By being appointed Prime Minister, Friday December 13, François Bayrou joined Matignon… to whom he was already linked. Since September 2020, this close friend of Emmanuel Macron has headed the High Commission for Planning (HCP), a foresight body administratively attached to the head of government and resurrected during the health crisis.
At the time, this appointment at the head of a prospective body created by General de Gaulle in 1946 also allowed the newly re-elected mayor of Pau to once again occupy a leading position on the national political scene, after a time of media shortage, between 2017 and 2020. But what assessment can we draw up of these four years of the president of the MoDem spent at the head of the high commission?
With an operating budget of 1.9 million euros in 2023 and 2024, a team equivalent to almost 14 people employed full time, the HCP has produced 18 strategic notes, as well as three other reports, we can read in a report senatorial (PDF)presented in September by National Rally senator Christopher Szczurek. “The vast majority of the strategic notes produced by the HCP are indistinguishable from the work of other administrative bodies”reprimands the senator, who believes that, “for part”this work “may even appear much less precise and in-depth”.
The senator also regrets “the absence of publication on digital issues, even though the mission letter sent by the President of the Republic expressly mentioned this theme”, “limited interest in issues specific to youth” or even recommendations “not very operational”. A criticism formulated on other occasions, such as in spring 2024, during a debate launched by environmentalist senators on the results of the HCP. “It’s an empty shell”had then criticized Guillaume Gontard. The elected official had certainly considered that notes produced by the high commissioner could have “be interesting”but that“un think thank”, a private think tank made up of experts producing studies on societal themes for the benefit of decision-makers, would have “done just as well with three times less budget”.
For her part, Senator Vanina Paoli Gagin wrote on the website of the Independents, Republic and Territories group, believing that“basically, the problem of high-cPlanning Commission, it’s not the quality of its work, it’s that no one applies it. It’s a laboratory of ideas, not a demonstrator.”. To which François Bayrou responded, to the Monde in 2022, that the notes produced by him and his teams, “on nuclear power, on the debt, on the reconquest of production or on demography, for example” ont “been useful to the president [de la République] in his reflection”. “We have contributed to changing the approach of public opinion on these sensitive subjects”he assured.
In addition to the government agency as a whole, it was the choice of François Bayrou and his incarnation of the function which were denounced by the elected representatives of the upper house. In his report, Christopher Szczurek denounced “strong customization of the function” of high commissioner. He also pointed “the important political responsibilities that the High Commissioner continues to assume, alongside his mandate” and believes that they “strongly question”. The senator judged in particular that the establishment of the body in Pau, the historic stronghold of François Bayrou, “is explained by a motive of personal convenience for the high commissioner”. He also notes that the High Commissioner for Planning exercised his function on a voluntary basis, thus not perceiving “no remuneration or compensation”.
For his part, environmentalist senator Thomas Dessous also targeted François Bayrou, highlighting his lack of transparency at the head of the institution. “It works a little in isolation, and so we can see that it’s stuck”he observed, judging the high commissioner “not up to the challenge”. At the time, the main person concerned replied to franceinfo that these criticisms were unfounded and that they demonstrated a “will to harm”.
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