The new government formed in recent days may not include only ministers and state secretaries. A planning commissioner could also appear, "resuscitating" a function created after the Second World War and which disappeared in 2006. It is in any case the wish of Prime Minister, Jean Castex.
What was the Planning Commissioner for?
With its full name, the General Commissariat for the Modernization and Equipment Plan (CGP) was created on January 3, 1946 on the initiative of General de Gaulle and Jean Monnet.
The decree of creation of this General Planning Commission, dated January 3, 1946, fixes four main missions to him: "to increase the production and the exchanges with the world", "to bring the output of work to the level of that of the countries where it is highest ”,“ ensuring full employment of the workforce ”, and“ raising the standard of living of the population ”. In summary, it was born "from the desire to rebuild the French economy on new bases".
The Commissioner General for Planning and his teams, in liaison with the various administrations and ministries, were responsible for making proposals to the government applicable over a four or five year horizon. The general idea was to straighten the country, marked by the six years of World War II, as effectively as possible, in several sectors: rail, industry, etc.
Why was it abandoned?
The term "plan", referring to an interventionist vision and which has become unsuitable for world developments, was gradually abandoned during the 1990s. It had "disappeared a little", agreed Jean Castex on July 9 on RMC and BFMTV.
"This was called into question precisely from 1993, when Edouard Balladur was Prime Minister, because we were entering a situation where liberalism required to have economic and industrial policies in the shorter term", underlines with the Parisian Luc Rouban , researcher at Cevipof and research director at CNRS.
As of 2006, the Commissariat au Plan was replaced by various organizations: the Center for Strategic Analysis, then, in 2013, France Stratégie. “The institution has remained a place for forward thinking, debate and the development of new policies. Refocused in 2006 on an expertise function, since 2013 it has taken over a fourfold function of anticipation, evaluation, debate and proposal, ”says France Stratégie on its website.
Why recreate it today?
"I was introduced as a social gaullist, I think we need to re-enlighten public action from a long-term vision", justified Jean Castex, when asked about his wish to appoint a new Planning Commissioner (or Haut- Planning Commissioner, according to another formulation).
Jean Castex does not exclude the appointment of François Bayrou as High Commissioner for Planning pic.twitter.com/HtLvC43iNZ
- BFMTV (@BFMTV) July 8, 2020The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, is just as enthusiastic. “I think it can be very useful to have a compass with the High Commission for Planning […] which can tell us in the very long term: these are the right economic choices, the right industrial choices for France ", He declared during a trip to the Oise on July 9.
Political Newsletter
Every day, the political news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
As early as April 13, when the Covid-19 epidemic was at its peak in France and economic forecasts already looked very bad, Emmanuel Macron had expressed his wish to "build a strategy where we will find the long time" and give back "the possibility of planning it".
"This can make sense because there are new very long-term issues that cannot be dealt with in six months, such as digital and the environment. But it is a long term much less predictable than at the end of the 4th Republic and the beginning of the 5th Republic, ”points out Luc Rouban.
Who to choose for the position?
It was Jean Monnet, who would later prove to be one of the main architects of European construction, who was the first of the sixteen commissioners general for the Plan who succeeded each other for sixty years. They were often senior officials, little known to the general public. One of those whose name will no doubt speak to the greatest number is Henri Guaino, in charge of this mission between 1995 and 1998.
Who to succeed them? Only one name has really filtered in recent days, that of François Bayrou. "We will see, why not," just replied Jean Castex. The president of MoDem, short-lived Minister of Justice at the start of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, told the Parisian on July 8 that he had not yet accepted.
The fact remains that François Bayrou is, moreover, indicted in the case of the presumed fictitious jobs of his party in the European Parliament. Which, under a rule recalled by Edouard Philippe in 2017, should prevent him from being a minister. What pointed, in particular, the deputy The Republicans Olivier Marleix.
A “High Commissioner” being a government function in our legal tradition, it would be hard to understand why #Bayrou, ousted 3 years ago from the government, could come back under investigation for embezzlement of public funds! @anticor_org https://t.co/8zaxk0xRK6
- 🇫🇷 Olivier Marleix (@oliviermarleix) July 9, 2020