French Bosses Elect Female President to Head of MEDEF

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On 5 July 2005, The General Assembly of the Movement of French Business (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) elected 46 year-old Laurence Parisot to the Chair of the main French employers’ association. This election sees a woman accede to this position of great responsibility at a moment when plenty of sensitive issues are on the agenda. The new Chair will come under close scrutiny.

The 561-member General Assembly of the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) required only one round of voting on 5 July 2005 to choose their new Chair. Laurence Parisot got 271 votes, i.e. 53% of the vote, beating off the challenge of Yvon Jacob (150 votes) and Hugues-Arnaud Mayer (81 votes), the other two competitors in the race (FR0505108F).

Laurence Parisot is to succeed Ernest-Antoine Seillière, who became Chair of the National Council of French Employers (Conseil national du patronat français, CNPF) in 1997, then the MEDEF when it was set up the following year. She runs two companies:

• The IFOP (Institut français d’opinion publique) which carries out opinion polls (140 employees).

• Optimum is an industrial firm specialising in furniture, and which she inherited from her family. She and her family rank 233rd in the list of France’s richest people. A graduate of Sciences-Po Paris and with a reputation for acute decision-making and persuasiveness, she is well integrated into the world of employers: she holds seats on several Supervisory Boards of companies such as Euro Disney, Michelin and Havas, as well as on the advisory board of Ernst & Young.

A member of the MEDEF governing bodies since 2002, she has already come to the fore because of her unequivocal stances on some topics dear to employers, particularly the constraints of the Labour Code (FR0502103N).

On 30 May 2005, the MEDEF’s managing board set the tone by further backing the Chair of IFOP, who won 21 of the 44 votes.

The nomination procedure was the other novelty because formerly, the election of the 'bosses’ boss' was accomplished through semi-confidential procedures.

The procedure selected in 2005 generated wide-ranging media coverage and the candidates had to campaign and make pre-election promises.

The absence of big hitters throwing their hats in the ring for the job left the field open, even though the support of Ernest Antoine Seillière and the backing of some heavyweight French bosses have been the real keys to success. The Chairs of many employers’ associations, pressure groups and 'think tanks', have exerted influence. The French Association of Private Companies (Association française des entreprises privées, AFEP), led by Gérard Collomb, the influential boss of Ciments Lafarge (and Chair of 'Entreprise et Cité' into the bargain); Michel Pébereau, Chair of the BNP-Paribas group and the 'Institut de l’entreprise'; François Pinault; Claude Bébéar and his Montaigne Institute, Ethic, run by Sophie de Menthon; and former CNPF Chairs Jean Gandois and Yvon Gattaz, all backed the young female candidate.

The powerful Employers’ Association for Metalworking Industries and Allied Trades (Union des industries et des métiers de la métallurgie, UIMM), which usually determines the election, was slightly paralysed by the candidacy of one of its members, Yvon Jacob. Jacob’s profile, deemed too traditional by some, made him an unattractive proposition. A number of influential UIMM leaders opted for Hugues-Arnaud Mayer, while some even preferred a vote for Laurence Parisot.

The subjects on the bargaining agenda (FR0506102N) such as the degree of hardship involved in particular forms of work, the employment of older workers and the new collective agreement on unemployment set for debate in Autumn 2005, have so far, as usual, been driven by the UIMM, and the new Chair does not plan to do without its know-how.

The trade unions have acknowledged the innovative elements in the election of a woman, and a young one at that. However, they have said they will assess the new leader according to her actions. Her inclination to carry out industrial bargaining is the first criterion according to which she will be judged.

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