“Massive appeal” to consulting firms is “a state scandal”, estimated this Wednesday on franceinfo Xavier Bertrand, special adviser for The Republic of the territories and the work of Valérie Pécresse, candidate Les Républicains for the presidential election. This “mass appeal has accelerated since [l’élection de] Mr. Macron in 2017” and “exploded from 2021” and the Covid-19 crisis, he recalled, almost a week after the publication of the report of the Senate commission of inquiry on the use by the State of consulting firms.
>> Accused of tax optimization by the Senate, the consulting firm McKinsey “will pay what it owes to the French State”, assures Bruno Le Maire
This commission also accused McKinsey, one of the firms to which the State had recourse, of tax optimization. “This calls for legal action to start”estimated the one who is also president of the Hauts-de-France region. “Arnaud Bazin, Senator LR from Val d’Oise, chairman of this commission, intends to launch legal proceedings, because we want to know if the leader of McKinsey lied and if he committed perjury”he said.
“I say it very clearly: we pay corporate tax in France”, had assured the head of the public sector of McKinsey, Karim Tadjeddine, during his hearing by the commission. However, this makes the observation that if “McKinsey is indeed subject to corporation tax (IS) in France, its payments have been zero euros for at least 10 years”.
Consulting firms ➡️ “It’s a state scandal the massive use” of consulting firms. “It has accelerated since 2017. We must establish responsibilities within the State”, for Xavier Bertrand.
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“Then, we must establish responsibilities within the state”continued Xavier Bertrand. “How have we been able to spend such sums precisely to get advice and to achieve what, for all these years? The reduction of APL, a measure absolutely contrary to the spirit of justice”he pointed out.
“How is it that in the state apparatus we are able to be so parsimonious when it comes to playing the card of justice and that we are so spendthrift when it comes to giving crazy sums to cabinets like these?”
Xavier-Bertrandat franceinfo
According to the report of the Senate commission of inquiry on the use by the State of consulting firms, the expenditure in this area by ministries reached 893.9 million euros in 2021. “It’s always convenient for leaders who have no ideas to hide behind consulting firms, that’s not how we should operate”, he considered, promising that if Valérie Pécresse is elected president, she will no longer call on these cabinets. For him, this “massive appeal” to these companies “also shows the mistrust of the President of the Republic vis-à-vis civil servants in our country, and even senior civil servants”.