Civil servants’ unions regretted the disappearance of the full-fledged Ministry of Civil Service in the new government of Gabriel Attal, via messages published Thursday and Friday on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “No more Ministry of the Civil Service,” noted the co-secretary general of the UFSE-CGT Céline Verzeletti, reproaching the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron for his “little interest (…) in the civil service and its prerogatives “.
Stanislas Guerini not reappointed
Former Minister of the Civil Service Stanislas Guerini was not reappointed on Thursday by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, even if he can still be appointed Secretary of State or Minister Delegate. But unlike full-time ministers, state secretaries do not systematically attend the Councils of Ministers and have less autonomy since they are most often placed under the authority of another minister.
However, Stanislas Guerini had announced a major civil service reform law for the month of February. “Only a minister can lead major projects for the 5.6 million civil servants and contract workers with unions,” judges the public services federation CFE-CGC.
Absence of full ministry
Without a full-time minister, “what about the problems of attractiveness of a sector which represents nearly 20% of the country’s active population?”, worries the general secretary of the CFDT public functions Mylène Jacquot. For her, “the only acceptable solution” would be to attach the civil service to Matignon, under the authority of the Prime Minister.
For Solidaires public service, Gaëlle Martinez describes the absence of a full ministry as “inadmissible” and a “gesture of contempt”. “Making the ministry disappear will not make emergencies disappear,” such as the question of salaries or working conditions, she asserts. Finally, at the Unsa civil service, Luc Farré wonders: “Wouldn’t public services and public agents be a priority for this new government?”
Since the election of Emmanuel Macron, the civil service was first supervised by a Secretary of State (Olivier Dussopt, 2017-2020), then by full-time ministers like Amélie de Montchalin (2020-2022) and Stanislas Guerini (2022-2024).