After serving five years as a deputy during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, Laurent Saint-Martin is preparing to camp night and day on the bench of ministers to defend the budget. In a thankless role, the man responsible for imposing a slimming cure on public administrations. While awaiting final arbitrations, the Saint-Martin cabinet sets out some main axes: “There will be sizes in the workforce, but not all ministries will be affected, that of the Armed Forces should be preserved for example. » We understand, however, that exceptions will be rare. The Ministry of the Interior should be impacted at the cost of restructuring its workforce aimed at “deploy more “Blue” in public spaces. »
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Following Matignon’s instructions, the minister is preparing to negotiate contracts with the management of public agencies subject to “demanding objectives in terms of rationalizing expenses and staff. » Some organizations will be merged or even abolished. For the record, there are 1,200 state agencies representing a cost of 80 billion euros. “We are at a time when we need to know how to disconnect a certain amount of public funding”the minister gets angry about the reduction in spending, “If we don’t do it, it’s irresponsible.” Especially since it is “to be square, exemplary”to encourage local authorities to make efforts, otherwise warns the minister, “We’re going to hit a wall.”
“We are not isolated, our support bloc which goes from Renaissance to the Republicans is demanding”
Because it’s good « the Territorial » which is in the sights of Bercy, with in its hand the latest report from the Court of Auditors which recommends 100,000 job cuts in communities for a saving of more than 4 billion euros per year from 2030. “We will have to reduce the number of agents at certain levels, in line with the skills exercised by municipalities and intermunicipalities”identifies someone close to the minister. No offense to David Lisnard, president of the Mayors of France who denounces “the government demagogues”. An advisor to the minister fires him “to a form of clientelism” to flatter his Cannes voters, in perfect “contradiction with the liberal values that he defends at the national level”.
Pressing on the issue of a “necessity budget”Bercy takes up Matignon’s antiphon of opening the debate in the Assembly. “We are not isolated, our support bloc which goes from Renaissance to the Republicans is demandingslides Laurent Saint-Martin. We cannot decide alone, we will have to seek compromises. » The game has only just begun.
