By: Ariane Gaffuri Follow
8 min
Today the Economy, the portrait of Bruno Le Maire, 51, French Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery.
Appointed to this function in 2017 upon the election of Emmanuel Macron as head of state, the former deputy Les Républicains de l'Eure is facing an unprecedented economic and health crisis.
Publicity
Bruno Le Maire is, he says himself, “
a pure product of the system
”.
As a young student in a prestigious Jesuit high school in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, he became an associate of Modern Letters, with a specialization in Proust.
This music lover reads poetry in German and writes books.
He then studied at Sciences Po, then ENA, the École normale supérieure.
He was not yet thirty when in 1998 he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
From 2001 to 2007, he put his pen to the service of Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister under the presidency of Jacques Chirac.
Then he in turn occupied ministerial functions, in European Affairs, in Agriculture.
And today in the Economy.
Liberal interventionist
"
Bruno Le Maire, I would say that he is a liberal interventionist,"
explains economist Patrick Artus, one of the economic advisers whom the minister consults regularly.
He thinks it's the businesses that are important.
Moreover, he wants to lower corporate taxes, lower the cost of labor, lower corporate social contributions, production taxes, tax on profits, it is the policy of supply by making companies more competitive, less taxed.
He also attacked the Gafa.
The big difference with Trump, who is not a liberal, is that we think that having these big monopoly companies raising rents on the backs of consumers is not good.
So we tax these companies.
And then, there is a whole interventionist piece, since it wants to refinance relocations, co-finance new technologies with companies.
Look at the Franco-German electric battery project, for example.
He wants an important role for the state, in particular in industrial and technological policy.
To make a value judgment, it's not bad.
"
Faced with an unprecedented economic and health crisis, Bruno Le Maire came to the aid of companies and employees.
In the new recovery plan of 100 billion euros, 70% is devoted to the modernization of French industry, in addition to the 300 billion loans guaranteed by the State, PGEs for companies in difficulty.
Strong and rapid measurements
"
What I remember is that the public authorities and the government are hard at work to take all the measures that will allow us to overcome this crisis,
underlines Cyril Laurent, marketing director of Pixminds, a Savoyard SME awarded for its innovations in computer accessories.
Already, the measures which had been taken when we entered the crisis are measures which were very strong, which were taken quickly, we were able to benefit from them very quickly.
We have benefited from partial unemployment, we have benefited from the EMP.
We do not forget that it is also up to us to find opportunities where there will be!
"
Profit producing machine
But the economic policy of Bruno Le Maire, and even the man, judged by some to be too rigid and distant, does not please everyone.
"
Having seen a certain number of ministers parade, he is not one of those with whom we were able to have the most constructive discussions,"
confides
Alexandre Derigny, secretary general of the Fédération des Finances CGT
.
He puts more energy into trying to solve the problems of companies and entrepreneurs rather than energy in meeting the needs of the employees of his department and of the employees itself.
I'm sorry, but for me the recovery plan is mainly done to restart the machine to produce profits rather by making jobs and employees more precarious than by granting them new rights.
I will not have lasting memories of Bruno Le Maire's visit to Bercy.
"
Bercy, Bruno Le Maire, unsuccessful ex-candidate for the right-wing primary in 2016, has held an expanded function since the recent cabinet reshuffle.
Proof that he has won the trust of Emmanuel Macron to whom he says he is loyal.
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