NEW FRENCH RESEARCH MINISTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003952

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E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: TPHY TSPA TSPL KSCA PGOV PINR FR
SUBJECT: NEW FRENCH RESEARCH MINISTER

REF: (A) 04 PARIS 3248 (B) 04 PARIS 1452 (C) PARIS 3878

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1. Summary. President Chirac appointed a new government
on June 2 (ref C). The research portfolio remains folded
into a large Education Ministry. Francois Goulard, the
new `Minister-Delegate for Higher Education and Research,'
will face a number of sensitive challenges, including the
final drafting of the long-awaited research bill package
(ref A),the arm-wrestling over the ITER fusion project
(para 6),the implementation of an overhaul in France's
top research agency, and lowering tensions in the
university sector. Goulard's latitude of action as
`Minister-Delegate' under the supervision of new Education
Minister Gilles de Robien and his credibility facing the
research community remain to be seen. End summary.

From Transportation to Research: New Team in Charge
-------------- --------------

2. The new, streamlined, government does not include a
fully-fledged research ministry. The research portfolio
is included in a larger ministry encompassing primary and
secondary education, higher education, and research.
Francois Goulard replaces Francois d'Aubert as Minister-
Delegate for Higher Education and Research (d'Aubert was
not in charge of higher education). The new Minister-
Delegate will work under the supervision of Gilles de
Robien who succeeds Francois Fillon at the head of the
Education Ministry. D'Aubert and Fillon have both
departed the government.


3. The two newcomers in charge of education and research
issues worked together previously in the Ministry of
Transportation. Goulard served as Secretary of State for
Transport and Sea since March 2004. As such, he was
already under the supervision of Gilles de Robien,
Transportation Minister from 2002-2005. The new Education
Minister is ranked sixth in the new cabinet while the
Minister-Delegate for Higher Education and Research ranks
25th (out of 31 ministers).

Biographical Information
--------------

4. Goulard, 51, is not a scientist. He graduated from
the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA) and the
prestigious Institute of Political Studies, with a degree
in law. He started his career as magistrate at the French
General Accounting Office. From 1986-88, he was
successively technical adviser and chief of cabinet of
Minister-Delegate for Post and Telecommunications Gerard
Longuet before becoming manager of a credit institution
for small- and medium-size companies (1989-97). His
political responsibilities have included mayor of Vannes,
2001-2004, and Union for the French Democracy (UDF),
Liberal Democrat (DL) and Union for a Popular Movement
(UMP) Deputy from 1997-2004.

Sensitive Priorities Ahead
--------------

5. The first priority for Goulard in the coming weeks
will be to complete the drafting of the long-awaited multi-
year bill on research. (Note: While the previous
government announced that the research bill package would
be adopted by the Council of Ministers mid-June, with an
initial discussion in Parliament before the summer recess,
thousands of researchers protested on May 20 to denounce
the current draft and the absence of a multiyear financial
commitment on the part of the government. The appointment
of a new government with its own priorities in the
economic and social sector may disrupt this agenda. The
science community may also use the government reshuffle as
an opportunity to try to strike a "better deal" with the
new minister. End note)


6. The second priority on the science agenda, although
this goes far beyond Goulard's purview, will be to
complete the process to bring the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) fusion project
to France as part of the overall EU ITER candidacy (choice
of site location to be made before the end of June).


7. Another pressing issue, as part of the GOF's agenda to
reform French science, is the implementation of a major
overhaul at the National Center for Scientific Research
(CNRS, Europe's largest basic research agency). The
reform, approved in May 2005, aims to reduce the number of
CNRS's traditional eight thematic departments (replaced by
four super-departments to promote transdisciplinarity),
and to combine them with cross-cutting departments - one
for engineering research and one for environment and
sustainable development. The plan also aims to reduce the
number of CNRS's directly supported laboratories. Labs
jointly held with universities could pass into the hands
of the latter. Partnerships at the EU level will also be
encouraged.


8. Other topics on Goulard's agenda include the
consolidated support for innovation and private research
through, notably, the creation of a new `Industrial
Innovation Agency' announced by President Chirac in early
2005 and the creation of `poles of competitiveness' (to be
selected by an interministerial committee early July).

Comment
--------------

9. De Robien, reportedly an expert on complex structures
of social dialogue, will need all his skills to implement
the highly contested Fillon law on education. He will
also have to face the teachers' discontent concerning the
sensitive new law on decentralization (management of
teachers' careers) in a context of job reduction in the
education sector. Given these challenges in the education
sector, Goulard may enjoy a certain freedom of action
concerning R&D issues. But Goulard will also somehow have
to deal with the university sector which has already
voiced its discontent denouncing budgetary rigor,
organizational cumbersomeness, and a loss of university
standing.

WOLFF