Forty-two members make up the Borne II government. The ministerial reshuffle, announced by a press release from the Élysée on Monday July 4, gives way to a new team led by Élisabeth Borne. In addition to the Prime Minister, they are therefore 41 to be part of this government. Not all have the same title. In detail, there are 16 ministers, 15 deputy ministers and 10 state secretaries. But behind these categories, all are considered to be ministers, recalls the site vie-publique.fr. So what are the differences between these titles ?
Ministers of State
The government of Elisabeth Borne has none, like that of Jean Castex before. Rarely awarded, this title has either an honorary scope or a political scope in order to distinguish, for example, the leaders of the parties of the majority. Four politicians were appointed Minister of State in the governments of Édouard Philippe from 20017 to 2020: François Bayrou as Minister of Justice (2017), Nicolas Hulot as Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition (2017-2018), Gérard Collomb as Minister of the Interior (2017-2018), and François de Rugy as Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition (2018-2019).
The ministers
Much more common in a government, the title of minister is sometimes accompanied by the expression “full exercise” in everyday language to distinguish them from other functions. In the Borne II government, among the 16 full-time ministers, 11 are men. The ministers are at the head of a ministerial department, the contours of which vary according to the governments. This generally concerns the Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs or Ecology. Even if variations of name appear according to the governments.
For full-time ministers, the number of advisers (fixed by decree in July 2020, and confirmed since) who form their cabinets and a maximum of 15. It is 13 for a minister delegate, and 8 for the secretaries of state.
The delegate ministers
They exercise their functions either with the Prime Minister or with a minister. They are therefore attached to another member of the government and more particularly take charge of some of their responsibilities. This is particularly the case of Gabriel Attal who is in charge of Public Accounts as Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Bruno Le Maire; or even the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, to the Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Christophe Béchu. This attachment is not trivial and can raise controversy as for the Minister Delegate for Overseas Jean-François Carenco who was attached to the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
Secretaries of State
They also exercise their functions directly to the Prime Minister or a minister. However, they happen to be autonomous at the head of a ministerial department. This is not the case in the last government of Elisabeth Borne, who herself had three secretaries of state under her supervision: Charlotte Caubel, in charge of children; Hervé Berville, in charge of the Sea; Marlène Schiappa, in charge of Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life. Unlike the other members of the government, they are only present at the Council of Ministers when the agenda concerns their function.
A mainly protocol difference
The remuneration is not exactly the same, while the Secretaries of State will receive a salary of 9,629 euros gross per month, against 10,135 euros gross monthly for the ministers and 15,204 euros for the President of the Republic and the first minister, as indicated by the newspaper Le Figaro. Secretaries of State, however, retain the same material advantages as ministers, such as a company car with driver or the possibility of benefiting from company accommodation.
According to the site vie-publique.fr, there is no legal hierarchy between members of the government. If the Prime Minister directs the action of the government, he is not the hierarchical superior of the other members of the government. These titles therefore concern the formal order which has no use other than symbolic or honorific. However, according to observers, it is important. For example, the Ministry of Ecological Transition tumbles from 5th to 10th place, in the Borne II government, suggesting that the fight against global warming is no longer an emergency for the executive.