Freshly appointed French Prime Minister Monday, Edouard Philippe may be low-profile for the general public as the mainstream media has portrayed him — but he's not totally unknown to amateurs of erotic thrillers, to France's transparency watchdog and to environment organizations. Here are four things to know about the new French leader.
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1. Was a former lobbyist involved in the postcolonial looting of Niger's mineral resources
In October 2007, when Philippe worked as a lobbyist for French state nuclear group Areva, he participated in the looting of Niger's natural resources, revealed France's Nuclear Observatory. The agreement signed between Areva and Niger's government in January 2008, a few months after Philippe was named Areva's communication director, was strongly contested by the Movement of Nigeriens for Justice, a Tuareg movement rebelling against the government. Philippe downplayed the fact that uranium was the product of killings of Tuareg opponents by Niger's government to French lawmakers in charge of relations with Niger.
The exploitation of uranium has practically not benefited local populations, denounced the Observatory, as Areva has underpaid uranium for decades, although the mines are located in their territories. The Observatory concluded that Philippe's involvement makes him somewhat responsible for the violence that followed the agreement in Sahel, and for the fact that "pushed by extreme poverty, Tuareg groups ended up allying with jihadists."
Unsurprisingly, the former lawmaker also voted against a bill regulating the transition from nuclear to more sustainable energies, and a bill meant to preserve biodiversity.
2. Is one more white man among President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet
On International Women's Day, Macron tried to appeal to the feminist vote, saying he "wished to appoint a woman as Prime Minister, depending on the context." But the right context never presented itself.
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France's new prime minister is the co-author of a crime thriller “Dans l'Ombre,” or “In the Shadow,” in English, in which the main character is a misogynistic man who describes a “dry” woman as a woman who will never have children, while another woman is objectified as a “potential trophy” for men in another paragraph. Yet the protagonist insists that he's not a fan of her "small" breast: “a real breast is round, is comfortable, is welcoming, and should be shaped in a way that you can put your nose in the middle with exultation.” When the same woman ditches him after spending the night with him, he cannot believe that she could act “like a man: Women cannot just want to use (men) for one night. If they do like us, then we'll never sort it out.”
Feminist organizations like Osez le Feminisme also recalled that as a lawmaker, Philippe abstained from voting on the same-sex marriage bill pushed by socialist President Francois Hollande, justifying his choice by saying that although he approved of the idea of same-sex marriage, he believed the bill would pave the way for medically assisted procreation and gestational surrogacy which he opposed — but that Macron promised to implement in his campaign.
3. Is a longtime leader of France's traditional conservative party
Macron, who won the presidential election on May 7, came to power promising to renew French politics and bring in fresh faces, claiming he transcended the left and right traditional spectrum. Yet he was quick to appoint a veteran of France's right-wing conservative party, who has worked his way up the Republicans party, being first elected to parliament in 2012 as a Republicans MP for his Seine-Maritime area. Philippe is also a longtime ally of former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, the veteran conservative centrist whom he backed as a candidate for the Republicans' nomination for this year's election.
4. Is far from being a model of transparency
France's watchdog for transparency in public affairs scolded Philippe with a warning about his 2014 Assets Declaration after he refused to share information required by law, revealed investigative journal Mediapart. The watchdog did not find it necessary to open an investigation at that time. As a lawmaker, Philippe also opposed a bill designed to improve transparency of state officials.