Parity at the top of the state: it is progressing, but Macron still has work to do

Two indicators, placed in parallel, are enough to strike the spirits. "When there are 62% of women in the Public Service and only 32% who are today senior executives or leaders of this Public Service, we can see that there is a subject", summarizes the Minister of Transformation and of the Civil Service, Amélie de Montchalin. The appointments made this summer are all the more visible. There is therefore now a general secretary of the government, Claire Landais, a general director of the Air School, Dominique Arbriol, a defender of rights, Claire Hédon. Or a central director, Pascale Regnault-Dubois, at the head of the very masculine CRS. "A revolutionary choice", applauds Marlène Schiappa, Minister for Citizenship.

For feminist associations, this should not make us forget the reshuffle of July 6. Because if the government is more than equal, and has a Minister of State, Barbara Pompili for the Ecological Transition, the arrival of Eric Dupond-Moretti in Justice, and especially Gerald Darmanin in the Interior, represent to their eyes a (much) too important shadow on the board. “They appointed a notorious anti-feminist and a man accused of rape. This feminization is a hide-and-seek, ”denounces Claire Charlès, president of the association“ Les effrontées ”. Gérald Darmanin's entourage replies that "wherever he has gone, the minister has promoted women to positions of responsibility", citing the direction of customs or Tracfin. And therefore CRS.

The president bangs his fist on the table in the Council of Ministers

A summer wave, like catching up? Judging that things were not moving fast enough and that pressure had to be put on, Schiappa - arguing that the president had made it the “great cause of his five-year term” - sounded the alarm in February 2019, in a mail to his government colleagues. At the top of the state, we defend ourselves from giving a boost for the sole purpose of silencing the critics. “You can't say we woke up a month ago. But we come from far away, it's not something that can be changed in a few months. It is a fundamental, serious work ”, we defend at the Elysee Palace, where we recall that“ some ministries were still entirely male, ten years ago ”. A minister also says he saw Emmanuel Macron "banging his fist on the table in the Council of Ministers to say that he would no longer sign non-joint appointments".

Claire Hedon is the new Defender of Rights. / AFP / Joel Saget  

From the Elysee to the ministers concerned, everyone admits it, there is still some way to go. "If these are not concrete examples of the government's very, very strong will to move the lines, I do not know what is needed !, notes Elisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate, in charge of Equality between women and men. Now that is not enough. It should not be overlooked that it is a man's world, made by men with masculine rules. It is high time that everyone recognized that we cannot leave out 52% of the population, ”explains the new minister, who emphasizes having“ obtained a 40% increase in (her) budget to advance the things ".

A recruitment campaign in the police

Marlène Schiappa, who intends in particular to launch recruitment campaigns for the police and the gendarmerie specifically aimed at women, testifies: “We still hear too often: It is a position which leaves no room for family life, it is is a position of authority ... "

In 2018, the advisers of the Elysee, they testified to the fact that misogynistic remarks and behavior also persisted "at the highest summit of the State" - but not within the presidential cabinet, they stressed. They wrote it in a note, revealed by Le Monde. And said orally that Marc Guillaume, former secretary general of the government recently appointed prefect of Ile-de-France, was particularly targeted. While denouncing inadmissible behavior, this note, underlines the Elysée, “proposed a certain number of things on the objectives of parity, equal pay, the alignment of the pace of work and the pace of family life, reporting circuits. These concrete proposals have been heard ”, argues the Presidency, even if“ there is obviously still room for improvement ”.

"The Macronie is very masculine"

"Where quotas are not imposed, the absence of women is flagrant", notes Alix Béranger, co-founder of the feminist collective "La barbe". Certainly, Emmanuel Macron did not skimp on the calls, in 2017, to convince women to stand for legislative elections for LREM. Admittedly, the government is parity, like the positions of committee in the Assembly or the Executive Bureau of the majority party. But in terms of key positions and the president's close guard… “I see that there are a lot of decisions that are taken without a single woman around the table and this at all times. power levels ”, regrets Schiappa.

An LREM deputy confides in having made a reflection, seeing the senior executives of the majority gathered around Emmanuel Macron, during the recent reception of parliamentarians at the Ministry of Relations with Parliament: "I have never heard Emmanuel Macron express the slightest a priori, but in fact, Macronie is very masculine. That day there were only men in the picture! We said to ourselves: if we tweet it, we're going to take it all in the face. "

Five ministries pinned for lack of parity

In 2018 (latest information to date), five ministries, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Armies, Economy, Interior, had to pay financial penalties for not having respected the minimum rate of 40% of people of each sex for new appointments in the senior management of the public service, as required by the Sauvadet law of 2012. Or 90,000 euros per missing appointment. The amount of the fines was not disclosed, but it totaled 2,340,000 euros for the year 2017. "Many have caught up since 2018", we assure the government.

But the new Minister of Transformation and the Public Service, Amélie de Montchalin, who advocates “much more proactive human resources management at all levels”, intends to make it a marker. “My goal is that in the next twelve months, ministries stop paying fines because they do not have enough women in key positions. It can be counted in a few dozen positions, it's quite achievable, ”she believes.

It intends to rely on the law on the transformation of the Civil Service of 2019. And in particular on “the professional equality plan” (appointments, equal pay, reporting of misogynistic behavior), which each ministry must submit by December 31, 2020. This will allow , advances the Minister, to "look department by department the way to go". It also intends to animate in a more political way "the interministerial pool", 500 people identified as having the skills to aspire to senior positions in the public service. “In these 500, there are a lot of women. I would like to be able to meet them, mentor them, so that they can have interdepartmental paths. I would like to know what barriers they encounter, to see if there are any positions for which they did not have the idea to apply. The women are there, we must support them. "