From Bercy to Matignon. A few days before the very likely fall of François Bayrou, the Minister of the Economy is on the list of possible successors of the Head of Government. It is certainly not the only one, his name is remarkably conceded between Gérald Darmanin, Catherine Vautrin and Olivier Faure. But Éric Lombard has to be appreciated by the left and compatible with Macronie.
“It is a bit of a 5-legged sheep. It is pro-negocio, it has the number of all socialists and, in addition, it is humanly very friendly,” he summarizes with BFMTV one of his former colleagues in the circle of economists, this thought appreciated by Emmanuel Macron.
The rare personality of the left has become a minister in recent years, with the exception of a Valls manual and a Didier Migaud, both out of the bank with the left for years, Éric Lombard has for him to be “a friend” by Olivier Faure as explained by the first secretary of PS and François Hollande.
“I am not telling you that it would make it possible to solve everything in the assembly, but it still has the merit of putting oil in the gears,” observes a socialist deputy.
On the left, seduces and skeptics
Perhaps, but for the moment, Éric Lombard has not done a miracle. Certainly, it was he who was in the controllers of the agreement between François Bayrou and the socialists last January to achieve the non -screw of the 2025 budget in exchange for the organization of a conclave on pensions.
But that did not prevent PS deputies from finally having the impression of being deceived by the centrist before deciding not to trust him on September 8. Eric Lombard also did not reopen a line of dialogue between the prime minister and the socialists throughout the summer. Which perhaps decreases the interest of the elected PS officials for him.
“He did what he could, but he can’t call only Emmanuel Macron’s economic policy. The president never wanted to return to retirement at age 64, Éric Lombard or not,” said a senator of the Rose Party.
“He has friends, but not all are completely behind him. I, a former banker of the prime minister, I do not buy. We have already seen that he found Emmanuel Macron,” on his side, an elected official of the left wing of the movement.
In this profile, the PS is divided into two. Some who would be ready to support him. Others would prefer to distance themselves from “man with 44 billion” in savings. Meanwhile, it is Olivier Faure’s track in Matignon what elected socialist officials defend.
The nuances argument
Suffice it to say that in order to succeed to face the socialists, the environmentalists and the communists, the rebels had already closed the door to this hypothesis, Éric Lombard should previously make sure that the head of state leaves their hands free and loose of the ballast in certain files.
Is the president ready there? Perhaps, after the failure of Michel Barnier and François Bayrou, who barely had an economic room for the maneuver. During a lunch around Gabriel Attal, Édouard Philippe, Bruno Retailleau and François Bayrou, the head of state asked them to “work” with the PS.
A sign that nothing is earned: the minister recently assured that a declaration of the solidarity tax on fortune, claimed by the left, was “completely discarded” as a very high assets on heritage.
Perhaps also his best asset in the eyes of Emmanuel Macron: his very good knowledge of the economy, banks and its operation. Éric Lombard worked significantly for almost two decades for BNP Paribas, particularly tripling the size of the subsidiary by group insurance.
“It is not a guy who thinks that all rich and large companies want to harm France,” translates a ministerial advisor who appreciates it.
“The language of the language”
If the French debt note was degraded in the coming weeks by the qualification agencies, as could be the case on September 12 with the Fitch agency, Éric Lombard can even have the heavy burden of having to reassure them to avoid removing debt rates.
What to awaken a certain adhesion of the right breath and guarantee the maintenance of the common base that would unite their forces to the deputies of PS in a kind of great coalition?
“He speaks very well the language of the markets. It never hurts in the context that is ours,” says a deputy of LR who does not see “a rejection in his profile.”
“A boy like him, we do not enter his government, but we don’t immediately try to make his skin,” he shares one of his colleagues in the Senate.
The episode that could bother Emmanuel Macron
Éric Lombard has not played alone in Velvet in recent days. Following the announcement of François Bayrou of a vote of trust, the Minister of the Economy left the risk of an intervention of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in case of a fall in the government.
The tenant of Bercy also prophesies the explosion of the interest rates of the French debt, worrying about being closer to those practiced for Italy “a bad EU student.”
These words were aimed at dramatizing the challenges of the vote of the deputies in the hope of overthrowing steamed and convincing the deputies to support François Bayrou or at least refrain.
But his comments were welcome with Febrile by the Stock Exchange of Paris, which closes the same night as Eric Lombard’s statements. Enough to push the minister to return in the following hours.
“We are not, today, under the threat of any intervention, neither the IMF, nor of the ECB, nor any international organization,” he finally tries to reassure him. In short, the sequence has a very bad effect.
“I am not sure that the president appreciates this episode too much,” said a relative of Emmanuel Macron.
Replace François Bayrou with … the craftsman of his budget?
The minister also has the failures of his qualities: he is certainly a very good connoisseur of economic problems. But is it possible to drop François Bayrou judging that his budget copy is bad and then supported the one who built it?
“It would still be very special. There would be a small side ‘I feel in the vote of the Assembly,” he judges a deputy of the left wing. “But with Emmanuel Macron, we can always have surprises.”
At the moment, the Minister of the Economy refuses to comment on a possible arrival in Matignon. “I do not do in case of a failure on Monday, because when we are in the battle you must concentrate on the goal,” he contacted this Wednesday during a trip to the Yvelines.
He comments from the Macronist deputy Ludovic Mendes: “We are talking too much about Eric Lombard so that he is really named in the end.” However, the name of François Bayrou was one of the most serious clues last December before being officially named.
Source: BFM TV
