PARIS — It’s been more than 15 years since either Dominique de Villepin, Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Lionel Jospin held the office of prime minister in France, but taxpayers are still spending more than €150,000 per former PM to keep them equipped with cars, chauffeurs and secretaries.
France last year spent €1.23 million on these types of benefits for 11 of its former prime ministers, a 27 percent increase from 2022, according to documents obtained by a right-wing lawmaker Marie-Christine Dalloz and shared with POLITICO. The documents showed that de Villepin, Raffarin and Jospin were among the most expensive former prime ministers.
These figures to not include pension benefits and security costs, which are paid for by the Ministry of the Interior.
The former premiers are benefiting from a decree passed in 2019 by then-Prime Minister Édouard Philippe granting former prime ministers such fringe benefits for a period of 10 years after leaving the post. The benefits do not apply to former premiers if they hold other government office and do not extend beyond their 67th birthdays. The age limit does not apply to PMs who held office before 2019, when an earlier decree granted them the benefits for life.
While Dalloz noted the expenses were not extravagant, she urged France’s former heads of government to be more spendthrift in the coming years due to France’s deteriorating financial situation. Lawmakers are currently debating a budget for 2025 that aims to cut spending by an eye-watering €40 billion and bring in another €20 billion through taxes.
“One or two [are] particularly concerning, all the more so as they are often going to make comments on television shows,” Dalloz said on Wednesday as she unveiled her work to the parliament’s finance committee.
While Dalloz did not name names, it was clear that she was referring to de Villepin, the French politician who gained worldwide recognition for his impassioned speech against the war in Iraq at the United Nations in 2003 and later served as prime minister under Jacques Chirac from 2005 to 2007. De Villepin is a regular commentator on domestic and foreign affairs on French radio and television. He now runs Villepin International, a consulting firm that advises world leaders.
France spent €6,287 on car expenses and €191,252 on personnel costs, for a total of €197,540 for de Villepin in 2023 — more than any other former prime minister. Raffarin, whose business prospers notably in China, cost €167,467 euros, just ahead of Lionel Jospin at €162,012.
Several others cost the state more than €100,000, including Manuel Valls, François Fillon, Bernard Cazeneuve and Edouard Balladur.
Taxpayers spent much less on Alain Juppé, Jean-Marc Ayrault and Edith Cresson.
Jean Castex, who now heads the French region public transportation network RATP, was the least expensive. He had no personnel expenses and his automobile expenses were just €3,607 euros.
Former Prime Ministers Gabriel Attal, Élisabeth Borne, Laurent Fabius and Philippe — who plans to run for president in the next election — were not on the list. Borne was still prime minister in 2023 and Attal wasn’t nominated until 2024, while Fabius and Philippe held other public offices, which for the time being prevents them from enjoying benefits.
The money spent on former prime ministers slightly exceeded the money spent on perks for France’s two living former presidents, François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. France spent €1.08 million on staff, offices, computer equipment, logistics, travel and entertainment for the duo last year, a 12 percent decrease from 2022. This article was first published by POLITICO in French and was edited in English by Joshua Berlinger.
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