Villepin, Raffarin and Jospin among the biggest spenders
The details of expenditure, which were not made public before 2022, reveal significant sums, likely to annoy some taxpayers. Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister now at the head of his company Villepin International (which has an annual turnover of more than 4.5 million euros), tops the list with 197,540 euros in expenses, including 6,287 euros just for gasoline and 191,252 euros allocated to staff. Followed by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, with an amount of 167,467 euros, and Lionel Jospin, to whom the State allocated no less than 162,012 euros. The only notable exceptions are former Prime Ministers currently holding a mandate or a public function, such as Édouard Philippe, mayor of Le Havre, and Laurent Fabius, president of the Constitutional Council, due to the non-cumulation of advantages. As for Jean Castex, now CEO of RATP, he only generated 3,607 euros in costs, well below the expenses of his peers. Elisabeth Borne and Gabriel Attal are absent from the list. And for good reason, the first was still at Matignon in 2023, and the second not yet in office. Next year, Gabriel Attal’s expenses will be deducted in turn, because even if he only remained Prime Minister for seven short months, the length of mandate is not formally taken into account for the allocation of these benefits.
Among the other ex-Prime Ministers also benefiting from public funds, is François Fillon. The State financed its expenses to the tune of 126,000 euros last year. Ironically, he announced on November 12 that he was going to pay nearly 700,000 euros in damages to the National Assembly as he was ordered to do after the judgment of the Court of Cassation which ruled final his guilt in the affair of the fictitious jobs of his wife Pénélope…
Police tensions during an action in Brussels against the arrival of Jordan Bardella
“The expectations of transparency and sobriety of our fellow citizens”
These former government leaders, however, are not completely removed from public affairs. Some continue to represent the country abroad in occasional diplomatic missions, justifying, according to them, the maintenance of these privileges. But in a period where reducing public spending is presented as a priority, the cost of these benefits raises questions. Édouard Philippe had already tried to respond to these criticisms in 2019, at the request of Emmanuel Macron, by limiting privileges to ten years following the end of his mandate – and no longer for life – and by setting an age limit of 67 years. “It is necessary to review these systems so that they are in line with the expectations of transparency and sobriety of our fellow citizens.“, he explained then. However, this reform only concerns Prime Ministers who left office after 2019, leaving a majority of them outside the scope of these new rules. He himself having left Matignon in 2020, he will be impacted by its own reform.
Former heads of state, although less exposed to criticism, are also beneficiaries of substantial lifetime privileges. Even though they left the Elysée twelve and seven years ago, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande each cost more than 500,000 euros in 2023, for offices, equipment, employee salaries, reception and travel expenses, vehicle and drivers. These amounts, although significant, nevertheless decreased by 12% compared to the previous year. Would the French’s famous expectations of sobriety now be seen all the way to the top?
