From public to private, there is sometimes only one step. That many kingpins of Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term have crossed in recent months by joining large companies, consulting firms or industrial lobbies.
The government reshuffles that followed the re-election of the president prompted more than 15% of ministerial collaborators to join the private sector. In total, at least 91 of them evolve today in the private sector, according to a count of the Monde based on the 602 advisers in post in January 2022. The majority of these movements can be qualified as “pantouflages”, since they concern employees from a public career.
Valuable lobbyists
Perfectly legal, the revolving door of public officials nevertheless gives rise to recurring ethical debates against a backdrop of suspicions of conflict of interest. Was such an adviser recruited by this company in return for a favorable decision taken in the course of his duties? Will such an ex-collaborator who left for the private sector use his address book to obtain favors from the government?
For those interested, the question is annoying. “We are demonized, but life in the firm only lasts a short time: it is normal to be able to pursue your career elsewhere”, argues a former slipper adviser on condition of anonymity. Like her, many claim the ability to strictly separate public and private interests. “What I’m doing today has nothing to do with my office duties”, she assures. What it is permissible to doubt for certain former advisers, recruited precisely for their address book and their influence, real or supposed.
Thus, in recent months, the lobbies of pesticide producers, brewers, sodas, cereal producers and public transport have all drawn from Macron’s ministerial cabinets to renew their staffs. However, these organizations have the priority mission of influencing public decision-makers in the direction of their interests. And they are mad about these profiles experienced in the functioning of ministries.
Kafkaesque situations
Each of these slippers has been checked by the High Authority for the transparency of public life (HATVP). After verifying that these former advisers had not taken a decision in the past in connection with their future employer, the institution, responsible for ensuring the probity of public officials, gave the green light. However, she asked them to refrain from lobbying their former government colleagues for three years, to avoid conflicts of interest.
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