INTERVIEW
We will have to "learn the lessons" from the coronavirus crisis, warned Emmanuel Macron. The head of state promised Sunday to open "a new page" giving more "freedoms and responsibilities to those who act closest to our lives". "Not everything can be decided in Paris, the territories have shown their ingenuity" during the Covid-19 crisis, "let us trust them more," he said. The "next world" could therefore open up through a new act of decentralization. Guest of the Europe 1 midday journal, Hervé Morin, president of the Normandy region, however, was slightly skeptical of Emmanuel Macron's remarks.
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A speech already given in 2016 and in 2018, deplores Hervé Morin
"Listening to it, I wondered if he would repeat it for the third time," began the president of the Normandy region. "He did it during the 2017 campaign, I had re-read his book Revolution where he had more or less the same words to say that everything could not be decided on offices and ministries in Paris," recalls Hervé Morin. "Well, we experienced the opposite," he laments. Then, in December 2018, "we had the same speech from the President of the Republic at the time of the Yellow Vests".
A third promise of decentralization in three years: this situation is therefore enough to tire the president of the Normandy region, who still "wants to believe it". "Because I deeply believe that our country would be better off if it made more room for freedoms and local democracy, for the capacity for innovation that we have", explains Hervé Morin at the microphone of Europe 1.
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A "desire to say 'banco'", but under certain conditions
"I would not want it to be a political operation," he warns. "I want to say 'banco' to him, but in this case, we need an extremely precise calendar and not just a vague grooming", explains Hervé Morin, who, for the moment, does not necessarily approve tracks leaked in the press.
According to several media, Emmanuel Macron would like to set up an important recovery plan provided that the mandates of the regional advisers are extended by more than a year, beyond the presidential elections of 2022.
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"We relaunch it every day (...) Support for the regional economy is 180 million euros per year in Normandy, so it's already our job," replies Hervé Morin. "The deep question is whether we believe that decentralization is a factor of democracy (...) I want to say yes, but if we have a timetable and if it does not just postpone regional elections, "he concluded.