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Olivier Dussopt, President Emmanuel Macron’s labour minister, has gone on trial in Paris over allegations of favouritism in awarding a contract when he was mayor of a small town in south-east France.
It is the latest example of the French leader’s lax approach to sanctioning members of his government who face legal problems — earlier this month, justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti faced a specialised tribunal over charges he abused his position. That verdict is expected on Wednesday.
Macron has backed Dussopt to remain in his post during the four-day trial, which began on Monday.
Prosecutors have alleged that Dussopt, a former Socialist MP who joined Macron’s government in 2017, illegally favoured the Saur group in granting a water contract for the town of Annonay in 2009. Although prosecutors dismissed other charges that Dussopt acted for personal enrichment, they allege Dussopt passed on confidential information to a Saur executive to help them win the bid.
Dussopt has denied any wrongdoing. “I have one objective: to prove my innocence,” he told the BFM TV channel.
The police investigation was first revealed last year by investigative website Mediapart, which alleged that Dussopt received a gift of two lithograph paintings by artist Gérard Garouste from a Saur executive in 2017, while the water contract was being considered. Prosecutors later determined that the value of the paintings was not high enough to merit charges, but they found other alleged wrongdoing.
Dussopt is a prominent member of Macron’s government. In April, he helped push through an unpopular rise to the retirement age that sparked months of street protests. He served as budget minister for two years before being appointed labour minister in 2022.
In recent weeks, Dussopt has not made many public appearances, although he was meant to help shepherd a pending immigration draft law through parliament. The law would allow people working in France illegally to regularise their immigration status if they worked in sectors such as construction or healthcare where there were labour shortages, while also making it easier for the government to deport people whose asylum claims were rejected or who overstayed visas.
The cases involving Dussopt and Dupond-Moretti are a problem for Macron’s government, which may require a cabinet reshuffle if one or both is convicted.
When he was first elected in 2017, Macron promised to run a cleaner, more transparent government where any minister who was placed under official investigation would have to step down. In France, such a move is called mise en examen and is one step short of an indictment.
But Macron has watered down this approach to wait until definitive judgments have been passed.
Alexis Kohler, secretary-general of the Élysée Palace and Macron’s highest-ranking adviser, was also placed under official investigation last year. Prosecutors are looking into allegations Kohler favoured the interests of Mediterranean Shipping Company, a Swiss-Italian group controlled by his cousins, the Aponte family. Kohler denies the allegations.
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