The Editorial

The appointment of Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister and the announcement of the restricted composition of his government, even if we’ll have to wait for the next appointments to judge, has excited the Parisian media-political world, but what can we really learn from it?
For those interested in our country’s economy, sovereignty is not a dirty word, and above all it’s not, as the proponents of globalist ideology would have us believe, an inward-looking attitude.

Sovereignty means, for example, wanting to control our agricultural sector, which 20 or 30 years ago enabled us to meet our food needs under controlled hygienic conditions (e.g.: end of hormone-treated veal, etc.). It also means maintaining industrial production on our territory, and thus jobs, added value and tax revenues, while rebalancing our trade balance with exports.
This sovereignty also extends to the digital arena. It is just as crucial, even if most French people are not necessarily aware of its importance. Digital technology now permeates every aspect of our country’s economic and administrative activity, as well as our personal lives.

If we don’t master digital technologies, our entire economy will be at the mercy of the Americans, who for many years have been waging a merciless economic war, thanks in particular to digital technology and their extra-territorial laws. It means putting our data at the service of their economy and wealth creation (e.g. Microsoft’s Health Data Hub). To use only (or almost only) their digital platforms is to have a single cultural and social model imposed on us, one that does not correspond to our past and our culture. In fact, it means turning towards consumerism and the commodification of the human being, as Michel Onfray so aptly denounces in his book “Le fétiche et la marchandise” (published by Bouquins).

Can we therefore consider that there will be a real change in policy, which will put France’s interests back at the heart of the action?
Given the continuity of the appearance of change, there is room for doubt. With the Ministry of the Economy, Industrial Sovereignty and Digital Affairs still under Bruno Le Maire’s leadership, can we really expect a change? For digital issues, I’m even more pessimistic; after a pro-US tech giant Secretary of State, Cédric O, whose latest exploits made the headlines (Capital 13 dec 23), followed by a Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, who was a former “Young Leader” of the Franco-American Foundation and who didn’t have the opportunity to demonstrate any real combativeness on digital sovereignty. All we need now is for the next Minister Delegate or Secretary of State to be a McKinsey alumnus, and that’s the end of it!

Taken together, these factors do not give me a real sense of optimism about possible changes in economic and industrial policy. We see no vision of a return to true sovereignty for our country. My only hope is that future events will prove me wrong.