Of all the appointments French President Emmanuel Macron has made since 2017, this may be the most controversial. By appointing the public accounts minister, Amélie de Montchalin, as head of the Court of Auditors, France’s supreme audit institution, Macron has certainly exercised his “institutional prerogatives,” as officials at the Elysée Palace like to remind people. But in doing so, he has broken with the most deep-seated customs of France’s Fifth Republic.
Traditionally, the job of heading the Court of Auditors goes to people in their sixties nearing the end of their careers, who, in the words of former Constitutional Council president Laurent Fabius, “have nothing to fear, nor anything to hope for.” Yet at 40, de Montchalin could still pursue major political responsibilities in the years ahead.
Moreover, de Montchalin, who spent months defending the 2026 budget before MPs, would, within days, become responsible for auditing the very accounts she herself helped shape. This is not simply a matter of optics. It highlights an unprecedented tension between the government and an institution tasked precisely with holding it accountable.
You have 75.93% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
