The new government team was announced on Saturday evening, September 21st. Its members come mostly from parties on the right and center-right, with a delicate balance between members of the President’s own Renaissance party, which bagged the highest number of seats in the government (12 ministers), and the party of the traditional right Les Républicains (The Republicans, conservatives/center-right – LR), which has probably obtained more strategic positions, including the powerful position of Minister of the Interior.
The President’s party has obtained control over all economy-related ministries. However, power has been divided between two Ministers, one supervising the Economy and Finance administration and the other the Budget administration. The Budget Minister will report directly to the Prime Minister, meaning that the Prime Minister will be directly involved in the parliamentary discussion process around the finance bills, traditionally in the remit of the Minister of Economy and Finance.
This government corresponds to a “Spanish-style” scenario: with purely political profiles, and in a minority in the National Assembly, it enjoys only limited support from the parties composing it, which have already made known that their support for the government in Parliament will not be systematic.
The first ministerial portfolio has gone to Antoine Armand, the youngest member of the government (at 33) and loyal follower of the President, and the second to former budget rapporteur at the National Assembly Laurent Sant-Martin, a figure close to former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and newly elected President of the parliamentary group “Ensemble pour la République” (Together for the Republic, former Renaissance and before that LaREM, former presidential majority – EPR).
Responsibility for digital affairs has been transferred from the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research which — in an interesting paradox — will be headed by the former director of the French tech ecosystem organization. Her predecessor, Marina Ferrari, remains in the Government as Junior Minister in charge of tourism economy reporting to the Minister of Economy and Finance.
This government corresponds to a “Spanish-style” scenario (read our political update on August 2th): with purely political profiles, and in a minority in the National Assembly (the house which has the last say in case of disagreement with the Senate), it enjoys only limited support from the parties composing it, which have already made known that their support for the government in Parliament will not be systematic.
As we have been indicating since early July, the challenge in the next few weeks will be the passage of budgetary texts, which as you may recall need to have been adopted before December 31st of this year. The official procedure will finally be able to begin. While discussions promise to be stormy, the government can rely on a series of constitutional tools allowing it to push through the necessary bills within the imparted timeframe (read the issue brief on the adoption of Finance bills by Franck Boulin), assuming they know how to wield them.
The first meeting of the Council of Ministers was held Monday, at 3 p.m. The Prime Minister is scheduled to make his government policy statement on October 1st.
