“Objectively, we were not up to it”, plague a ministerial adviser to France Télévisions. The sequence on the fuel shortage file has left traces within the government of Elisabeth Borne. Everyone takes responsibility for the mistakes made in managing the crisis. While the strike was renewed in six of the eight refineries in France, Wednesday, October 12, the government ended up reacting by ordering the requisition of the personnel essential to the operation of the ExxonMobil depot in Port-Jérôme, in Seine-Maritime.
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“In the next few days, there, you will have a very significant improvement”, promised Wednesday the spokesman of the government, Olivier Véran, at the end of the Council of Ministers. But the tensions in the queues of cars that accumulate around certain service stations will still take a little longer to resolve.
Was it necessary to react more quickly to avoid the stalemate of the last days? “Should we decide from the start how to settle a social conflict in a company?”, asks Sacha Houlié, deputy of the majority. “It’s a paradox that I find a bit big. It’s up to the employees and the company in question to find a solution, not the state to replace this social dialogue.” On the other hand, the government was able to draw the mobilization of strategic stocks, then the weapon of requisition.
And here too, the majority believes that they have respected the stages. “We left room for dialogue and as it did not succeed, we act. If we had done that earlier, we would have been criticized for being brutal and Jupiterian”, tries to justify François Patriat, leader of the majority senators. The government has not, moreover, resolved itself to the solution of the requisitions with lightheartedness. “I think that the role of the state is not to systematically interfere in negotiations between private actors, and that it is very regrettable (…) that the state has been forced to intervene vigorously”adds a minister.
Move on, so there is nothing to blame the government for? Not quite. The footage revealed major communication gaps. “It’s a communication crisis, because it was badly managed”, admits a ministerial communication adviser. “We had no empathy. We had to be in service stations in contact with the French. Everyone hides”continues another adviser, who would have liked to see the establishment of an energy crisis unit at Matignon, “in Covid mode”.
In the midst of a battle in the Assembly over the budget, many criticize the ministers in charge of the file for having taken far too long to react. “It’s not an ignition delay, but more of a diesel running out of fuel. Sobriety can’t work for tanksnotes another ministerial adviser. We let the thing run a little too long and now we’re at 30% dry stations.”
“We don’t learn lessons. As soon as it touches on the essence, you have to grasp the subject at the second.”
A ministerial adviserat franceinfo
All criticize the role and the inflexible position of the CGT, but at the same time regret a government communication which reacted with a train of delay. However, the subject has been in the news since October 5. That day, Olivier Véran assured the exit of the Council of Ministers that he “there is no shortage”but difficulties for about 12% of stations in France. “When he says that, he is both right and wrong, because there is no shortage of supply but of distribution.comments a heavyweight of the majority. Then, it’s always easy to say to yourself afterwards that we could have said things differently.”
Olivier Véran repeated this position on Friday October 7 and explained on BFMTV that he was not “not necessary” to stock up with jerry cans. However, on the ground, the situation is getting out of hand. “We haven’t taken the measure. People are freaking out. It puts the country on edge”, entrusts to France 2 a minister. They don’t have “no sensor in the field”castigates another heavyweight of the opposition.
“We screwed up, we minimized. When we tell the French that they are creating shortages, by rushing to the pumps … The spokesperson appears disconnected”tackles a ministerial adviser. “It is up to the ministers in charge of the file to express themselves, because they manage the substantive elements. The spokesperson is there to transmit these elements to as many people as possible by deploying”we retort from the side of the cabinet of Olivier Véran.
The inaction of the Minister of Energy Transition is in the sights of several advisers. They criticize in particular Agnès Pannier-Runacher, affected by the Covid since Sunday, for not having conveyed the message during the weekend of a government at the wheel to avoid leaving the road. “Monday’s crisis meeting at Matignon had been thought about for two days. However, we find no trace of it in the newspapers this weekend”plague a counselor.
The mistakes of this communication go back to Elisabeth Borne. A ministerial adviser claims to have alerted the services of Matignon this weekend of the slippages which were coming up from the ground. The Prime Minister, then traveling to Algeria with half of the government, announced from Algiers her intention to draw on strategic fuel stocks, but did not really calm people down. “We have been following the situation very closely since last week and we have decided to call a meeting when the Prime Minister returns from Algiers on Sunday”defends the entourage of the head of government.
Still, the image of the executive can be found weakened. Borne lost six points in the polls [selon le tableau de bord Ifop-Fiducial pour Paris Match]. If this continues, we’re going to have lemon Paic on the slide. It will slide very quickly”, worries an adviser. To regain control, the government is now counting on Emmanuel Macron, who participates Wednesday evening in the new political program of France 2. “To see how the president can debunk all this [mercredi] evening, knowing that he wanted, I imagine, to concentrate on Ukraine”, observes an adviser. The Head of State, like his government, now hopes to close the fuel chapter as soon as possible.