The appointment is now on the agenda of the President of the Republic. Wednesday morning before the Council of Ministers, Emmanuel Macron chairs the Defense and National Security Council. For the fourteenth time since February 22, it will be devoted to the coronavirus. Even if, for the past three weeks, international subjects have been raised again, the health crisis is still at the heart of the discussions. It is there, in this ultra-secret enclosure reserved for a few rare people, that the Head of State gives the headlines in the fight against the coronavirus.
Read also: Terrorism, Covid ... Diving into the secrecy of the Defense Council
At the beginning of the epidemic, when the first clusters appeared in France in the Oise and in Haute-Savoie, when it was necessary to repatriate from Egypt French tourists affected by the virus, it was there that the head of the state made all the decisions. This is also where the questions of supply of sanitary materials were addressed, from masks to gowns, including charlottes or gloves. It was there again that the first effects of the closure of schools in the East were dissected before the president decided to extend the measure to the whole territory. This is always where the health maps, with their departments in green or red, are analyzed to decide whether to change them or not. It is there finally that the plan of Mr. Deconfinement of the government, Jean Castex, was validated. In crisis management, everything was played out within the Defense Council before Matignon took over for the operational implementation of Emmanuel Macron's decisions.
Over the meetings of the Defense Council devoted to Covid-19, all the decisions were thus scrutinized, even the question of the reopening of the beaches. " We are not there to do tactics but strategy, " said one participant.
"This format allows first of all to respond to any crisis"
In recent years, this body has taken an increasingly important place at the Élysée. Until 2015, the Defense Council met once every three months. Then the pace increased until reaching a weekly rate. After the wave of terrorist attacks in 2015, it happened to meet up to twice a week.
“ This format allows us first of all to respond to any crisis. If one day, for example, we were to be confronted with a major natural disaster, a major humanitarian crisis, we could adopt this format to face it, ”explains a close friend of the President of the Republic.
Macron and Philippe meet one-on-one before each Defense Council
Unlike the Council of Ministers, the Defense Council makes it possible to involve people who do not belong to the government, notably senior officials, and to adapt to crises that require immediate responses. But no question of competing with the Council of Ministers, we assure in the executive. " This is not a tight government, it is a forum dedicated to only one subject. It is a piloting tool, a crisis management instrument which does not aim to pass laws, ”confides a regular at the Defense Council.
Nevertheless, with Emmanuel Macron, the tempo has changed. Until then, the Defense Council was held in continuation of the Council of Ministers. It is now scheduled just before. And before opening it, Emmanuel Macron and Édouard Philippe systematically talk to each other.
