The simplest promises are sometimes the hardest to keep. In 2017, the newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron, forced his government to limit the size of ministerial cabinets. No more waste: the decree, dated May 18, 2017, imposes a drastic reduction in the number of advisors. The cabinets of ministers should therefore have no more than ten members, those of delegated ministers, eight members, and those of secretaries of state, five members.
Six years and one term later, what is the situation? The rules initially established by the Head of State have evolved considerably, according to current events. The “yellow vests”, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, led the executive to let go. In July 2020, a decree increased the maximum size of cabinets, respectively to fifteen members for a minister, thirteen for a delegate minister and eight for a secretary of state. Unsurprisingly, these changes can be seen in the numbers. Published every autumn, a “budgetary yellow” – a document attached to the budget for the coming year – reviews the composition of ministerial cabinets. The latest copy, unveiled last week, allows us to draw up a contrasting assessment of this initial wish of the President of the Republic.
As of August 1, 2023, the Borne government had 488 cabinet members. If this figure is higher than the first years of Macron’s five-year term – 300 members, as of August 1, 2017, and 354 in 2020 -, it remains lower than the results of the Jean Castex years. Under the former mayor of Prades, the cabinets had been considerably strengthened, thus passing above the 500 member mark in 2021 and 2022. This drop is explained in particular by a decline in the number of personnel assigned by the ministry, past from 98 to 88, as well as the number of staff on contract, increased from 263 to 248. At the time of the count, certain ministers, such as those of Health, Justice or Energy Transition had cabinets slightly smaller than this. that the decree allows. Olivier Dussopt’s cabinet had sixteen members at the time of the count. A situation which may raise questions given the regulatory limit but which is simply explained by the temporary replacement of an employee who has gone on maternity leave. “Interim” recruitment, as the Ministry of Labor specifies, which has therefore artificially swelled the ranks of the cabinet.
Also read Why it is so difficult to limit the size of ministerial cabinets
However, this decline of around 5% must be put into perspective. First, last August, the cabinets were not complete, following the partial reshuffle of July 20, 2023, underlines the “yellow”. Then, if the number of members of the firms itself has decreased, the number of staff categorized in support functions has, for their part, increased significantly. If the number of cabinet directors and advisors has fallen, there were, on August 1, more staff responsible for the protection of ministers, building security, assistants delegated to mail or administration, and stewards, in the kitchen and in the hotel industry. The “yellow” counts 2,238 personnel responsible for these support functions, an increase of 5.8% compared to a year earlier. The overall balance sheet is therefore on the rise: there were, in total, 2,726 personnel assigned to ministerial offices, up 3.7% over twelve months, and 16.5% compared to August 2017.
Financially, here again, the results are mixed. “For 2023, the allocations of the 41 firms […] amount to 25.71 million euros for a full year”, figures the executive in the “yellow”. A lower bill than in 2022 and 2021, but more than the 23.8 million euros in 2020, and the 21.1 million euros in 2017. Contacted to comment on these various data, Matignon is not yet returned to us. The decline in the number of advisors does not, however, prevent some from sharply criticizing the cost of government, described as “the most expensive in the history of the Fifth Republic” by Jean-Pierre Jouyet, former secretary general of the Elysée, in his latest book.
