And seven! Catherine Vautrin became, Thursday January 11, the seventh Minister of Health appointed under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron since 2017. This right-wing personality, already entered the government under Jacques Chirac, succeeds Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, who has been acting since the resignation of Aurélien Rousseau in December.
In addition to Health, Catherine Vautrin will be in charge of subjects related to Work, a portfolio until now held by Olivier Dussopt, and Solidarity, in place of Aurore Bergé, now in charge of Gender Equality. She will also be supported by a Minister for Health, in the person of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, according to information from franceinfo.
Catherine Vautrin could also benefit from reinforcements, while the second part of Gabriel Attal’s government must be revealed in the coming days. Franceinfo explains to you what are the main projects awaiting the head of this major ministry, which has earned her fourth place in the protocol hierarchy.
The end-of-life debate
This is one of the most important reforms promised for this year: the government must present its bill on the end of life “during March-April” in the Council of Ministers, according to Emmanuel Macron. Until then, the new Minister of Health will have little time to take up the file, the fruit of long work started in 2022 by Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, whose future within the government appears compromise. A national strategy for the development of palliative care, broadly outlined in a report submitted to the executive in December, must be unveiled by the end of the month, before the Head of State sets out the chosen orientations in February for opening access to assisted dying in France.
While Agnès Panier-Runacher had supported in 2021 a bill moving in the direction of active assistance in dying, Catherine Vautrin, known for her conservative social positions – she had voted against marriage for all in 2013 and participated in demonstrations against the bill, before regretting it in 2023 –, has not stated its position on this subject. “I am not happy with his appointment”reacted Jonathan Denis, president of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, in The world.
The law on old age
At the same time, unless there is a change of course decided by Gabriel Attal, Catherine Vautrin will also have to carry the future programming law on old age promised by the former Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. A subject which is not unknown to the former – and short-lived – Secretary of State for the Elderly in the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, between October 2004 and May 2005. In November, Elisabeth Borne had hoped that a text “can be presented by summer”before adoption in the second half of 2024.
The stakes are high in the face of the challenge of the aging population, which requires significant human and financial investment to expand and improve care for the elderly. “If we miss the opportunity that is ours in the coming year, we risk no longer having time”had warned Aurore Bergé, then Minister of Solidarity, responsible for leading the consultations.
The reform of the AME
Before leaving Matignon, Elisabeth Borne had promised elected officials from the Les Républicains party to reform state medical aid (AME) in 2024, without eliminating it, in exchange for their support for the immigration bill. It will therefore be up to Catherine Vautrin to continue this project, based on the recent report produced by the former socialist minister Claude Evin and the former Les Républicains prefect Patrick Stefanini.
But the subject is sensitive and risks dividing the macronie once again. Disagreeing with the AME reform, three doctors filed a complaint for violation of the Public Health Codeat the end of December, against Olivier Véran, then government spokesperson, as well as several deputies, all professional doctors. The former Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, also opposed its removal, wanted by the right-wing majority in the Senate.
Abortion in the Constitution
During the transfer of power with Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo and Aurore Bergé, Catherine Vautrin paid tribute to Simone Veil when “its founding text” legalizing voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) must be “engraved in the stone of our Constitution”. A highly symbolic reform, on which Eric Dupond-Moretti, the Minister of Justice, is also working, the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution is hoped by the executive for March 5 via a Congress in Versailles. This rare meeting of deputies and senators is necessary to have a constitutional revision adopted, provided that there is a favorable vote of 3/5 of parliamentarians.
The agenda is still tight for the executive, because a prerequisite is necessary before going to the vote in Congress: that the text has been adopted by both chambers of Parliament in the same terms. To ensure a victory, the government proposed a formulation close to that adopted in February by the senators, with the notion of “guaranteed freedom” to abortion – and not to “right”. Any editorial changes by the Senate would nevertheless disrupt the executive’s schedule, because a new review would be necessary.
The public hospital crisis
Like her predecessors, Catherine Vautrin will have the difficult task of responding to the demands of hospital caregivers, who denounce understaffing of the public hospital and insufficient salary conditions. “Nothing has changed” in emergency services, which are “currently saturated, like all winters”, affirmed Marc Noizet, president of the Samu-Ergences de France union, at the end of December. The emergency doctor also deplored “a lack of visibility” for the health system caused by the succession of ephemeral ministers.
Faced with recruitment tensions at the public hospital, the fixed allowance for work on Sundays and public holidays and night work for some hospital staff were increased on January 1, in accordance with the government’s commitments. During the handover ceremony with Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, the new minister wanted to be reassuring, promising that “the public hospital and all health establishments [devaient] be as much supported as modernized” and that the caregivers, whom she emphasized “courage”must have “stimulating exercise conditions”. But the size of Catherine Vautrin’s ministry makes several players in the sector fear government inaction on the subject.
Full employment and low wages
Catherine Vautrin will also have to contribute to the objective of full employment (5% unemployment rate) that Emmanuel Macron is targeting for 2027. She will therefore have to continue the work-related reforms implemented by Olivier Dussopt: that of active solidarity income ( RSA), which tightened the obligations weighing on recipients, and the launch of France Travail, instead of Pôle emploi.
She will also be responsible for bringing to fruition the negotiations initiated between the social partners. on the continued employment of senior employees. A file on which the new Minister of Labor will have to leave her mark, while Bruno Le Maire proposes to review their conditions of access to unemployment insurance. Finally, it will also have to pay attention to the issue of low salaries, while the 56 professional branches which have conventional levels of remuneration below the minimum wage have until June to comply.
Mentioning during his handover with Olivier Dussopt a social dialogue “sometimes difficult, but always fruitful”, Catherine Vautrin announced that she would receive “very soon the social partners” to discuss these questions.