French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced that he would not stay in his post after the formation of the new government, according to Euractiv.
Instead, he plans to return to teaching. A three-time minister and three-term member of the French parliament, he will assume the position of professor of economic policy and geopolitics at the University of Lausanne.
Love you and leave you.
Le Maire is not only a longstanding political figure in France, but has also established himself as a key European leader, having participated in more than 90 Council of Economic Ministers (ECOFIN).
In just the past three years, he took on the fight for a stability and growth pact to reduce the deficit; led EU-wide negotiations on the joint debt behind the COVID-19 pandemic; and secured the recognition of nuclear power as a technology worthy of European investment.
On Thursday, he said he “100% shared” the Draghi Report’s findings and recommendations on competitiveness, calling to “move hard and fast” so that the EU “does not fall behind” China and other major players.
However, he was rather quiet on the state of public finances, as the deficit level was forecast to fall to 6 per cent of GDP by the end of the year, with the country entering the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) in the summer.
France must not reverse course on restoring public finances. It must continue to set itself the target of reducing its public deficit to below 3% by 2027.
He remains in office until a new coalition government is announced next week.
