Jean Castex July 4, 2020 - AP Photo / Francois Mori

  • Emmanuel Macron decided to change his Prime Minister on Friday, replacing Edouard Philippe with Jean Castex in Matignon.
  • The Head of State supported several ministers from the right, such as Bruno Le Maire for the Economy and Gérald Darmanin for the Interior.
  • It is the deputy LREM Barbara Pompili who will have the heavy task of embodying the ecological shift at the end of the five-year term.

After a long day of waiting, the new government fell. The secretary general of the Elysée has lined this Monday at 19 hours the names of the new government team of Prime Minister Jean Castex. Of the thirty ministers, eight are entering government, including Barbara Pompili at the Ecological Transition, Eric Dupond-Moretti at Justice, or Roselyne Bachelot at Culture. But the reshuffle is above all a continuation of the past few months, notably with ministers from the right comforted.

Emmanuel Macron consolidates his right

The appointment of Jean Castex, former secretary of the Elysee Palace of Nicolas Sarkozy, had set the tone for this end of the five-year term. Emmanuel Macron seems to place the "reinvention" promised to the French in the wake of the right. Bruno Le Maire is thus kept at the head of the “ocean liner” Bercy and will be at the heart of the decisive recovery plan to get the French economy out of the post-coronavirus recession. Former Lt. Sarkozyst Gérald Darmanin is leaving the Budget to join the highly prized Ministry of the Interior.

“It is a government that is part of stability. With Darmanin and Le Maire comforted, Blanquer à l'Education and now Youth and Sports, or Amélie de Montchalin in the Civil Service, Emmanuel Macron continues his strategy which aims to bite the electorate Les Républicains with a view to 2022 ”, assures political scientist Olivier Rouquan.

"The former socialists Jean-Yves Le Drian at Foreign Affairs and Florence Parly at the Armed Forces keep important posts but their ministries are less politicized," specifies the associate researcher at the Center for Studies and Research in Administrative and Political Sciences of the University Paris 2. At the same time, several ex-PS heads are leaving: Nicole Belloubet, Christophe Castaner, Didier Guillaume or even Sibeth Ndiaye.

Eric Dupond-Moretti, the tree that hides the forest

The entourage of the President of the Republic announced "surprises". And there is no doubt that the arrival of Eric Dupond-Moretti at Justice will be discussed at length. But apart from the thunderous lawyer and the media Roselyne Bachelot for Culture, Emmanuel Macron has not succeeded in real political or symbolic "takes" as he had been able to do in 2017. From Le Drian to Defense to Olivier Véran to Health, ten ministers more or less keep their portfolio, sometimes with adjustments. And only eight ministers (out of thirty) enter the government.

"In a difficult context for power, the leaders of the PS or LR are now thinking twice. We are in a defense government, like the Prime Minister, and no longer in a strategy of conquest. Same thing on the side of civil society where apart from the Dupond-Moretti coup, we are in a dynamic that is running out of steam, adds Olivier Rouquan. This is characteristic of the second mandate periods, when the government tries to consolidate its camp, because it no longer has the political momentum to be attractive ”.

What place for Pompili in Ecology?

This lack of attractiveness is perhaps further illustrated by the Ministry of Ecology, where the wait was high after the green shift promised by the president. "Ecology will be embodied by a prominent personality in the days to come," promised us a member of the majority on Friday. It is ultimately Barbara Pompili, LREM deputy for the Somme, who will be in charge. The former EELV (until 2015) will have to fight to make people forget the shattering departure of the popular Nicolas Hulot and embody this green turning point promised by Emmanuel Macron. "Let her hold on to translate the 146 commitments of the Citizens' Convention without filtering and to win fine budgetary arbitrations," said ex-LREM member Mathieu Orphelin on Twitter.

Good to have clearly maintained mobility and accommodation in the field of MTES. I wish @barbarapompili every success! Let her hold on to translate the 146 commitments of the @Conv_Citoyenne without filtering and to win fine budgetary arbitrations😉

- Matthieu ORPHELIN (@M_Orphelin) July 6, 2020

The new government will meet for the first time in the Council of Ministers this Tuesday afternoon.

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  • LREM
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Jean Castex
  • Reshuffle
  • Government