The sea, absent from ministerial titles
The names of the members of the first Macron presidency government were announced on 17 May 2017. Nicolas Hulot, Minister of State for Ecological Transition and Elisabeth Borne, Minister for Transport should be in the front line on maritime issues. While the arrival of Edouard Philippe, deputy mayor of the port city of Le Havre, had seduced the maritime milieu, the absence of the sea from the title of the ministries provoked varied reactions in the nautical world.
Concerns of elected officials and marinas
After the appointment of Edouard Philippe's government, Jean-François Rapin, president of the Association Nationale des Elus du Littoral, summarised his team's position in one sentence. "A unanimous concern: would the sea once again be the great forgotten of the government?"
For his part, Serge Pallarès, president of the Federation of Marina Ports, headlines his press release"The Abandoned Sea". After having regretted the absence of the sea of attributions; he alerted on the necessary consideration of the economic and social interest of the sea for France.
NIF wants to see the positive
Fabien Métayer, general delegate of the Fédération des Industries Nautiques, wants to project himself on the future work. "The idea that we don't see the maritime in government is not the debate of the day. The Prime Minister has called for the maritimeization of minds in several forums in the past. The Mayor, the Minister of Economy, is close to the sea. We know Nicolas Hulot well, who has already been to the Nautic several times. We must therefore allow time. A period was closed, under Mrs Royal's ministry, with a catastrophic assessment, such as the mooring tax or a High Council for Navigation at a standstill. We now wish to take advantage of Matignon's will to open all files with the government and administrations and create the necessary interdepartmental framework
