‘Italy-style’ technocratic government in France likely to face challenges – experts

2 months ago 29

With no French party likely to secure a majority in the National Assembly after Sunday’s votes, making coalition-building difficult, French President Emmanuel Macron’s next option – forming an ‘Italy-style’ technocrat-led government – may be too difficult to achieve.

Following Sunday’s final round of legislative elections (7 July), if no majority is reached, French voters will need to wait another year before they can vote again, as per Article 12 of the constitution.

In the meantime, if France proves ungovernable, being unable to form a coalition or pass legislation, Macron may be tempted to take inspiration from Italy, which has had four technocrat-led governments since the early 1990s – the last of which was appointed by Mario Draghi, the former President of the Council of Ministers in 2021.

In France, “it will be very difficult [to set up a technical government]. It’s not impossible but it’s very, very difficult,” Christophe Bouillaud, a professor at Sciences Po Grenoble and a specialist in Italian politics, told Euractiv.

Like in Italy, the tasks of such technocratic governments include managing day-to-day affairs, keeping public accounts, transposing EU rules, and representing the country on the international level.

Jean-Pierre Darnis, professor at the Université Côte d’Azur in Nice and specialist in Franco-Italian relations, praises the technical formation, especially in times of crisis.

“This formula was favoured to avoid any financial problems so that Italy would not be blocked politically and that its participation in international organisations could continue,” he said.

While the technocratic ministers in Italy did not hesitate to push through unpopular legislation, such as the pension and labour law reforms passed under the Monti presidency, Darnis said they were often “personalities of remarkable professional competence and ethics.”

An Unlikely scenario

Besides the fact that parties are currently very divided on issues, and that France does not have coalition-style decision-making in its DNA, with only two such governments having led the country during the First World War and the Liberation. Bouillaud believes there are three reasons why such a scenario is very unlikely to see the light of day in France.

First of all, compared to Italy, France has a president with a more far-reaching political role. The job of the Italian president is to appoint a consensus government, with the primary aim of enabling the administration and the country to function.

Secondly, Italy’s technical governments were set up in response to “very strong external pressure.” Concerned about the country’s economic health, employers, trade unions, university professors, and the European Union succeeded in pushing Silvio Berlusconi out of office. He was replaced by Mario Monti, who set about implementing a drastic austerity policy.

However, according to Bouillaud, this “fear of debt” is less important in France.

Finally, another issue that would make the formation of a technocratic government difficult is the reluctance of experts, such as economists and academics, to committing themselves being part of a government.

“I don’t see university professors in France taking up ministerial posts,” explains Bouillaud.

The “very anti-technocrat” sentiment among the population along with the general unpopularity of high-level officials in the country are also likely to be a stumbling block.

An increased risk for France

“The Italian example shows that a technical government would certainly pursue a policy of austerity and would thus lead to a loss of popularity for the parties that would support it”, adds Bouillaud.

Indeed, after Draghi’s “national unity” government was formed in 2021, the only party that did not want to take part, Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, won the elections in October 2022.

For Brussels, the formation of a technical government could, on the contrary, allow the EU bloc to continue its legislative work and guarantee Paris’s pro-European positions.

However, there are many indications that Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National will refuse to support such a government, which Bouillaud says could be seen as “pressure from Brussels.”

[Edited by Daniel Eck/Rajnish Singh]