The newly elected 39-year-old president had promised on the campaign trail in March to create “a real status” for his wife Brigitte. France 24 reports.
The issue has become a new political headache for Macron after an online petition against creating the role garnered more than 280,000 signatures and an opinion poll showed a majority of French people were also opposed.
The Élysée Palace is pledging to clarify Brigitte Macron’s “public role” in a document to be released in the weeks to come. But it is already clear that she will not benefit from an official status; instead, the president’s wife will have to settle for a mere “charter of transparency”. The presidency will make clear the resources at Brigitte Macron’s disposal and the cost to the public purse.
The move, the Élysée says, should not be viewed as backpedalling. “As candidate, Macron made it known that he wanted to end the hypocrisy and clarify Brigitte Macron’s public role. At no time did he mention a possible modification of the Constitution,” a member of her entourage told FRANCE 24’s Aude Mazoué.
“This letter [in the petition] certainly rekindled journalists’ interest in this issue but it has in no way changed our position,” the source said.
“The idea is for the French people to know how much this role costs,” Aurore Bergé, a senior lawmaker from Macron’s Republic on the Move party, told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday.
The new status would have seen France copy the American tradition of a prominent public role for the First Lady. Neither country has ever had a female head of state.
The wife of the French president has historically always played a public role at official functions, welcoming heads of state or other VIPs at meetings or dinners.
She has a small security and secretarial staff paid for by the presidential budget, but she has no formal job title — like the partners of the British prime minister or German chancellor.
The staff of Valérie Trierweiler, the former partner of ex-president François Hollande, cost 400,000 euros (470,000 dollars) in 2013, according to public figures.
