EDITORIAL. No vacation for François Bayrou

The Prime Minister intends to work on the issues for the upcoming school year, which promises to be a busy one, and has informed his ministers that they should remain contactable.

"It's been a year since I've taken a vacation," sighs a minister. The blame lies with a chaotic political year. Since the dissolution, there was the Barnier government, overthrown in December, then the Bayrou government appointed just before Christmas, which had to rush through a budget, and which has since been working on the 44 billion savings for 2026, all against a backdrop of tensions in the government with Bruno Retailleau criticizing Macronism, wind turbines, etc., and the Macronists fighting back. So the ministers are yearning for a break. "If we could calm things down over the summer, that would be nice," implores one advisor. Another adds: "The vacation will do everyone good."

But the Prime Minister, for his part, is not going to take any time off. François Bayrou has never been into vacations, even before he came to Matignon. He will spend his summer on rue de Varenne to fine-tune his budget. The Prime Minister will also go out into the field at least once a week, meeting with working French people. Hence this official message from Matignon: "If he needs to call his ministers on a subject, he will do so." Ministers are not entitled to disconnect. They must remain reachable and mobilizable. Crises can always occur in the middle of summer, whether climatic, security-related, or otherwise, and the budget may also provide them with holiday homework.

"It won't be easy," Matignon euphemistically asserts. In government, some hope that summer, the beach, the mountains, and barbecues will calm things down on the budget. Nothing is less certain. A call to shut down the country is circulating on social media for September 10th; the unions will decide how to mobilize after the summer. And the opposition, which is turning up the censorship ante, will also recharge its batteries this summer. Hence this diagnosis from a centrist official: "It smells like pâté."

One minister is also pessimistic: "The day will come when the RN and the PS will give up." But there are optimists, like this other minister convinced that "François Bayrou is capable of getting out of inextricable situations." "If he passes his budget, after that it will be a breeze!" dreams a ministerial advisor. In the meantime, on the road to the holidays, ministers will inevitably have the start of the school year in the back of their minds with this question: what is the best route to avoid censure? Censorship that would mean a very long vacation.