The acceleration is spectacular. It is palpable at the ball of cars in the courtyard of Matignon. Throughout the weekend, the lounges of this mansion were the scene of countless arbitration meetings, successive Sunday included. Final "RIM", the famous interministerial meetings, were still to be held on Monday morning, before a lunch between the Head of State and the Prime Minister. Proof that the moment is sensitive, these meetings were not held by audio conference to avoid further information leaks. Proof, too, that we are entering the “ money time””, Members of the government also participated in these conclaves, usually reserved for chiefs of staff. This was notably the case for Secretary of State Cédric O, on the front line on plotting applications.
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If the machine is racing, it means that there is not much time left. The official calendar is now known: the exit plan will be unveiled Tuesday at 3 p.m. by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, in the gallery of the National Assembly. It will be followed by a debate and a single vote on the exit project - which will suddenly include tracking questions (“tracking”) using mobile phones, allowing the transmission chains to be traced in the event of proven Covid-19 patient.
Single vote
This very explosive subject in terms of public freedoms was originally to be the subject of a specific vote, demanded by the opposition, but also by LREM deputies. “ With this single vote, the majority will be forced to vote en bloc on the exit plan. This will silence internal opposition ”, decrypts a member of ministerial cabinet. " We will be ready on Tuesday. No one would have understood that we were just presenting part of the plan and not all of our decisions, ”retorted an advisor to Edouard Philippe. The Prime Minister will meet Wednesday morning with the heads of local authorities, then with the prefects. He will exchange with them on the “ general doctrine ” in matters of “ health, school, economy, shops, transport, gatherings”. Matignon promises “ a precise level of details, which will then give way to consultation with local communities. "
Once again, the method illustrates the wavering at the top of the state. Thursday morning, after the exchange of Emmanuel Macron with the mayors, the Élysée assured that the broad lines of the exit plan would be presented firstly to associations of elected officials by the interministerial delegate for deconfinement, Jean Castex. This meeting was scheduled for Tuesday. It was to be preceded by another meeting with elected officials, led by the Minister of Territorial Cohesion Jacqueline Gourault, on Monday. Finally, the order is reversed. The Prime Minister will speak first. Local elected officials will be heard afterwards.
By unveiling its choices Tuesday, April 28, the executive can in any case be proud to have kept his word on the schedule of deconfinement. Emmanuel Macron had indeed promised that the French would know its contours within fifteen days of his address on April 13. But with what level of precision?
Kyrielle of questions
A plethora of questions remain open: how to provide enough masks and distribute them, especially to the poorest populations who will not be able to buy such equipment? Will shopping centers reopen outside of food stores? What will be the rules that will prevail in nurseries, colleges and high schools? How to occupy the pupils who will not be part of the authorized half-classes? etc.
" We are moving towards a reduction in containment from May 11, rather than towards total deconfinement ," summarizes a government adviser. Because you must not go too fast in work, under penalty of a backlash. Some countries have had to reconfigure… It is only at the beginning of June that it will be possible to say whether the gradual deconfinement has not resulted in a resumption of the epidemic. "