After more than three weeks of reflection, Emmanuel Macron has chosen Minister Elisabeth Borne as Prime Minister. A logical choice which imposed itself against the other contenders and which should not overshadow the president.
“We go back to the initial choice.” After three weeks of hallway noise, Emmanuel Macron finally chose to entrust Matignon, Monday, May 16, to Elisabeth Borne. His name has been circulating on Telegram loops and in the media for more than three weeks already, even if he has not always aroused the enthusiasm of the tenors of macronie. “The French have seen her too much as a minister and she is too technical”stung an LREM leader on the evening of Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the presidential election.
>> Reactions to the appointment of Elisabeth Borne, the government expected in the coming days… Find the latest information in our live
“She ticks the skill box, the loyalty box. But to manage a majority, it’s not that easy, you need a little human dough”, adds a minister. During the days leading up to the appointment, Emmanuel Macron studied the various possibilities, but without finding the rare pearl. The name of the Sarkozyist Catherine Vautrin was considered, but it caused a sling of certain historical majority in front of a profile considered too right. “He has been thinking about Elisabeth Borne for several days, but he looked to see if there could be other options”believes François Patriat, leader of the LREM senators.
“He let things settle and he saw that there was no better than her.”at franceinfo
Barely arrived at Matignon, the Prime Minister is already nicknamed “Plan B”, as Borne, relates The world. “We’re talking about plan B…but three weeks ago it was plan A, right?” responds an outgoing minister. The same people who expressed doubts in recent weeks are now flocking to social networks to praise the new head of government, the composition of the new executive being in everyone’s mind.
“She is a pro, a woman who works and who knows the files that the president wants to put forward”welcomes a minister, yet circumspect in the between-two-towers. “She has convictions. She is someone who works and listens”assures outgoing Minister Emmanuelle Wargon. “A woman on the left, a product of meritocracy, an exemplary senior civil servant, who says it better?” adds LREM deputy Jean-René Cazeneuve.
“In the end, Elisabeth Borne ticks all the boxes of the portrait drawn by the president”, explains François Patriat. In his quest for the rare pearl to complete the executive, Emmanuel Macron wanted a female profile to end thirty years of male domination at Matignon. “I will appoint someone who is committed to social, environmental and productive issues”he also announced after his presidential victory.
In the roadmap transmitted by the Elysée, the former Minister of Ecological Transition will be entrusted with the file of ecological planning. “We must act faster and stronger” facing “climate and ecological challenge”, has already warned the polytechnician during the transfer of power with Jean Castex. But the sector associations are skeptical about the new head of the executive. “We are on someone we know and whose absence of strong policies when she was at the Ministry of Ecology was notable”, reacts Chloé Gerbier, a lawyer involved in the association Notre Affaire à tous. Clément Sénéchal, spokesperson for Greenpeace France, even denounces a “marketing find” : “Emmanuel Macron wants to get left-wing voters, because the legislative elections are going to be more difficult than expected, but we are no longer fooled.”
“It multiplies the effects of sleeve on the ecological questions… But it does nothing.”at franceinfo
More lenient, Anne Bringault, from the Climate Action Network, evokes “a woman open to dialogue” during his time at the Ministry of Ecological Transition. “Then she still had difficulty moving the files forward, because she did not have the levers to act”, she adds. The NGOs will be particularly attentive to the arbitrations, the budget and the change of method promised by Emmanuel Macron. “We must make Elisabeth Borne’s mission sheet public and have a follow-up of government policy”claims Amandine Lebreton, advocacy director of the Foundation for Nature and Man.
Beyond Elisabeth Borne’s disputed ministerial record on ecological issues, political scientist Daniel Boy recognizes her “undeniable skill” on the subject. “She has worked in particular on mobility, one of the most difficult questions of the ecological transition. For example, the management of low-emission mobility zones, which are machines for ‘yellow vests'”explains the researcher at Cevipof de Sciences Po Paris.
At the top of the state, no one wants to relive the Saturdays of protest and the riots of autumn 2018. Emmanuel Macron is banking on the social fiber of his new Prime Minister, who will be essential to lead the thorny issue of pensions. In its balance sheet, it has already completed two major projects of the first five-year term, that of the reform of the SNCF and that of unemployment insurance. The head of LREM deputies, Christophe Castaner, found him a flattering nickname for this, reports Le Figaro : “Minister of Impossible Reforms Made Possible.” The majority never ceases to praise the qualities of Elisabeth Borne on this aspect. “He is someone who knows how to embrace social issues”greets a close friend of Emmanuel Macron.
This storytelling served by the macronie, however, suffers from union reactions to the announcement of the appointment of Elisabeth Borne. “She listens, but she does not hear, she is like Mr. Macron”, tackle with AFP the leader of the CGT, Philippe Martinez. SNCF unions portray a woman “choleric” and “brittle”. “He is someone very tough in the negotiation and outside”, remembers, for example, Florent Monteilhet, deputy secretary general of Unsa railway. “She is under orders so it’s not always easy to engage in social dialogue.”
Criticisms that come back in the mouths of the macronists themselves. “She is a very tough and characterful woman”breathes a deputy. “I know she is demanding. With meetings early. But she knows her subjects and expects her teams to be the same”, abounds a ministerial adviser. In this, it fulfills another criterion for Emmanuel Macron: efficiency. An obsession of the head of state, according to his entourage.
“Emmanuel Macron is looking for efficiency and he found it with Borne.”at franceinfo
An asset that goes hand in hand with “operationality” of the former minister. “She knows the mysteries of the company like those of the administrationunderlines the deputy MoDem Christophe Jerretie. She has a good knowledge of parliamentarians and the ministerial environment. It is operational immediately.” Her CV makes you dizzy: adviser to several left-wing ministers in the 1990s, director general of urban planning for the town hall of Paris but also prefect of the Poitou-Charentes region, director of the cabinet of Ségolène Royal at the Ministry of Ecology , boss of the RATP… She also cut her teeth at the SNCF or at Eiffage.
But the pedigree of the new tenant of Matignon, so much vaunted by the president’s supporters, remains unknown to public opinion. “They say it ticks the box on the left and green but hey, does it really print among the French?” wondered a minister before the formalization of Elisabeth Borne at Matignon. “People don’t care who the Prime Minister is, what matters is Macron. She is not identified”notes a parliamentarian.
As with Jean Castex, Emmanuel Macron therefore favored the “techno” profile over that of a seasoned politician. “The president chooses continuity. He is a personality known for his technical competence, but weakly marked ideologically”, analyzes political scientist Bruno Cautrès. A future weakness for the legislative elections? Traditionally, the prime minister is also the majority leader. The question invariably leads to the same response from Macronists: “But Macron is the majority leader!” The Head of State has also come to greet himself the pretenders to the deputation gathered in a seminar in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis).
“With this appointment, Emmanuel Macron is sending a signal that he will continue to make the political agenda.”at franceinfo
The former Minister of Labour, who has always been well regarded by his colleagues in the government, will not overshadow the tenant of the Elysée. Not like Edouard Philippe in his time. “He was at times considered a brake by Emmanuel Macron”, slips a close friend of the head of state. Elisabeth Borne, she, “did not do politics, so it did not generate tensions”, smiled a ministerial adviser.
Still, by choosing a woman who has remained in government for five years, Emmanuel Macron does not really fulfill the promise of renewal at the dawn of his second five-year term. “Wait for the government”responds the majority. “Yes, she does not tick the renewal box, cuts a confidant of the president. But, at some point, you have to say to yourself that the five-legged sheep does not exist.