French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday July 7 reunites the government of Jean Castex for its first Council of Ministers, with heavyweights on the right and on the left reinforced for the end of the quinquennium.

The meeting is set at 3 p.m. for this new team made up at this stage of 16 ministers, 14 deputy ministers and a secretary of state. Other appointments, at the level of State Secretaries, are still expected in the coming days.

This new government is renewed up to a third compared to that of Edouard Philippe and it is marked by the return to politics of the former Chiraquian Minister of Health Roselyne Bachelot converted into a TV columnist. She takes the Culture portfolio. She already carried out the change of powers with Franck Riester on Tuesday, saying he wanted to be "the minister of artists" and promised "states general of festivals", victims of the epidemic of Covid-19.

Right turn

Another major surprise: the entry of a tenor from the bar, the criminal lawyer Éric Dupond-Moretti as Minister of Justice. Two arrivals that did not fail to highlight the editorialists, quite puzzled by these appointments. Thus Jean-Michel Bretonnier estimates in La Voix du Nord that these two ministers "are worth for their personality and their notoriety and not for their political weight". For Pascal Coquis, in DNA, they are intended to "divert attention" from the right turn that has just been started.

"A center of gravity in the ... right center, without spectacular rallying coming from the left nor symbolic debauchery coming from the right", argues Nicolas Beytout in L'Opinion. The objective, according to him, is "to lock the device of public action in the perspective of 2022".

Transfers

In addition to these two appointments, the promotion of Gérald Darmanin to the Ministry of the Interior did not go unnoticed, replacing the former socialist Christophe Castaner. Their handover is scheduled for Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. The rape complaint against Gérald Darmanin seems to be evolving "in the right direction" and this complaint "did not obstruct" the promotion of a minister who "aspired to more", said the entourage of the president on Monday.

Several other transitions are scheduled during the morning in the ministries, in particular between Nicole Belloubet and Éric Dupond-Moretti at Justice, between Élisabeth Borne - appointed Minister of Labor - and Barbara Pompili at the Ecological Transition or between Didier Guillaume and Julien Denormandie to Agriculture.

To make people forget the debacle of the municipal authorities and tackle the post-coronavirus crises, the new executive couple intends to speed up the pace. Jean Castex has planned to start receiving social partners from Wednesday evening, Thursday and Friday morning, particularly on the explosive pension issue.

Emmanuel Macron intends to specify his course for the rest of the quinquennium during an interview on July 14. It is only then that the Prime Minister can make his declaration of general policy before the National Assembly.

With AFP

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR