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French President Emmanuel Macron’s next option – forming an “Italian-style” technocratic government – may be elusive as no single party was able to secure a majority in the National Assembly after Sunday’s vote, making it difficult to form a coalition.
French voters will have to wait another year to vote again if a majority is not reached after the final round of legislative elections on Sunday (July 7). Article 12 constitution.
Meanwhile, if France proves ungovernable, unable to form a coalition or pass legislation, Macron might try to draw inspiration from Italy, which has had four governments led by technocrats since the early 1990s, the last of which was appointed by former Council of Ministers President Mario Draghi in 2021.
In France, “it will be very difficult (to form a technocratic government). It’s not impossible, but very, very difficult,” Christophe Bouillaud, a professor at Sciences Po Grenoble and an expert on Italian politics, told Euractiv.
As in Italy, the tasks of this technocratic government include managing day-to-day affairs, managing public accounts, enforcing EU rules and representing the country at the international level.
Jean-Pierre Darnis, professor at Nice Côte d’Azur University and an expert on Franco-Italian relations, praised technical training, especially in times of crisis.
“This formula was adopted to avoid any financial problems so that Italy would not be politically hindered and could continue to participate in international organizations,” he said.
While Italy’s technocratic ministers have no qualms about pushing through unpopular legislation, such as the pension and labor law reforms passed under Monti’s presidency, Danis said they tend to be “characters of great professional competence and ethics.”
An unlikely scenario
Besides the fact that the parties are currently very divided on the issues and that coalition-style decision-making is not in France’s DNA (only two such governments have led the country, during World War I and the Liberation), Buyot sees three reasons why this scenario is unlikely to happen in France.
First, the political role of the French president is more far-reaching than in Italy, where the job is to appoint a consensus government and whose first priority is to ensure the proper functioning of the government and the country.
Second, Italy’s technocratic government was formed under “very strong external pressure.” Employers, unions, university professors and the European Union, concerned about the country’s economic health, succeeded in ousting Silvio Berlusconi. Mario Monti took his place and began to implement harsh austerity policies.
However, Bouillard said this “debt fear” is not so important in France.
Finally, another problem that makes technocratic governments difficult to form is the reluctance of experts such as economists and academics to commit to being part of the government.
“I don’t see university professors in France holding ministerial positions,” Buyot explained.
“Deeply anti-technocratic” sentiment among the population and general unpopularity among senior officials could also be stumbling blocks.
Risks increase in France
“The Italian example shows that a technocratic government will certainly pursue austerity policies, causing the parties that support them to lose support,” Buyo added.
In fact, after Draghi’s “national unity” government was formed in 2021, the only party that did not want to participate, Giorgia Meloni’s “Fratelli d’Italia”, won the October 2022 elections.
For Brussels, forming a technical government would allow the EU bloc to continue its legislative work and guarantee Paris’ pro-European stance.
However, there are many signs that Marine Le Pen’s National Rally will refuse to support such a government, which Buyout said could be seen as “pressure from Brussels.”
(Editing by Daniel Eck/Rajnish Singh)
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