Minister of the Economy under Jacques Chirac, captain of industry, Thierry Breton is the "new bet of Macron" for the position of Commissioner for the Internal Market and Digital. The newspaper Les Echos supports the candidacy of the current CEO of Atos, one of the world leaders in IT: "His career gives him recognized skills for the big economic portfolio at stake," said the daily. The Opinion sees in Thierry Breton a "Macronian choice as hell". He embodies "the perfect balance" because "everything goes back and forth between politics and real life is good to take". A risky choice according to Le Parisien , because Emmanuel Macron has already suffered a setback in the European Parliament with the rejection of Sylvie Goulard. The opposition points to the risk of a conflict of interest, particularly on the digital front. Atos' activities also affect the industry and defense sectors. The group is also a provider of IT services for the European Union and as such receives subsidies, enough to fuel criticism that could give the grain to grind to those who want to review the scope of this portfolio, even if Emmanuel Macron n will not give up anything for now. The head of state is not the only leader of the 27 in difficulty to get his commissioner approved. The formation of the Von der Leyen Commission resembles an obstacle course for Le Figaro , with several commissioner positions still pending.
The Lebanese press reacts to President Michel Aoun's speech. A speech " below expectations" to contain the vast movement of protest, said the East- Day . If the head of state spoke of the need to fight against corruption, "he does not say why and how he will implement what could not be done during the first three years of the mandate". It also paves the way for a cabinet reshuffle but lip service, regrets the daily. More optimistic, the Daily Star headlines on this pressure for a "change of government that accelerates". After the shock of the demonstrations, the daily wonders what is the next step for Lebanon and posits the hypothesis of a reshuffle leaving Prime Minister Saad Hariri in power but replacing eminent ministers by technocrats deemed more apt to implement implement the necessary reforms. An exit from crisis that could only be done with the agreement of the powerful Hezbollah.
The British press is following the latest episode of the serial Brexit ... Boris Johnson dreams of early elections on December 12. He wrote his letter to Santa Claus Jeremy Corbyn.