Europe Decides

Dominique de Villepin, who was President Chirac’s Prime Minister for 714 long, hard days, gave his formal resignation to the President this afternoon. Unusually for a French politician, he is expected to go back to private life and leave politics aside. There is an afterlife even for Prime Ministers… in Harvard, as it is rumoured?

The Prime Minister’s resignation is the last formal step before the outgoing President hands the executive power to his newly-elected successor. However, this does not mean Nicolas Sarkozy has not started pushing his agenda: amid the usual rumours about potential picks for the restricted 15-member Government expected to be named between Thursday and Monday, a few names have already popped up and a few heads rolled down: a new head of police forces (DGPN), the expected dismissal of the DST (the “French MI5″), etc.

Sarkozy is “locking the doors” before he goes on with more public policy annnouncements next week. He does not seem intent to a complete revamping of the French “système des dépouilles” (executive privilege over top jobs picks) as he had promised, though. Maybe later?