The former director general of the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency, Aurélien Rousseau, was appointed Tuesday as chief of staff to the new Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, he announced on Twitter.
“At the time of beginning my mission with Elisabeth Borne, whose trust honors me, I have a thought for my grandmother, Jeanne Boyer, elected at the age of 29 in 1945 in Alès at the end of the resistance and for Véronique Bédague who is the first to have held this position, and in what way!”, wrote on Twitter the senior official from the left, 45 years old.
Ms. Bédague was Manuel Valls’ chief of staff from 2014 to 2016.
Former professor of history-geography in Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis), enarque and State Councilor, Aurélien Rousseau had been deputy director of the cabinet of Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve, from 2015 to 2017, before being appointed Director General of ARS Ile-de-France in 2018.
First strong act of the second five-year term, Ms. Borne was appointed Prime Minister on Monday by Emmanuel Macron, two hours after the resignation of Jean Castex.
The new tenant of Matignon must choose a new “tightened” government team, according to those around her, while the appointment of possible secretaries of state is expected in a second step, probably after the legislative elections in June.
Born in Alès, grandson of a resistance fighter, Mr. Rousseau first got involved in politics in the ranks of the Communist Party. He participated in the conquest of the town hall of Paris in 2001 and joined the team of one of Bertrand Delanoë’s assistants.
Received in 2007 for the ENA competition, he graduated two later to join the Council of State, then returned in 2012 alongside Mr. Delanoë, this time as deputy chief of staff.
His rise continued in 2015 at Matignon, where he held the same position with Mr. Valls and Mr. Cazeneuve.
After a stint at the Monnaie de Paris, he took over the reins of ARS Île-de-France in the summer of 2018 and quickly had to deal with the long emergency strike of 2019, then the Covid epidemic from of spring 2020.
Tested by three years in this position, he had returned to the Council of State since August, explaining then that he wanted to “hear the little signals” so as “not to believe himself above health problems”.
The man remains marked by his passage in intensive care, because of a neurological disease, a Guillain-Barré syndrome which occurred during his training at the ENA and from which he drew a book (“Boucle d’Or”, 2016 ).
Father of three children, the last born in full confinement, he forms a power couple with the number two of Health Insurance, Marguerite Cazeneuve, former social adviser to Emmanuel Macron.
05/17/2022 11:56:27 – Paris (AFP) – © 2022 AFP
