France’s New Prime Minister: A Beacon of Hope for the EU and a Step Forward for Humanist Progress

Back in 2018, I had the privilege of sharing the stage with a talented civil servant from the French Ministry of Education. Together, we presented a beautiful project aimed at skilling hundreds of young volunteers of the “Service Civique”. The goal was to allow them to spread digital knowledge to thousands of kids in French schools around the country. That day, I witnessed firsthand the talent, empathy, and commitment to serve the country of Gabriel Attal. I was impressed by his success in every role for the 3 governments in which he served. It was an honor to work with him and I am proud of the impact the program had later.

As this week Gabriel Attal has been named Prime Minister at only 34, I would like to share my view on why this is great news for France and for Europe.

In fact, in my book A CRUCIAL IMPETUS in 2022 I shared my concern around the rise of populism. Here is an extract: "Over these last few years, we’ve been able to observe that collective action is the key to countering populism in Europe. On one side the uncertain economic growth, and on the other side the speed of change due to the ongoing AI revolution, and the unequal distribution of wealth, converge on growing tension between citizens throughout the entire world. In most countries, we’re observing growing criticism of governments, an anxiety in the whole population, greater uncertainty about expectations of well-being. And, as a result, a lack of confidence in the future. The economists stress the decades-long rise in inequalities everywhere in the world. When you introduce a faster rhythm of change in a society that is already suffering from inequalities, this produces polarization and fear. It is the most fertile soil for populism to win over minds and produce political earthquakes. We’ve seen the results of this trend with the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, then during the presidential elections in the United?States. But also in certain surprising “compromise” governments in Italy, and, recently, in the growing attention to right-wing and left-wing populism in France that ended up producing a significant redistribution of forces in the French Parliament. There is certainly a growing risk of seeing this question broaden further in the near future and in several European countries. And last, we’ve also seen how populism, carried to the extreme, produces new dictatorships. We must work together – governments, industries and civil societies – to share and understand as best we can the world as it will be in the near future. This will help us build a convincing vision and act to transform and modernize society, which must be adapted to a world that is increasingly being transformed by the digital. While building new social and economic models that can encourage appropriate and sustainable growth in the framework of the fourth industrial revolution. I had the chance to live for a long time in France, where the action of a government that really works toward this can be observed. I can still observe, day after day, to what extent criticism and the protectionism of the “status quo” can be an considerable obstacle to a successful national transformation. I was really surprised, at a Forum Ambrosetti a few years ago, when I saw Italian entrepreneurs, asked to express themselves during the event, vote 60% in favor of the position of the Italian minister of the Interior of the first Conte government, on the period’s migration policies. Although I acknowledge the absolute necessity of the European Union to decisively act to define a real migration policy, I considered this minister’s attitude, as well as the words he used, truly disrespectful vis-à-vis certain fundamental principles of tolerance and humanitarian aid. These same words, in 2022, with a war being waged in Ukraine, would seem implausible. This is not only true for Italy, but the same thing is also happening in many European countries. Focusing on nationalism, identity and migration won’t help a country to turn toward the future. It is urgent to create, together, a vision, to mobilize around a project and act quickly to adapt Europe’s social and economic structure while creating opportunities for everyone. In Europe’s case, I firmly believe that the governmental elites should create projects to transcend national or nationalistic policies and build a strong European perspective at last. Populisms will only divide Europe and weaken our whole economy: in the global context that we see, I’m convinced that the European countries can only be competitive if they build a genuine economic and political union. In fact, the reality of today’s economy is that the financial markets are too national and don’t support a good level of expansion and innovation. In listening to some of the political and populist arguments, I could understand better than ever why the digital economy is a real opportunity in terms of economic growth, to meet certain existing challenges we are faced with. A single and strong digital market would help develop a stronger economic and social construction. The EU would finally be perceived as more productive and protective by its citizens. This would be supported by intelligent regulations that would favor innovation to protect the essential rights of citizens in a world of technological intensity, create jobs, sometimes protect others, develop skills and eliminate obstacles while creating new services in an environment of trust. To fight populism, we must bring all our positive energy over the next few months, and in each country, to all those who want to advocate for a stronger shared future, and vigorously and cohesively relaunch the construction of a European Union that can once again mobilize all its citizens. I’m impatient to work with all those who want to create new growth opportunities for citizens and organizations throughout Europe."

There are in my opinion a few reasons why this announcement in France can have a positive spin both for France as a nation and for Europe.

First, it's a great demonstration of political leadership: So many times, we have seen politicians taking decisions that are shortsighted and based on a selfish agenda aimed at preserving their own power. In this case President Emmanuel Macron has shown courage and foresight. In naming the most talented politician of the "next generation" he is paving the way for continuous success of his ideas for France and for Europe in the long run, independently from his persona, and this is a truly wise decision that can benefit France, but also the stability of a whole continent.

Second, it's a strong message around meritocracy. Gabriel Attal has built his success with hard work and success in his political career, step by step, with relentless commitment to his ideas, with boldness at times, and with undisputed communication skills. All key ingredients to drive a transformation agenda in a country that needs to speed up the pace of change to stay competitive in a fast-evolving global context.

Third, it's a fundamental bet to fight populism with the credibility of a long-term project based on humanist values. The government in France is working without a majority in the Parliament, and this means every time a majority has to be found with a portion fo the opposition parties. We have observed how this is difficult, and how extremist parties are constantly trying to use every possible situation to drive the attention on their own populist agenda. The choice of Gabriel Attal as PM is a clear message around the importance of a fundamental balance of the government's action around centrist values, and a call to action for finding a smart compromise with the political parties that want to work hard on the problems and find balanced, pragmatic solutions.

All those who care for democracy, for dignity, for inclusion, for human rights, for freedom, for responsibility, and for collective progress through forward-thinking policies, and that want to fight all forms of racism, prejudice and obscurantism, can find in this new project confidence and relief.

In wishing the new Prime Minister all the best in his new role, I look forward to seeing France succeed in its transformation, and I am convinced this can bring to Europe new energy, new ideas, new actions, translating into a stronger common political agenda.