At the dawn of the early legislative elections following the dissolution of the National Assembly, Le Sens du service public studies the National Rally (RN) project for public services, in a note published with the Jean Jaurès Foundation. Believing that the devaluation of public services has “accompanied the rise in voting in favor of the extreme right, including within the public sector”, the think tank explains that civil servants are questioning their behavior in the event of a victory for the RN: “stay, adapt or leave? »
If some “opportunists would see it as an unexpected opportunity for their career or the realization of their ideas, many could accommodate or endure the situation, out of a sense of duty and “neutrality” of the civil servant, through lack of alternative or through personal comfort. “. Disobedience is not excluded, according to the think tank, which illustrates this by the intention of the elected representatives of the Lot departmental council not to apply the reform of personalized assistance for autonomy as provided for by law. immigration. And he mentions the fact that, “if the civil servant’s mission is to work in the general interest within an ethical framework, the political project of the RN is in contradiction with the essence of the public services built during the 20th century.e century “.
We must, on the other hand, “propose a project at least as powerful and mobilizing, which deals with the social and territorial inequalities on which the RN thrives”. Indeed, its arrival at the top in 93% of municipalities, during the European elections of June 9, and its most significant increase in rural municipalities and in the outskirts of cities between 2019 and 2024, could be explained because the service public has been mistreated in recent years. At issue: closures or distancing of services, “forced march” dematerialization, response times, “unkept Republican promises” on schools, justice or hospitals, absence of an agent at the counter to resolve difficult situations, etc.
As for agents, three quarters feel neither valued nor recognized by society (BVA survey from May 2023). Uneasiness increased by the lack of resources and the loss of meaning of their missions, and the feeling of being neither heard nor respected.
In its contribution, Le Sens du service public recalls some of its recent proposals: guaranteeing an identifiable contact within all administrations, directly resolving any situation within France services houses, offsetting the cost of mobility and organizing collective travel in areas far from public services, provide more support to rural mayors and better finance the withdrawal of the State, review certain missions of agents that are not very useful and time-consuming, create a public digital mediation service… In addition to the revaluation of public service professions, the housing for agents could be made easier (extension of the deposit by the employer, etc.) and their working conditions improved: police stations, schools, universities, hospitals, etc.
The day after the European elections, the think tank also launched a Commitment Pact for the public service, with several associations and unions, around three points: a local public health service, an enforceable right to have several modalities of access to the administration, a fair distribution of police and gendarmerie personnel in the territory.
The Sense of Public Service intends to extend its study. Objectives: “to dissect the drivers of the success of the RN, analyze its proposals and draw effective exit routes in the short and medium term”.
Martine Courgnaud – Del Ry
