Agnès Buzyn, June 9 in Paris.

-

Nicolo Revelli Beaumont / SIPA

  • Agnès Buzyn will work in the WHO management team, headquartered in Geneva.

  • Internet users have unearthed a project granting diplomatic protection to WHO officials, but it does not concern Agnès Buzyn, targeted by an investigation in France for her management of the coronavirus epidemic.

  • This project aims to grant diplomatic advantages to foreign officials from the WHO office in Lyon.

A time foreseen at the head of the Cité des sciences in Paris, it is finally in Geneva, at the headquarters of the WHO, that Agnès Buzyn bounces back after her failure in the municipal elections in Paris in June.

According to AFP, which confirms information from

L'Opinion

, the former Minister of Health, who had to manage the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in France, will take care of multilateral affairs within the cabinet of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the UN agency specializing in health issues.

Among his future responsibilities, relations with the G7, the UN or the foundation of Bill and Melinda Gates.

She replaces another Frenchwoman, Michèle Boccoz, appointed ambassador to the Philippines on October 31.

Agnès Buzyn joins the World Health Organization https://t.co/E0oMacojU0

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) January 5, 2021

Quickly, Internet users unearthed a bill relating to an agreement between France and the WHO.

This agreement would relate to "the granting of diplomatic status to officials of the WHO office".

Some users of social networks then made the connection between this text and the new position of Agnès Buzyn.

This text targets foreign officials stationed in Lyon.

- Twitter screenshot

It turns out that the former minister is targeted by investigations carried out by the Court of Justice of the Republic on the management of the Covid-19 crisis.

On October 15, she was targeted by a search, as were former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, current Minister of Health Olivier Véran and former government spokesman Sibeth Ndiaye.

Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, and Geneviève Chêne, Director General of Public Health France, were also concerned.

FAKE OFF

This draft agreement between France and the WHO cannot be put in relation to the new responsibilities of Agnès Buzyn, because, contrary to what its title suggests, it only applies to foreign officials of the office of WHO in Lyon.

The aim of this text is to make the Lyon office attractive to international civil servants by granting them diplomatic advantages.

What are these advantages?

It is about "the acquisition of a vehicle in suspension of customs duty and tax at the time of the assumption of function and the diplomatic statute for the officials of grade P5 and higher", details the government in its presentation of the law Project.

The French of this Lyon office will not have this complete diplomatic immunity

However, for the moment, none of the three officials of grade P5 or higher present in Lyon will be able to benefit from these advantages: all three are French, underlines the Senate, but the text excludes from offering these advantages to leaders of French nationality or permanently resident in France.

They will only benefit from immunity "for official acts performed in the exercise of their functions".

Diplomatic status, for its part, offers immunity extended to acts of private life.

The genesis of this text also predates the Covid-19 epidemic.

The first exchanges between the international institution and France on this subject date back to 2017.

Soon a WHO academy in Lyon?

Why did France accede to this request from the WHO?

A 2016 circular from the then Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, “considered that the reception of international organizations on French territory was a priority for the State's action, insofar as it is now acquired. that the benefits of their presence greatly outweigh the costs, particularly in financial and fiscal terms ”.

The government also hopes for the establishment of a WHO academy in Lyon after this agreement.

This academy "aims to establish in Lyon a continuing training structure of reference at the global level for health personnel, managers and managers of the WHO but also outside the WHO", notes the rapporteur of the text, Senator Jacques Le Nay. .

However, we will have to wait before seeing this new center: the draft agreement does not yet have the force of law.

Voted by senators on December 16, it is now the turn of the deputies to vote on it.

Officials working for WHO enjoy "immunities and privileges", according to the organization's regulations.

These, however, "do not exempt staff members who enjoy them from performing their private obligations or from observing the laws and police regulations in force."

The CEO can decide to waive these benefits.

Media

Report information that you believe to be false to the "Fake Off" team of "20 Minutes"

Politics

Agnès Buzyn, ex-minister, ex-candidate in Paris, finds a new base at the World Health Organization

  • Fake off

  • Oms

  • Fact checking

  • Society

  • Agnes Buzyn