Fifteen months then passed before the bill was presented to the National Assembly, where the text was largely reworked and even – in the words of the bill’s supporters – “distorted”. On the 1st of February 2024, the amended version of the bill was sent back to the Sénat for a second reading, raising fears that the discussions will stall and signalling a potential lack of political will to do without consultants in the public sector. Concomitantly, the French government announced on 26 March 2024 the creation of an internal public consulting agency. Will this be enough to remedy the problems identified by the Sénat investigation committee and prevent further risks of abuse highlighted by journalists and essayists?
As part of our conference cycle ‘At the heart of influences’, we decided to take stock of the situation and dedicate our fourth meeting to this theme. The event, entitled ‘What influence do consulting firms have on public policy?’ was held on 28 March 2024, at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée.
Speakers (in order of appearance):
- Mr Yves Morieux, Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), former Senior Partner and Director of the Institute for Organisation, author of Smart Simplicity
- Ms Caroline Michel-Aguirre, special correspondent with Le Nouvel Obs, co-author of Les Infiltrés. Comment les cabinets de conseil ont pris le contrôle de l’État (Infiltrated: How consulting firms took control of the State
- Ms Éliane Assassi, Honorary Senator and Rapporteur for the committee investigating the growing influence of private consulting firms on public policy
Moderated by Ms Claude Revel, Director of SKEMA Publika and former French Interdepartmental Delegate for Economic Intelligence.
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