French economy minister Emmanuel Macron was a little economic with the truth when he this week presented, at what was described as a “citizen’s rally” in his home town of Amiens, in northern France, the launch of his political movement “En Marche” (on the move).
Macron, 38, insisted that this “new political movement” was “not on the Right, not on the Left”. Journalists were barred from the event in Amiens, and Macron’s presentation was posted in a video on the internet. "I'm in a left-wing government, unashamedly,” he said. “But I also want to work with people from the Right, who commit to the same values."
The former investment banker was appointed economy minister in 2014 after serving for two years as an advisor to President François Hollande. He has since championed largely pro-business reforms, alienating himself for many on the Left of the ruling Socialist Party, while in broad opinion surveys he records a relatively high popularity score, in contrast to Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
"This ambition, it's radical, it's a bit crazy, but there is such an energy in the country," Macron said of his new movement at the gathering in Amiens on Wednesday.
But while stressing that En Marche was a non-aligned project, he omitted to mention that he had received important logistical support from one of the French business world’s most influential ‘think tank’ clubs, the Institut Montaigne, created in 2000 by Axa insurance giant founder Claude Bébéar, a baron of French capitalism.
It is not particularly difficult to establish the links that link Macron and the Institut Montaigne, however much these have been papered over. The clues appeared on the website which the French economy minister has just created to present his movement, available here, and the page which sets out the website’s terms and conditions, available here.
The latter lists (or rather, listed) the publication manager of the movement’s website as Véronique Bolhuis, and details that “this site is edited by En Marche” with the address of the movement given as “33, rue Danton, 94270 Kremlin-Bicêtre”, a suburb of south-east Paris. But both the name of the publication manager (whose title is spelt in French using the masculine directeur rather than the more appropriate directrice), and the address, reveal the hidden background to the creation of Macron’s movement.
Véronique Bolhuis is the partner of Laurent Bigorgne, director of the Institut Montaigne, and the address given on the En Marche website is that of the private home of Véronique Bolhuis and Laurent Bigorgne. Thus, the political movement launched by the socialist minister is domiciled at the home of the director of one of the most influential French business movements. Mediapart contacted the number given on the website for the press service of En Marche, and a spokesperson confirmed the fact.
Shortly after Mediapart published its first report (in French) on Thursday revealing the link, the En Marche website removed both the name of Véronique Bolhuis (replaced by “Association en Marche) and the full address (now given as simply 94270 Kremlin-Bicêtre).
Mediapart had previously made a screen capture, and below are the “before and after” versions of the terms and conditions page:
ABOVE: See the “before” and “after” pages by sliding the red button to the right (for “before”) and to the left.
The Institut Montaigne is one of the business world’s most influential reactionary think tanks, with funding from major French companies and financial institutions. Among its many propositions was its call for a so-called “choc de compétitivité” –shock measures to improve the competitiveness of French industry, essentially by reducing labour costs for employers. The idea was touted by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy before current French president François Hollande, who had attacked the idea during his election campaign, made it a major plank of his economic policy.
In this context it was of little surprise that Pierre Gattaz, the leader of the French business confederation, the Medef, gave the launch of Macron’s movement such a warm welcome in an interview on France Inter radio on Thursday (see above). Gattaz, who claims that the Medef is neither right-wing nor left-wing, twice repeated that the movement was a “refreshing” initiative.
-------------------------
- The French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Graham Tearse