“Very shocked”, Jean-Louis Bourlanges wants to know “how the former European Commissioner failed”

For the former MoDem MP, Thierry Breton “embodied a certain demand for the technological challenge imposed on Europeans by the Americans” and finds “offensive” the way in which he was pushed out.

“I don’t know what the problem is, but I am very shocked by the way we are proceeding with Mr. Breton.”reacted Tuesday September 17 on France Inter Jean-Louis Bourlanges, former MoDem deputy and former president of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Assembly, the day after the resignation of Thierry Breton from his post as European Commissioner for the Internal Market, and while President Ursula von der Leyen must announce the Constitution of the new European Commission for the next five years.

A very rare departure, especially since Thierry Breton assures that he was “disavowed” and criticizes Ursula von der Leyen for her governance “doubtful”. Jean-Louis Bourlanges recognizes that the latter “maybe there were good reasons, but we would like to know them.” “We have a commissioner who played an important role, and we would like to know in what way he did not deserve it.”

For the former deputy, Thierry Breton “embodied a certain policy, perhaps well, perhaps badly, but he embodied a certain policy, a certain demand for the technological challenge imposed on Europeans by the Americans, and suddenly, here he is eliminated from the casting, without any justification made public”. A way of doing “offensive to Thierry Breton, and extremely casual towards us, European citizens”regrets Jean-Louis Bourlanges.

The former MoDem MP is also very critical of Emmanuel Macron’s choice of Stéphane Séjourné to take over this post, “much more important than most ministerial posts”. “It is a unilateral decision by the President of the Republic without consulting the Prime Minister, while Michel Barnier has just announced that power must be shared in international matters”, regrets Jean-Louis Bourlanges. “In matters of cohabitation, only the mutual agreement between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister should be the rule.”

However, Jean-Louis Bourlanges believes that “Mr. Séjourné is a very estimable man,” but “He is a loyalist of the president, he is totally connected”. However, a European Commissioner must be “an independent man, who owes himself to Europe, and not to depend on his state of origin”, recalls the former MP.