FOCUS- Le Figaro details the terms of compensation for members of the government and their teams.
Ministers, deputy ministers, secretaries of state, chiefs of staff, ministerial advisers… The government machine obeys a very strict hierarchy, to which are associated different powers for each. But what about the remuneration received by the teams surrounding Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister? Paradoxically, these do not always coincide with the grade fixed for each person by the Republican order of protocol. Overview of allowances received for each government function.
● 10,135 euros for ministers
Like that of the President of the Republic and that of the Prime Minister, the salary of ministers was reduced by nearly 30% in 2012. Formerly set at 14,200 euros gross per month, it is now 10,135 euros gross monthly, against 15,204 euros for the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister according to the Observatory of Public Ethics chaired by the former deputy René Dosière, specialist in the lifestyle of the State.
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This amount is identical for the delegate ministers. Like those of deputies and local elected officials, these salaries are based on the civil service index point. This index point has remained unchanged since 2017, but should increase before the summer and thus slightly improve the salaries of ministers.
To this salary are added certain material advantages: a minister has a company car with driver, free access to the SNCF network, a quota of air travel or automatic reimbursement of his telephone bills. He can also benefit from company accommodation, provided that he does not already have accommodation in Paris or in the inner suburbs. Support is limited to an area of 80m², plus 20m² per child: beyond that, the minister will have to pay out of pocket.
● 9629 euros for Secretaries of State
The distinction between ministers and secretaries of state is not only a matter of power, it also affects their remuneration. With a salary of 9629 euros gross per month, “state secretaries are paid slightly less than their minister counterparts“, explains René Dosière to Figaro. On the other hand, they have the same material advantages.
● In cabinet, advisers sometimes better paid than ministers
As surprising as it may seem, there is no official salary scale for ministerial collaborators. As a direct consequence of this legal vacuum, strong disparities are noted from one ministry to another. According to the figures communicated by René Dosière, the average remuneration of ministerial collaborators amounted to 8825 euros gross monthly in 2021.
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“The minister does what he wants. Some collaborators even earn more than their minister“, observes René Dosière who recalls that, after having increased under Édouard Philippe, the emoluments of the ministerial councils have “slightly decreased“When Jean Castex was prime minister. Such a situation would not have been possible at the Élysée or at Matignon where the rule is that no collaborator earns more than the president or the prime minister.
● And for former ministers?
The former ministers are far from having the same privileges as the former tenants of the Élysée. No question of benefiting from housing or a company car, even less from a life allowance. On the other hand, they can receive a termination indemnity for three months. According to the ordinance of November 17, 1958, amended in 2013, the payment of this remuneration is made under conditions. The former member of the government will not receive it if he finds an activity in the three months following his departure from the ministry, nor if he has failed to declare to the High Authority for the transparency of public life (HATVP) his or her assets or interests.
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