On Monday, Brigitte Klinkert received a call from the newly appointed Prime Minister Jean Castex. A few hours later, his name was spoken by Alexis Kohler on the steps of the Élysée Palace. President of the Haut-Rhin departmental council, Brigitte Klinkert has just been propelled Minister Delegate for Integration. Having left the Les Républicains party a year ago, she is strengthening a team for which Jean Castex and Emmanuel Macron have largely drawn to the right.
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It was then by watching television that the elected official learned that she would be expected this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, at 3 p.m. This nomination, " it is an immense honor for me " rejoiced this elected little known to the general public. Brigitte Klinkert, 63, a graduate of the Metz Regional Institute of Administration, has had a dense political career at the local level. At the head of the Haut-Rhin department since 2017, of which she was the first woman elected, she was also municipal councilor of Colmar for 30 years. A fervent European, she also contributed to the construction of a European community in Alsace which brings together Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin.
His appointment was greeted by several personalities from the political life of the Grand Est, including Jean Rottner, its president, who was once tipped to join the government.
" I am proud to represent our beautiful Alsace in government, " claimed this lover of her region. After managing the coronavirus crisis, which is particularly virulent in her department, Brigitte Klinkert now has a new emergency on her hands: promoting, in a particularly disaster-stricken economic context, the integration of young people and job seekers. " An area in which the Haut-Rhin has carried out many actions, " she argues.
Brigitte Klinkert was in particular one of the instigators of an experiment carried out for two years in the Haut-Rhin: the “ RSA and volunteering ” scheme . The objective being that the benefit of the Income of Active Solidarity is conditioned to the realization of several hours of voluntary work each month. A project followed with curiosity, at the time, by the now ex-Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud.
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The new Minister for Integration, under the supervision of Elisabeth Borne, now has the challenge of making a name for herself in a government where there is no shortage of media personalities.
