2024-01-13 14:32:47
Too many ministers in government? Gabriel Attal revealed a good part of his future government on Thursday. If the absence of women in government positions has been singled out by part of the opposition, the decision to group several ministries has also been criticized.
The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa Castéra inherits a super ministry bringing together National Education, Youth, Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games while Labor and Health have been grouped together and entrusted to Catherine Vautrin, issue of LR and former president of Grand Reims.
These mergers were poorly received by part of the teaching and health world. “Although occupational health may be a concern, the fields of health and work require frank autonomy and specialized approaches to ensure their effectiveness,” responded the National Federation of Nursing Students this Friday.
Ministries renamed, associated or abolished
During the Fifth Republic, many ministries were renamed several times, associated with each other, while others simply disappeared. It has been a long time, for example, that no minister has been appointed to the Ministry of Sahara, Overseas Departments and Territories and Atomic Energy (occupied by Jacques Soustelle under Charles de Gaulle).
Over the course of the reshuffles, the Minister of the Environment under François Mitterrand became that of Ecology under Jacques Chirac, while François Hollande preferred to attach to him questions linked to Energy, the Sea and “International Relations on the climate “. Finally, under Emmanuel Macron, the title of the ministry became that of Ecological Transition.
“The perimeters can be adjusted as desired, no ministry is predefined,” explains Christophe Boutin, professor of public law at the University of Caen and specialist in political history. “The Prime Minister sets the perimeters to indicate what his priorities are. »
“Facilitating cross-functionality”
“Here, we can see that the State is displaying its desire to restrict the number of ministers, which is a constant of the Fifth Republic,” continues Frédéric Fogacci, historian and specialist in French political history. “We want to try to facilitate cross-functionality because interministerial relations can sometimes be complicated. »
During the Fifth Republic, the Ministry of Health was associated with the City in 1993 under François Mitterrand, with the Family in 1978 under Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and with Sports in 2007 under Nicolas Sarkozy. During his five-year term, Xavier Bertrand even served as Minister of Labor, Employment and Health.
Even the most important so-called “regal” ministries have sometimes been associated with different themes: Charles Pasqua was, for example, Minister of the Interior and Regional Planning under François Mitterrand while Dominique de Villepin was Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Liberties under Jacques Chirac. Gérald Darmanin, for his part, combines the Interior and Overseas.
More secretaries of state?
Do these mergers mean that less importance will be given to Health, Work or Education? Not necessarily. “These groupings are more of an announcement effect than anything else because within these super ministries we generally find secretaries of state who are specifically dedicated to a function,” recalls Christophe Boutin.
Gabriel Attal has so far only named part of the government, without the delegated ministers (apart from Marie Lebec for relations with Parliament and Prisca Thevenot, in charge of Democratic Renewal and government spokesperson) and the secretaries of State. “In general when we have fewer ministries, we have more delegated ministers and secretaries of state,” predicts Frédéric Fogacci.
“Making the decision to group administrations together does not mean that they will necessarily merge,” continues Christophe Boutin. We have a department which brings together work and health with then subdivisions. »
Not sure that the appointment of Secretaries of State will be enough to calm the annoyance of the teaching world and that of Health who consider themselves relegated to the background. “There is anger to see the contempt with which education is treated,” criticized Sophie Vénétitay, professor of economic and social sciences and general secretary of SNES.
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