Attal government

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Attal government
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44th Government of French Fifth Republic
Gabriel Attal, February 2023.jpg
Attal in 2023
Date formed9 January 2024 (2024-01-09)
People and organisations
President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal
No. of ministers34 [lower-alpha 1]
Member parties
  •   RE
  •   MoDem
  •   HOR
Status in legislature
Opposition parties
History
Legislature term(s)
Predecessor Borne government

The Attal government (French: gouvernement Attal) is the forty-fourth and most recent government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 9 January 2024 and headed by Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. [1]

Contents

The Attal cabinet is a three-party minority government as a result of the 2022 legislative election that left the governing coalition short of an absolute majority in Parliament.

History

Formation

Context

In late December 2023, the passage of an immigration and asylum bill originating from a deal struck between Borne's minority government and the conservative LR party left Macron's governing coalition in political crisis, especially after some left-leaning ministers threatened to resign if the bill was passed, something which was seen as a major breach of collective responsibility, while scores of Macronist deputies defied the government by either abstaining or voting against the legislation. [2] Hours after the bill was passed, Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau resigned in protest; Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retailleau offered her resignation as well although President Macron refused it. [3] Others, such as Transport Minister Clément Beaune, voiced their opposition to the bill but did not quit. [4]

As 2024 approached, news media began to speculate about a potential change of prime minister in a last-ditch effort by Macron both to revive his second presidential term and reassert his diminished political authority. [5]

Élisabeth Borne's resignation

When Élisabeth Borne resigned as prime minister on 8 January 2024, she made clear in her resignation letter that she was not doing so of her own initiative but rather to comply with Macron's will to replace her with a new officeholder. In her letter, she also quoted a line from her distant predecessor Michel Rocard's own resignation letter, a reference to the fact that, like him, she was compelled to resign by the President while she would have wanted to carry on as head of government. [6]

Legal scholar Ariane Vidal-Naquet, in an op-ed in Le Monde , said that Borne's "forced resignation" was "not consistent with the Constitution" even though it is widely accepted under a presidential interpretation of the Constitution. [7]

After Borne resigned on 8 January, she remained prime minister in a caretaking capacity until handing over to Attal a day later.

Attal's appointment as Prime Minister

In the run-up to Gabriel Attal's appointment as prime minister, news media cited several politicians as main contenders for the premiership: Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, former National Assembly President Richard Ferrand, former Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie and Environment Minister Christophe Béchu were among the names cited for Macron's pick. [8]

Hours before the appointment, when Attal emerged as the most likely pick for the premiership, several prominent figures inside Macron's camp, such as junior coalition partners François Bayrou (MoDem party leader) and Édouard Philippe (Horizons party leader and Macron's prime minister from 2017 to 2020) or incumbent government ministers such as Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, reportedly opposed the pick and tried to weigh in on the presidential decision. [9]

Prior to being appointed as prime minister, Attal was the most popular minister in Macron's cabinet according to polling data. Upon taking office, Attal became both the youngest head of government in French modern history and youngest state leader in the world. He is also the first openly LGBT person to lead a French government.

Choice for cabinet posts

The new Attal cabinet was widely described as the most right-leaning government since the start of the Macron presidency: out of the 14 cabinet ministers appointed on 11 January 2024 by Macron, 57% are former members of the conservative UMP/LR party. [10] Furthermore, right-leaning politicians are left holding the largest government portfolios, such as the Interior, Finance, Defence, Labour, Health, Culture and Environment, a political configuration seen as indicating a tilt to the right. [11]

Additionally, longtime Macron allies and prominent left-leaning ministers of the outgoing Borne government, such as Rima Abdul-Malak (Culture), Clément Beaune (Transport) and Olivier Véran (Spokesperson), were sacked as part of the reshuffle.

Parliamentary history

Vote of confidence

On 16 January 2024, Attal announced that, like Élisabeth Borne before him, he would not be seeking a vote of confidence in the National Assembly as it is implicitly allowed in the French Constitution. If a confidence vote were to take place, Attal's government would likely fall since it is 39 seats short of an overall majority in the lower house. [12]

As it was widely expected, left-wing LFI leader Manuel Bompard announced that his parliamentary group would table a motion of no confidence in response to Attal's decision. [13] The no-confidence motion substantially failed to receive enough votes to topple the cabinet since right-wing parties refused to support the attempt at this early stage in the government's tenure.

Initial composition

As it is customary, Secretary General of the Presidency Alexis Kohler announced the new government's composition on 11 January 2024 from the Élysée Palace. Members of the previous government remained in office under a caretaking capacity until the appointment of the new government, as provided for in the French Constitution.

In February 2024, a second raft of government appointments took place: the total number of government ministers went up from 14 to 34. Apart from the numerous junior ministerial appointments, notably, the ministries of National Education and Sports, which had been merged in January through Amélie Oudéa-Castéra's appointment as Education and Sports minister, were once again de-merged. Oudéa-Castéra was demoted, returning as Sports minister, and former Justice minister Nicole Belloubet replaced her as Education minister. Additionally, Stanislas Guerini was re-appointed as Civil Service minister.

Ministers

PortfolioNameParty
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal RE
Minister of Economy, Finances and Industrial & Digital Sovereignty Bruno Le Maire RE
Minister of the Interior and Overseas Gérald Darmanin RE
Minister of Labour, Health and Solidarity Catherine Vautrin SE [14]
Minister of National Education and Youth Nicole Belloubet SE
Minister of Sports and the Olympic & Paralympic Games Amélie Oudéa-Castéra RE
Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Marc Fesneau MoDem
Minister for Culture Rachida Dati SE [15]
Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu RE
Minister of Justice / Keeper of the Seals Éric Dupond-Moretti SE
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné RE
Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Christophe Béchu HOR
Minister for Transformation and Civil Service Stanislas Guerini RE
Minister of Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau SE

Deputy Ministers

PortfolioAttached ministerNameParty
Minister for Democratic Renewal, Government Spokesperson Prime Minister Prisca Thevenot RE
Minister for Relations with Parliament Marie Lebec RE
Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Aurore Bergé RE
Minister for Industry and Energy Minister of Economy, Finances and Industrial & Digital Sovereignty Roland Lescure RE
Minister for Businesses, Tourism and Consumption Olivia Grégoire RE
Minister for Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave RE
Minister for Territorial Collectivities and Rural Affairs Minister of the Interior and Overseas
Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion 		Dominique Faure PR
Minister of Overseas Minister of the Interior and Overseas Marie Guévenoux RE
Minister for Children, Youth and Family Minister of Labour, Health and Solidarity
Minister of National Education and Youth
Minister of Justice / Keeper of the Seals 		Sarah El Haïry MoDem
Minister for the Elderly and People with Disabilities Minister of Labour, Health and Solidarity Fadila Khattabi RE
Minister for Health and Prevention Frédéric Valletoux HOR
Minister without portfolio Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Agnès Pannier-Runacher RE
Minister for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness, Francophonie and French Nationals Abroad Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Franck Riester RE
Minister for Europe Jean-Noël Barrot MoDem
Minister of Transport Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Patrice Vergriete SE
Minister for Housing Guillaume Kasbarian RE

State Secretaries

PortfolioAttached ministerNameParty
State Secretary for Digital Affairs Minister of Economy, Finances and Industrial & Digital Sovereignty Marina Ferrari MoDem
State Secretary for Cities and Citizenship Minister of the Interior and Overseas
Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion 		Sabrina Agresti-Roubache RE
State Secretary for Veterans and Remembrance Minister of the Armed Forces Patricia Mirallès RE
State Secretary for Development and International Partnerships Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Chrysoula Zacharopoulou RE
State Secretary for the Sea and Biodiversity Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Hervé Berville RE

Civil service

Notes

  1. ↑ Does not include the Prime Minister.

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References

  1. ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique (2024-01-09). "Gabriel Attal appointed youngest French PM as Macron tries to revive popularity". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  2. ↑ Caulcutt, Clea (2023-12-20). "Macron in crisis after immigration showdown". Politico. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  3. ↑ "French health minister resigns over Macron's controversial immigration law". Le Monde with AFP. 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  4. ↑ "Immigration law: Clément Beaune did not resign despite his criticisms, he explains". Huffington Post (in French). 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  5. ↑ "After the immigration law, a reshuffle early 2024?". TF1 info (in French). 2023-12-24. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  6. ↑ ""As I must tender the resignation of my government", when Borne does a Rocard (and not for the 49.3)". Libération (in French). 2023-01-08. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  7. ↑ "Élisabeth Borne's resignation: "The behavior of political actors is inconsistent with what legal standards provide"". Le Monde (in French). 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  8. ↑ "Ministerial reshuffle: which contenders, what timetable? Here are the questions that arise". Sud Ouest (in French). 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  9. ↑ "Gabriel Attal at Matignon: behind the scenes of a disputed appointment". Le Monde (in French). 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  10. ↑ "The reshuffle seen by the "left wing" of the macronie: "It's no longer pragmatism, it's prostitution"". Libération (in French). 2023-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  11. ↑ "Attal government: macronism shifts to the right". Les Échos (in French). 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  12. ↑ "General policy declaration: Gabriel Attal rejects the idea of a vote of confidence". Le Parisien (in French). 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  13. ↑ "Attal government: the LFI group will table a no-confidence motion against the new government". Le Parisien (in French). 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  14. ↑ AFP (11 January 2024). "Remaniement : Catherine Vautrin, une transfuge de la droite expérimentée hérite du Travail, de la Santé et des Solidarités". Le Figaro . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  15. ↑ AFP (11 January 2024). "France : Rachida Dati exclue de son parti LR après sa nomination à la Culture". Le Soir . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
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