New twist at Matignon. On June 6, 2023, Le Monde announced that Elisabeth Borne’s right-hand man should leave 57 rue de Varenne on July 1. Indeed, Aurélien Rousseau, director of the Prime Minister’s cabinet, has been considering leaving his post for some time. But who is really the one who leads the team of the head of government?
Aurélien Rousseau, aged 46, is a former student of the ENA who has become a Master of Requests at the Council of State and a municipal councillor. He was previously Director General of the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS) and Chairman and CEO of Monnaie de Paris. But it was on May 17, 2022 that he became chief of staff to the Prime Minister on the proposal of Emmanuel Macron. After a year, rumors begin to circulate about his possible departure. What are the reasons for this upcoming resignation?
Having previously worked with the opposition, Aurélien Rousseau is considered the “left arm” of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Indeed, after having been in the cabinet of the former mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, he joined Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve to advise them. But after all his positions of high responsibility, the director of the cabinet of Matignon seems exhausted.
According to a deputy interviewed on Tuesday, “the counterpart of Alexis Kohler”, secretary general of the Elysée, would occupy a position “decisive on the way in which you organize the debates and the arbitrations”. Nevertheless, the latter claims that it is an “exhausting[e] function, it is a permanent steamroller”. Even more, the “climate of tension […] plays on the ability to hold out over time”, she concludes then.
Could this hasty departure be due to the exhaustion of Aurélien Rousseau? However, as early as March 2023, rumors about his next resignation were already circulating.
On March 17, 2023, Le Point revealed the possible departure of Aurélien Rousseau. The day before, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, used article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass the pension reform in the National Assembly. However, according to information collected by the weekly, his departure was motivated by “personal reasons, in no way related to the current political situation”, the government was told.
Nonetheless, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff claimed that was “absolutely untrue”. But again, in June 2023, his forthcoming resignation is announced. Would it always be for personal reasons or a possible disagreement with Elisabeth Borne?
According to Le Monde, Aurélien Rousseau will leave his post on July 1, 2023. The Prime Minister’s entourage remains unclear on the date on which the latter should leave. Nevertheless, “it is not abnormal that the question can arise after a very intense year at Matignon during which many texts were voted on in Parliament and the pension reform carried out”, indicated Tuesday June 6 a close friend of Elisabeth Terminal at AFP, comments reported by 20Minutes.
But Aurélien Rousseau would already think about the sequel. Indeed, the latter is approached for the post of deputy general manager of the Caisse des dépôts. This change also coincides with the differences of opinion between Elisabeth Borne and Emmanuel Macron, reviving the rumors of an upcoming reshuffle.