French Presidency of the EU: Clément Beaune, Macron's all-terrain European

Clément Beaune hates being late. So, at 40, the Secretary of State for European Affairs is moving quickly. On Christmas Eve, he runs between the offices of the secretariat of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (PFUE), a few steps from the Quai d’Orsay. Beside him, an assistant counts out aloud every five minutes the time he has left for each meeting.

Always jovial, the forty-something goes on checks fist with the sixty officials, communicators and translators who have been busy for a year preparing for the rotating presidency of the EU. “We wish you a little rest during the holidays, because there is a risk of exploiting you afterwards”, launches the minister, causing some laughter in the assembly. As an aside, a counselor indicates how much the latter hates the word “vacation”, remembering a Christmas 2020 when the entire ministerial team was hanging on the phone with London and Brussels for the final Brexit negotiations.

The many diplomat’s hats

This is good, the Secretary of State will have, whatever happens, few opportunities to ease off in 2022, at least during the first half of the year. For six months, Paris will set the pace in Brussels, leading hundreds of European meetings and a dozen summits. Clément Beaune will be the conductor, with the aim of supporting Emmanuel Macron’s very ambitious European agenda. But Brussels will not be the only concern of this Parisian by birth, who also intends to make his mark on the presidential election.

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At the risk of doing too much? “Beaune must be France’s advocate in Europe, but also Europe’s advocate in France and Macron’s advocate with the French for the campaign,” said Yves Bertoncini, president of the European Movement – France (an association pro European) and professor of the minister when he was on the benches of Sciences Po. It starts to make a lot of hats. ” By rubbing up against Franco-French political contests, the diplomat runs the risk of having his head elsewhere, when the EU presidency will require a presence at all times.

For a long time, Clément Beaune contented himself with the backstage. A graduate of the ENA and the prestigious College of Europe in Bruges, he moved into the ministries as an advisor from 2009, first to the Budget, then to Matignon, before following Emmanuel Macron to the Elysée in 2017. Close to the Head of State, he is several times approached to enter the government, but must wait until July 2020 to be offered European Affairs.

The transformation of the senior official into a political animal

Like his mentor, the Shadow Advisor quickly got used to the light. From his first question-and-answer session in the Assembly, he repelled the National Assembly deputy Sébastien Chenu and his criticisms of the European recovery plan. “At that moment, he surprised everyone, we understood that he was made for that”, remembers a relative. The senior official turns into a political animal, eager for small pikes for his opponents and always available for journalists. “Talking about Europe in the media is a struggle, especially in France, he believes. However, the EU is part of the daily life of the French, interest them in it should be a matter of democratic hygiene.”

In pro-European think tanks, Beaune is unanimous. “Finally, Macron has appointed a Secretary of State to match his European ambitions”, breathes Yves Bertoncini. Everyone praised his mastery of issues and his negotiating skills. “It is the best that we have had in this post for twenty years, abounds Olivier Costa, director of research at the CNRS. Usually, it is attributed to policies which have no interest for Europe, but Clément escapes the classic fault of French diplomats who land with their big clogs at our neighbors. ” Many think tanks call the minister by his first name and talk to him in public..

It must be said that Beaune knows how to cultivate friendships. Abroad, where he has woven Emmanuel Macron’s European network, but also in the corridors of power in France. He is preparing this PFUE in tandem with Alexandre Adam, European advisor to the president and a friend of nearly twenty years. The two men met at the College of Europe during a Eurovision evening, a musical competition of which the minister calls himself a “fan”.

Six months to move Europe forward

To make the PFUE a success, the Secretary of State embarked on a tour of the 26 European capitals, which he completed at the end of December in Belgrade. It also formed a committee of independent experts and gathered the proposals of 1000 French people, drawn by lot, on the future of Europe. “A presidency is being prepared very early,” says Clément Beaune. For four years, we have been fighting to advance most of the subjects that we are putting on the table today, from the European minimum wage to the regulation of large digital platforms. The PFUE “will be an accelerator for some of these cases, an outcome for others”, he wants to believe.

In parallel with this heavy European program, the young minister should be a pillar of the majority for the presidential election. Considered for a time as campaign manager, he will be content with a support role, positioned on the left wing of LREM. “The coincidence of the PFUE and the presidential election will place Europe at the heart of the race for the Elysee Palace, believes Thierry Chopin, special advisor to the Jacques Delors Institute. The European question is found in the political DNA of macronism. and Clément Beaune will embody this dimension in the campaign. ”

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Never elected, the Secretary of State should face a first ballot in the legislative elections in June. What feed his ministerial ambitions for the future, and occupy even more his year 2022.