Little known but highly esteemed by his colleagues. MP Charles de Courson has caused a sensation in recent days by announcing the launch of a cross-party motion of no confidence in the hope of unseating Élisabeth Borne on pension reform.
Nicknamed the “public finance monk” by several of his colleagues, he was first elected to the National Assembly 3 decades ago. A rarity in a chamber that has been heavily revised in recent years, his career ticks all the boxes for the cursus honorum.
“Taste of Others”
Coming from a family of parliamentarians for more than 2 centuries -his father was resistant and his grandfather was one of the 80 deputies who refused to grant full powers to Marshal Pétain”, before dying in a concentration camp-, the centrist from 70 years he has dedicated his life to fiscal orthodoxy.
Surpassed by Essec and Ena, this senior position, who began his career at the Court of Accounts in 1983, never doubted his destiny.
“I’ve always had a taste for others, which explains my early career as a civil servant, before finally branching out into politics,” he explained to us during François Hollande’s five-year tenure.
Before adding: “life is just a conjunction of pleasure and opportunity.”
Elected in 1993 “without any merit”
His was decided in 1986, when he joined the cabinet of Alain Madelin, then Minister of Industry. One of his colleagues from the Court of Audit had noticed the young man, then mayor of a small town on the Marne, and a great admirer of Raymond Barre.
Among his feats, that of having reduced the budget of the Ministry of Defense by 15%, much to the annoyance of the officials of the time. Charles de Courson came to the Assembly in 1993 in the midst of a wave of the right under the banner of the UDF (the predecessor of Modernity), after having failed for the first time in 1988.
“I had no merit, even a donkey with the correct logo on the poster would have been chosen at that time,” he confided in the magazine’s columns. Charles in 2016.
Motion of no confidence against de Villepin
He will never leave the chamber again, in which he claims to work more than 100 hours a week and very quickly imposes his obsession: the good management of public funds. It was in 1996 that she stood out with an amendment to remove the tax benefit for single people. This is just the first in a long line that has made him Bercy’s tax beast for years.
Highly respected on all benches in the Chamber, his star faded in 2006 after he voted the left-wing motion of no confidence against Dominique de Villepin.
“I received congratulations from Nicolas Sarkozy at that time,” he confided a few years later.
Annoyed Nicolas Sarkozy
A few months later, the centrist wrote François Bayrou’s campaign program, before asking for the white vote in the second round and moving away from Bérnais. Without making any gifts to the new president a few months later: he clashed for a long time with the government of François Fillon over the terms of the tax shield that the new Élysée tenant had made the alpha and omega of his politics.
In 2013, Charles de Courson overcame the media sound barrier by becoming president of the investigation commission for the Cahuzac case and accused François Hollande of having knowledge of his former minister’s fiscal situation. Before becoming in 2016 one of the few on the right of the chamber to oppose the loss of nationality after the attacks in Paris.
Although sometimes its own usefulness is doubted.
“When we look at the time we spend working on the invoices and what is ultimately retained in the text, we sometimes tell ourselves that a lot of effort is needed for a minor result,” he explained to us in 2017.
“Below minimum hourly wage”
In the midst of the Macronist wave, he is one of the few centrists who saves his skin, without hesitating a few weeks before to throw a stone into the pond by demanding an increase in the parliamentary allocation from 5,600 net euros to 9,000 net euros.
“At a dinner with my ESSEC colleagues, they asked me how much I earned. When I explained the amount of my parliamentary allowance, all the guests burst out laughing. Since I still have my payroll file, I show it to them. They were stunned. If I calculate what that I earn per hour worked, I am
below minimum hourly wage.
In an Assembly profoundly revamped over the last two terms, Charles de Courson now looks like a UFO with his outdated style and ascetic way of life focused solely on politics. “I don’t know any hobbies for him,” one of his collaborators told us in 2018.
“We need strong people”
Which does not prevent him from dreaming a little. Last summer, during the election for the chairman of the finance committee, Charles de Courson would have seen himself as number 1, before finally retiring, to avoid being chosen by the votes of the RN. Finally it is Éric Coquerel, the LFI candidate, who wins. Which pushed Jean-Luc Mélenchon to take his phone and thank him.
A little more discreet in recent years, the centrist has recovered color in the media during the debates on pensions by demanding the end of the presidential pension plan, which grants a monthly allowance of 6,000 euros to former heads of state.
He has led the coup in recent days by announcing the presentation of an inter-party motion of no confidence against Élisabeth Borne after having raised 49.3 on the pension reform.
Last Stand
Charles de Courson is not, however, a follower of the blows of brilliance and the strategy of tension in the National Assembly of the insubordinates.
“You need tough people who say, ‘Stop, shut up!’ There is no democracy without order “, he judged in the columns of the Parisian last summer.
But in the end, Elisabeth Borne and her 49.3 this Thursday afternoon overcame her reluctance to tip the table. “This is a sign of the failure of this government and a deep denial of democracy,” the centrist said on BFMTV on Friday morning. One last feat of arms? May be fine. “I believe that one should no longer be able to be a candidate for deputy or deputy or senator after 70 years,” the centrist explained to us in 2018.
Source: BFM TV
