This time it is the right one. Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, who was already expected to take over the post during the January reshuffle, was appointed Minister of Labour and Employment on Saturday 21 September. A Renaissance MP for Paris since 2022, she has been particularly following these issues in the National Assembly. She succeeds Catherine Vautrin, who becomes Minister of Partnerships with the Territories. But unlike her predecessor, Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet will not be dealing with health and solidarity at the same time.
This is the first experience in government for this close friend of Emmanuel Macron, 57 years old and a graduate of HEC, Sciences Po and Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Boston. A former member of the Socialist Party, she co-founded En marche! in 2016, Emmanuel Macron’s movement, for which she had been an advisor at Bercy in 2014. Her political commitment is due to a long career in the private sector, in particular at Groupama, where she was secretary general from 2011 to 2014.
“The example of Finland”
While long queues await him on the Rue de Grenelle, his posts will be eagerly awaited. Because he is also a voice that has succeeded in creating dissonance within Macron about the direction of policy pursued for several months. First, he will have to take charge of unemployment insurance. Although former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal initiated a reform in the spring, it was suspended between the two rounds of the legislative elections. Extended several times, the current unemployment compensation rules expire on 31 October.
Until then, Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet has several options on the table. She could revive the reform of the previous government, which increased the working time required to qualify for unemployment benefits and reduced the maximum duration of compensation. A project that she clearly opposed when she was an MP. “The issue of work and employment must be seen as a whole. If only one lever is activated, that of unemployment insurance, we will not achieve the objective”He explained to World in April.
He had also questioned the repeated comments of the then Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who considered that the “generosity” The lack of our model prevented France from achieving full employment: around 5% unemployment compared to the current 7.5%. The member of the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly recalled that other European countries pay higher unemployment benefits than France and that less advantageous compensation systems do not prevent tensions in hiring.
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