PARIS: As French President Emmanuel Macron prepares to hold his first big rally Saturday in his race for re-election, his campaign has hit a roadbump.
It’s been dubbed “the McKinsey Affair,” named after an American consulting company hired to advise the French government on its COVID-19 vaccination campaign and other policy. A new French Senate report questions the government’s use of private consultants, and accuses McKinsey of tax dodging. The issue is mobilizing Macron’s rivals and dogging him at campaign stops ahead of the April 10 first-round vote.
His supporters hope he can rev up his campaign and drown out his detractors at Saturday’s rally in a huge arena west of Paris. Macron, a centrist who has been in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, has a comfortable lead in polls so far over far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other challengers.
But the word “McKinsey” is becoming a rallying cry for those trying to unseat him. Critics describe the government’s 1 billion euros in spending on consulting firms like McKinsey last year as a sort of privatization and Americanization of French politics, and are demanding more transparency.
The French Senate, where opposition conservatives hold a majority, published a report last month investigating the government’s use of private consulting firms. The report found that state spending on such contracts has doubled in the past three years despite mixed results, and warned they could pose conflicts of interest. Dozens of private companies are involved in the consulting activities, including giants like Ireland-based multinational Accenture and French group Capgemini.
Most damningly, the report says McKinsey hasn’t paid corporate profit taxes in France since at least 2011, but instead used a system of “tax optimization” through its Delaware-based parent company.
McKinsey issued a statement saying it “respects French tax rules that apply to it” and defending its work in France, but didn’t elaborate.
McKinsey notably advised the French government on its COVID vaccination campaign, which got off to a halting start but eventually became among the world’s most comprehensive. Outside consultants have also advised Macron’s government on housing reform, asylum policy and other measures.
The Senate report found that such firms earn smaller revenues in France than in Britain or Germany, and noted that spending on outside consultants was higher under conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy than under Macron.
Budget Minister Olivier Dussopt said the state money spent on McKinsey was about 0.3 percent of what the government spent on public servants’ salaries last year, and that McKinsey earned only a tiny fraction of it. He accused campaign rivals of inflating the affair to boost their own ratings.
“We have nothing to hide,” said Amelie Montchalin, the government’s minister for public service.
The affair is hurting Macron nonetheless.
A former investment banker once accused of being “president of the rich,” Macron saw his ratings resurge when his government spent massively to protect workers and businesses early in the pandemic, vowing to do “whatever it takes” to cushion the blow. But his rivals say the McKinsey affair rekindles concerns that Macron and his government are beholden to private interests and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary voters.
Everywhere Macron goes now, he’s asked about it.
“The campaign should be about purchasing power, how to settle security problems, how to end the war (in Ukraine),” he told voters Thursday. “Don’t make it about a false issue.”
On a talk show last Sunday, he said defensively, “If there is proof of manipulation, let them take it to court.”
A woman who lost her father to COVID-19 filed a lawsuit Friday accusing McKinsey and other consulting companies of misusing public money when they were hired to advise the government on mask and vaccine supplies. Julie Grasset now runs a support group for people who lost loved ones in the pandemic.
“It’s a serious issue. We are talking about public health,” Grasset said.
The financial prosecutor’s office did not comment. It could take weeks for prosecutors to decide whether to take up the case, one of several Grasset and others have filed involving the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Emmanuel Macron’s re-election push troubled by ‘McKinsey Affair’
https://arab.news/vaavm
Emmanuel Macron’s re-election push troubled by ‘McKinsey Affair’
- Macron has a comfortable lead in polls so far over far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other challengers
- But the word ‘McKinsey’ is becoming a rallying cry for those trying to unseat him
Philippines eyes closer cooperation on advanced defense tech with UAE
- Philippine-UAE defense agreement is Manila’s first with a Gulf country
- Philippines says new deal will also help modernize the Philippine military
MANILA: The Philippines is seeking stronger cooperation with the UAE on advanced defense technologies under their new defense pact — its first such deal with a Gulf country — the Department of National Defense said on Friday.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation was signed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Abu Dhabi earlier this week, which also saw the Philippines and the UAE signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, marking Manila’s first free trade pact with a Middle Eastern nation.
The Philippines-UAE defense agreement “seeks to deepen cooperation on advanced defense technologies and strengthen the security relations” between the two countries, DND spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
The MoU “will serve as a platform for collaboration on unmanned aerial systems, electronic warfare, and naval systems, in line with the ongoing capability development and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he added.
It is also expected to further military relations through education and training, intelligence and security sharing, and cooperation in the fields of anti-terrorism, maritime security, and peacekeeping operations.
The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described security and defense as “very promising fields” in Philippine-UAE ties, pointing to Abu Dhabi being the location of Manila’s first defense attache office in the Middle East.
The UAE is the latest in a growing list of countries with defense and security deals with the Philippines, which also signed a new defense pact with Japan this week.
“I would argue that this is more significant than it looks on first read, precisely because it’s the Philippines’ first formal defense cooperation agreement with a Gulf state. It signals diversification,” Rikard Jalkebro, associate professor at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, told Arab News.
“Manila is widening its security partnerships beyond its traditional circles at a time when strategic pressure is rising in the South China Sea, and the global security environment is (volatile) across regions.”
Though the MoU is not an alliance and does not create mutual defense obligations, it provides a “framework for the practical stuff that matters,” including access, training pathways, procurement discussions and structured channels” for security cooperation, he added.
“For the UAE, the timing also makes sense, seeing that Abu Dhabi is no longer only a defense buyer; it’s increasingly a producer and exporter, particularly in areas like UAS (unmanned aerial systems) and enabling technologies. That opens a new lane for Manila to explore capability-building, technology transfer, and industry-to-industry links,” Jalkebro said.
The defense deal also matters geopolitically, as events in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region have ripple effects on global stability and commerce.
“So, a Philippines–UAE defense framework can be read as a pragmatic hedge, strengthening resilience and options without formally taking sides,” Jalkebro said.
