Ministre d'État (France)
Ministre d'État is an honorary title for a minister in France in the Fifth Republic . The title was also used in the Ancien Régime , both empires, during the Restoration and in the third and fourth republic.
In the fifth republic, a ministre d'État is given special prominence over this title and is thus in the protocol order of precedence over the "normal" ministers. He also has a portfolio (in contrast to the Third and Fourth Republic, where the Ministre d'État ministers were without portfolio). The title of Ministre d'État can be given to several ministers at the same time, but there have also been numerous governments in which there was no Ministre d'État at all.
It is constitutionally controversial whether a ministre d'État has more extensive powers than the other ministers. Some sources ascribe to him the right to convene inter-ministerial meetings, which is otherwise reserved for the prime minister, and regard this as a function of a "vice prime minister"; other constitutional lawyers consider the office to be a mere honorary title.
The aim of appointing a Ministre d'État can be to emphasize the importance of the business area or the specific person. The latter can play a role, for example, when the leadership of the coalition parties is to be emphasized in coalition governments (e.g. Jean-Louis Borloo , who was chairman of the ally Parti radical valoisien during the government of François Fillon ), when former prime ministers return to one Government (as was the case with Alain Juppé , but not with Jean-Marc Ayrault or Laurent Fabius ), or long-standing or particularly important members of the government are “promoted” (e.g. Nicolas Sarkozy , who was also chairman at the time of the de Villepin government of the ruling UMP party , Jack Lang , who also became Ministre d'État as long-term minister of culture in 1992, or André Malraux , Simone Veil or Nicolas Hulot , who were appointed as prominent figures in the governments and then highlighted as Ministre d'État). Of course, such motives can also come together (e.g., in his time as Ministre d'État, Juppé was not only a former Prime Minister, but also one of the most influential figures in the UMP).
Famous bearers of the title are:
- André Malraux as Minister of Culture (1959–1969)
- Édouard Balladur as Minister of Economics, Finance and Privatization (1986–1988)
- Pierre Bérégovoy as Minister of Economics and Finance (1988–1992)
- Lionel Jospin as Minister of Education (1988–1992), previously first secretary of the ruling Parti Socialiste
- Roland Dumas as Foreign Minister (1988–1993)
- Jack Lang as Minister of Education and Culture (1992-93)
- Simone Veil as Minister of Social Affairs and Health (1993–95)
- Nicolas Sarkozy as Minister of Economics, Finance and Industry (2004) and Minister of the Interior (2005–2007), 2005–2007 also chairman of the ruling UMP party
- Alain Juppé as Environment Minister (2007), Defense Minister (2010–2011) and Foreign Minister (2010–2012), former Prime Minister
- Jean-Louis Borloo as Environment Minister (2007–2010), also chairman of the Parti Radical
- François Bayrou as Minister of Justice (2017) and chairman of MoDem
- Gérard Collomb as Minister of the Interior (2017-18)
- Nicolas Hulot as Environment Minister (2017-18)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Quelles différences entre ministre d'Etat et ministre? BFMTV., May 17, 2017, accessed on August 20, 2017 (French).
- ↑ Source différence entre un "ministre" et un "ministre d'État"? In: Ouest France (online). May 17, 2017, accessed August 20, 2017 (French).
- ↑ a b Ministre d'Etat: un titre honorifique sans conséquence juridique. In: Public Sénat. May 18, 2017, accessed August 20, 2017 (French).