PARIS, April 2 (AP): French President Emmanuel Macron’s campaign has hit a roadbump as he prepares to hold his first big rally on Saturday in his race for re-election.
The issue, dubbed as “McKinsey Affair”, after an American consulting company hired to advise the French government on its Covid-19 vaccination campaign and other policy, has been mobilising Macron’s rivals and dogging him at campaign stops ahead of the April 10 first-round vote.
It comes after a new French Senate report questioned the government’s use of private consultants and accused McKinsey of tax dodging.
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Macron’s supporters hope he can rev up his campaign and drown out his detractors at Saturday’s rally in a huge arena west of Paris.
The centrist president, who has been in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, has a comfortable lead in polls so far over far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other challengers.
The word “McKinsey” is however becoming a rallying cry for those trying to unseat him.
Critics describe the government’s one billion euros in spending on consulting firms like McKinsey last year as a sort of privatisation and Americanisation of French politics, and are demanding more transparency.
The French Senate, where opposition conservatives hold a majority, published a report last month investigating the government’s use of private consulting firms.
The report found that state spending on such contracts had doubled in the past three years despite mixed results, and warned they could pose conflicts of interest.
Dozens of private companies are involved in the consulting activities, including giants like Ireland-based multinational Accenture and French group Capgemini.
Most damningly, the report said McKinsey had not paid corporate profit taxes in France since at least 2011, but instead used a system of “tax optimisation” through its Delaware-based parent company.
McKinsey, in a statement, said it “respects French tax rules that apply to it” and defended its work in France, but did not elaborate.
McKinsey notably advised the French government on its COVID vaccination campaign, which got off to a halting start but eventually became among the world’s most comprehensive.
Outside consultants have also advised Macron’s government on housing reform, asylum policy and other measures.
The Senate report found that such firms earned smaller revenues in France than in Britain or Germany, and noted that spending on outside consultants was higher under conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy than under Macron.
Budget Minister Olivier Dussopt said the state money spent on McKinsey was about 0.3 per cent of what the government spent on public servants’ salaries last year, and that McKinsey earned only a tiny fraction of it. He accused campaign rivals of inflating the affair to boost their own ratings.
“We have nothing to hide,” said Amelie Montchalin, the government’s minister for public service.
The affair is hurting Macron nonetheless.
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