Posted 24 Feb. 2023 at 8:00 am
This is an unprecedented configuration for French employers. The year 2023 will be marked not only by a change in the presidency of Medef, but also that of the French Association of Private Enterprises (Afep). Laurent Burelle, director of Plastic Omnium, is about to hand over to the head of this powerful lobby bringing together the 115 main French companies.
It is difficult to compare the two situations. At Afep, there are no candidacies or electoral campaigns in the Medef way, the “select club” atmosphere is essential. “The choice is made by cooptation of his peers, the old fashioned way. You have to get people on board”, underlines a very good connoisseur of the house. For a time, Ross McInnes, chairman of the board of directors of Safran, had imagined instilling a little more transparency in the exercise, but he had to quickly review his ambitions.
change of tone
The choice therefore remains above all in the hands of the 15 big bosses who are members of the board of directors, including Laurent Burelle, who is following the file carefully. “Nothing has been decided yet”, assures the good connoisseur of the house. Beyond the question of governance, the profile of Ross McInnes is not completely convincing, because of his closeness to the state – he co-chaired the CAP 2022 committee on state reform during Macron’s first five-year term. The name of Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, president of Sonepar, has leaked in recent weeks in the press and is considered a serious possibility.
Whatever happens, whether we are talking about an election at Medef or co-optation at Afep, the change of head in the employers’ community could foreshadow a change of tone. For five years, he has hardly had to complain about the policy pursued by Emmanuel Macron, who has multiplied the pledges in his direction. A two-way relationship: as soon as he was elected in 2018, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux announced a “Medef of proposals” after Pierre Gattaz’s “Medef of combat” of the Holland years; when Laurent Burelle is considered as a clear support of the Head of State. During the 2022 election, employers still largely leaned in favor of the latter.
Is the wind turning? “The pro-business policy will be more and more difficult to carry out with a government entangled by its relative majority in the Assembly, this will require a leader ready to go to the confrontation”, estimates the good connoisseur of the Afep. “The State is more and more interventionist, we need very reactive employers”, judges an influential member of Medef.