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Viewing cable 09PARIS861, NEW FRENCH MINISTER FOR FOOD, AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES;

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09PARIS861 2009-06-25 13:05 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Paris
VZCZCXRO8813
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #0861 1761305
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251305Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6544
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3027
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
UNCLAS PARIS 000861 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR 
STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA; EEB/TPP/ABT/BTT (BOBO); 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY/CLARKSON; 
USDA/FAS FOR OA/MICHENER; 
OCRA/HALE/NENON; 
ONA/RIEMENSCHNEIDER/YOUNG/DENNIS; 
EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON 
GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD PGOV WTRO EUN EU FR INR
SUBJECT: NEW FRENCH MINISTER FOR FOOD, AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES; 
RURAL AFFAIRS SHIFTED TO NEW MINISTRY 
 
1. SUMMARY: President Nicolas Sarkozy reshuffled his government on 
June 23, 2009, replacing former Minister of Agriculture, Michel 
Barnier.  Barnier led the UMP party list in the European Parliament 
elections and his departure was expected following the election.  He 
is widely seen as France's candidate for a European Commissioner 
position.  Former Junior Minister for European Affairs Bruno Le 
Maire replaces Barnier in the renamed Ministry of Food, Agriculture 
and Fisheries. Mr. Le Maire has held high-level political positions 
in several administrations but has no known experience in 
agriculture.  His political savvy at the EU level and fluency in 
German indicate a desire by the French government to garner support 
for continuation of a strong Common Agricultural Policy. French farm 
groups cautiously welcomed the nomination. Sarkozy also shifted 
responsibility for rural affairs from the Agriculture Ministry to a 
new Rural Territories and Land Planning Ministry which will be 
headed by Michel Mercier. End summary 
 
2. As Secretary of State for European Affairs since December 2008, 
Bruno Le Maire, aged 40, has been pivotal in rebuilding closer 
diplomatic ties between France and Germany which, according to 
analysts, had been cool since Sarkozy's election in May 2007. His 
fluency in German and strong connections to the political elite in 
Germany have some commentators mourning his departure from his 
European Affairs position, believing that strengthening the 
French-German axis is of high importance during the economic crisis. 
 
 
3. While Mr. Le Maire has no agricultural background, he is an 
elected Deputy of a semi-rural constituency in Normandy. He was 
educated at the prestigious Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Paris 
Institute of Political Science and Ecole Normale Superieure, where 
he majored in French literature. He subsequently worked at the 
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Directorate for Strategic 
Affairs, Security and Disarmament. He was an advisor to former Prime 
Minister Dominique de Villepin in several capacities (when Mr. de 
Villepin was French Minister of Foreign Affairs (2002 - 2004) and 
then Minister of Interior (2004 - 2005)) rising to serve as Director 
of Cabinet for Prime Minister de Villepin (2005-2007). He joined the 
Sarkozy administration as Secretary of State for European Affairs in 
December 2008. Bruno Le Maire is married with two children. 
 
4. French farm organizations welcomed Bruno Le Maire's nomination, 
but signaled they expect him to quickly address issues important to 
French agricultural producers, particularly the tension between milk 
prices and retailers' profit margins, an issue which brought French 
and European farmers into the streets during the recent Luxemburg 
Council on June 22. 
 
5. Michel Mercier, aged 62, is the new French Minister for Rural 
Territories and Land Planning. An experienced politician at the 
local and national level, he is also a member of the Board of the 
French branch of the Aspen Institute. Michel Mercier graduated in 
law and political science and teaches local finance and law at the 
Lyon University. He is married and has five children. 
 
6. Comment: Bruno Le Maire will head a streamlined Ministry, and we 
expect the development of the food industry and emphasis on food 
safety to be significant priorities for the new Minister. Some 
analysts perceive the separation of the important rural affairs 
component (responsible for distributing the equivalent of 1 billion 
euro in EU funding) from the traditional MinAg activities as a 
possible move toward the dissolution of a Ministry of Agriculture in 
the medium/long term.  The food component could shift to the 
Ministry of Economy while productive agriculture could fall under 
either the Ministry of Ecology or Industry. Bruno Le Maire's 
political experience at the EU level and his close ties with Germany 
could help France garner Member State support for maintaining a 
strong, subsidized EU farm policy after 2013. 
 
Pekala