Ministerial succession: HATVP’s cautious green light after thorough vetting

Territorial Communities Minister Caroline Kayu’s surprise resignation on Monday, citing possible asset impairment and suspicions of tax evasion, is the latest in a series of high-profile ethics probes of ministers. Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) may cause the government to fear new frustrations. If the political class has become accustomed to these controls, which were imposed in late 2012 in the wake of the Cahuzaki case, it is still a high-risk exercise for the executive.

But HATVP confirmed, Thursday 1^Eh December, matching interests and property declarations of 41 other members of Elizabeth Bourne’s government. The body led by Didier Migot, which is responsible for monitoring the integrity of senior officials in France, was satisfied with the timely submission of ministers’ statements and their “speed” to respond within the scope of mutually exclusive exchanges provided by the procedures.

During these three months of in-depth scrutiny, HATVP nevertheless addressed a significant number of observations to members of the government.

Lots of fixes, no major anomalies

The vast majority of ministers (32 out of 41) have in fact been required to declare material changes to their property declarations or interests, in most cases after HATVP comments on their original declarations this summer. Although significant, this proportion is relative to previous years. First of all, the HATVP College did not reveal any serious anomalies that required public scrutiny or, worse, reporting to the courts.

These correction requests are related to either missing information or, conversely, information overload, although not mandatory. Five situations in particular attracted the attention of HATVP, which led to the most significant changes: Sylvie Retailleau (higher education and research), Dominique Fauré (local government and rural areas), Agnes Firmin-le Bodeau (territorial organization), Stanislaus. Guerin (social transformation) and Frank Rister (relations with parliament).

M^I Retailleau in particular had to review the value of the family’s SCI assets, which own apartments and garages. Mr Guerini has significantly increased the value of his stake in a house in the South West, from €462,000 to €1.2m. The property, which was in bare possession, without its use, was not harmed by mistake.