This Tuesday, November 12, the hearing of Stéphane Séjourné, former Minister of Foreign Affairs under Emmanuel Macron, as candidate for the post of European Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy was held in the European Parliament. Despite the doubts raised about his skills to which I was able to add my voice during his hearing, Stéphane Séjourné will indeed be a commissioner.
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After Ursula von der Leyen opposed the reappointment of Thierry Breton, previous French commissioner, Emmanuel Macron, acquiescing in this offense against our country, sought only one criterion for his replacement candidate: a total submission to himself. The price to pay for this transfer window? The historical weakening of French influence in European institutions. In Brussels, observers were not mistaken: despite his pompous title, Séjourné inherited a shrunken portfolio. Technically, he has only one general direction, where the portfolio of his predecessor, Thierry Breton, had four.
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Having proposed Stéphane Séjourné is solely the fault of the prince. It is the last whim of a President disowned at the polls who seeks, through him, to retain a little of the influence in Europe that he lost in France. Indeed, nothing qualifies Stéphane Séjourné for this position. No experience in business, let alone in the industrial sector. This second-choice candidate carried his laborious style throughout his afternoon hearing before European parliamentarians. Not one word higher than the other. Not a new idea. Not a challenge to von der Leyen's agenda.
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Worse, his professional illegitimacy competes with his political illegitimacy. When Stéphane Séjourné was an MEP, he and his political group supported all the texts of the Green Deal – the famous Green deal – final nail in the coffin of European industry. Behind the scenes, he was one of the main architects of the catastrophic text called “Restoration of Nature” which massively threw our desperate farmers into the streets a few months ago. During his hearing, he confirmed his wish to support the insurmountable regulatory constraints relating to CO2 emissions, which are planned for our automobile industry from 2025 and which will benefit Chinese manufacturers.
In short, mental socialism and decreasing ecology will continue to plague European industrial strategy.
Let us remember that Stéphane Séjourné was also a member of a government which began by carefully sabotaging our nuclear industry before belatedly and partially correcting course while continuing to commune in the illusion of the all-green energy model. Facing him, Stéphane Séjourné will find Mr. Jørgensen and Ms. Ribera Rodriguez, respectively Commissioner for Energy and Commissioner for Clean Transition, both renowned for their militant opposition to the atom. What weight will he have to resist them? None. Who in the United States or China will fear his wrath at the heart of the trade war that the major world powers are currently playing out? Person.
He told us that he would, however, be particularly invested in guaranteeing gender parity on boards of directors. Well done, European industry is saved!
His professional illegitimacy competes with his political illegitimacy
Mr. Séjourné should be in penitent robes, in front of Michelin employees, in front of our automobile manufacturers and subcontractors, in front of our farmers in distress, in front of the French people ruined by “whatever it takes”. Instead, he had the audacity to propose to parliamentarians that they export their errors and failures throughout Europe.
After my questioning, Stéphane Séjourné replied to me that “value does not wait for the number of years”. He clearly did not understand my question, I did not criticize him for being young, I criticized him for being incompetent, I criticized him for being there for the interests of a single man and not for the interests of our country.
In the European Parliament, with the elected representatives of Identity Libertés, I intend to continue to fight to impose a policy of reindustrialization of our nations. Since we will obviously have to do without Commissioner Séjourné, it is with our group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the pivotal force of the right, that we will lead this fight against the Commission, step by step, text by text.
