November 2004. Two young senior officials from Bercy land in Beirut.
They have been going there regularly for months to negotiate the restructuring of the Iraqi debt.
During the day, as well-tied representatives of the French state, Emmanuel Moulin and his second in command, Alexis Kohler, strive to find a path to conciliation between the creditors.
In the evening, thirty-somethings meet in bars to play backgammon and darts.
Twenty years later, the two friends are still as close as ever;
the scope of their responsibilities has expanded considerably.
The first has just been appointed chief of staff at Matignon, to support Gabriel Attal, the second has been secretary general of the Élysée since 2017. Every week, each accompanies their boss for the official weekly meeting between the President of the Republic and his prime minister.
Nothing ever filters out of these four-way meetings.
It was the secretary general of the Élysée who convinced his old friend to leave his golden post, director of the Treasury at the Ministry of the Economy, to join the boiling pot of Matignon.
Great experience of the State, extraordinary work capacity, total confidence of the executive, complementarity with Gabriel Attal… Seen from the Élysée, few candidates ticked all the boxes as well as Emmanuel Moulin.
A rumor also comes up like with every reshuffle.
Alexis Kohler, with a view to an upcoming departure, would have taken care to place a relative at the heart of power in order to hold the line.
The two men are in fact from the same school.
Just like Bertrand Dumont, who replaces Moulin at the head of the Treasury, and Jérôme Fournel, the new chief of staff of Bruno Le Maire.
They all share…
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