French legislative to investigate consultancy overuse in public administration

An investigation is to be launched into the French administration’s over-contracting of consulting firms such as McKinsey and Capgemini for policy inputs, especially in the COVID vaccine roll-out strategy, far-left La France Insoumise MP and Finance Committee chairman Eric Coquerel announced on Thursday.

Read also: EU auditors warn of risks linked to Commission’s expenditure on external consultants

This is Coquerel’s first public move as committee president. He intends to dig deeper into “the quality/price ratio of these consulting firms, their necessity, their role in French policy-making, and why the administration relies on them the way it does”.

The committee chair can set up an “information mission” intended to collect information about a specific issue. None of the actors summoned to answer questions are legally required to participate.

Critics have been quick to point out that the French Senate had carried out identical work in the wake of the revelations in January. The Senate investigation found that the French administration had spent over €1 billion in 2021 on consultancy work.

“I would like to remind everyone that serious and rigorous work has already been done in the Senate by a cross-party investigation committee which then tabled a bill” to cease these practices, Senator Eliane Assassi said on Twitter. “This is more than just polemics!” she added.

‘McKinseygate’ caused much controversy throughout the presidential campaign. President Emmanuel Macron was accused of having too-close ties with the industry. Paul Midy, a former McKinsey partner, was the director-general of Macron’s party La République en Marche (now Renaissance). The same goes for Mathieu Maucourt, now Chief of Staff at the French Treasury.

Coquerel was elected committee chair after much controversy – his opponents accusing him of wanting to reveal fiscal secrets to the press. In an interview with EURACTIV France last week, he made it clear that he would be a “real counter-power” and contribute to keeping the “neo-liberal system” in check.