2023-12-16 06:30:00
Bruno Le Maire leaving the council of ministers, in the main courtyard of the Elysée, in Paris, December 6, 2023. XOSE BOUZAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
When he wants to be heard, Bruno Le Maire does not hesitate to repeat himself. The immigration bill? “Firmness, firmness, firmness,” he has often insisted in recent weeks. But the day after the adoption of the motion to reject the text in the National Assembly, Monday December 11, the Minister of the Economy called for unity around fifteen majority deputies invited to lunch on the 6th floor of Bercy. “All behind Gérald [Darmanin, le ministre de l’intérieur]all behind Gérald, all behind Gérald”, he insisted, in front of a salmon steak served to guests in the large dining room overlooking the Seine, before adding: “We stick together, no one should step out of line. »
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Bruno Le Maire pushes to reconnect with reform to assert his political identity
Of the Wednesday December 13, however, he stood out from the crowd. “ We are defeated, we must start from the Senate text [pour parvenir à un compromis acceptable avec la droite] », he declared in front of a few journalists gathered for the presentation of the economics book prize, while the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, had just received the leaders of the Les Républicains (LR) party. Comments, reported by Le Figaro, which immediately irritated the Prime Minister. “Where are we on the 4.9%? [du PIB, le déficit public] ? », she asked him by SMS, just to remind him of his prerogatives, before reframing him publicly, Thursday, December 14, during a meeting with several members of the government.
“I don’t take back anything I said. », He replied. “I’ll be in New York anyway, I won’t talk this weekend,” he added, when he was due to go across the Atlantic at the end of the week, “to meet major investors”, according to those around him. On Sunday, December 17, the Prime Minister must, for her part, bring together the leaders of LR again to find a compromise on the text, before the joint committee, scheduled for Monday, December 18. Emmanuel Macron called, Friday evening, December 15, from Brussels, for a “intelligent compromise” in the name of “the general interest”specifying that he would shoot ” the results “ of the results of the current discussions.
“Disappointing” proposals
Judged at the wrong time, the minister’s offensive was moderately appreciated in the majority and within the government, where some feared that it would threaten the cohesion of the majority itself. A ” clumsiness “, according to a minister, who recalls the embarrassment of the executive, when Bruno Le Maire had promised to declare a “ total economic and financial war » to Russia in March 2022. “Didn’t this intervention move the lines?we defend at Bercy. At least, it’s a real gesture towards the LR, who welcomed it. His intervention may have made it possible to take a small step. »
You have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
#Bruno #Maire #steps #line #facing #weakened #prime #minister